Larry Foote enters his sixth season with the Buccaneers in 2023, and his third as pass game coordinator/ inside linebackers coach, following three seasons as the team's outside linebackers coach.
In 2023, 12-year veteran inside linebacker Lavonte David was the lone NFL player with 100+ tackles, 15+ tackles for loss and 3.0+ sacks and he collected his tenth 100-tackle season, leading the Buccaneers in total tackles (133), solo tackles (86) and tackles for loss (17). His 17 tackles for loss tied for seventh in the NFL in 2023 and first among non-edge rushers. In two seasons with Foote as his position coach (2022- 23), David ranks tied for 10th in solo tackles (166) and 11th in total tackles (258) among all players, while generating the second-most tackles for loss (27) among inside linebackers during that span. As a unit, the Buccaneers 2023 defense ranked seventh in scoring defense, limiting opponents to just 19.1 points per game in 2023.
In his first season as pass game coordinator in 2022, Tampa Bay's pass defense (203.6 opponent passing yards/game) finished ninth in the NFL, posting the team's first season with a top 10 pass defense since 2010. The Buccaneers limited opponents to just 6.65 yards per pass attempt, which was the sixth-best mark in the league.
Additionally, during Foote's first season working with the inside linebackers in 2022, both David and Devin White surpassed the 100-tackle mark, finishing tied for the team lead with 124 tackles each. David led the team with 10 tackles for loss, while White led the team with 16 quarterback hits and three fumble recoveries. White was named NFC Defensive Player of the Month for September and later tacked on NFC Defensive Player of the Week accolades for his multi-sack performance in Week 10.
In 2021, outside linebacker Shaquil Barrett earned a Pro Bowl selection for the second time after recording 10.0 sacks and becoming one of four players in Buccaneers history with multiple 10.0-sack seasons – both of which came under Foote for Barrett.
In Barrett's three seasons with Foote as his position coach from 2019-21, Barrett ranked second in the NFL in strip sacks (11), fourth in sacks (37.5), fourth in tackles for loss (41), tied for fourth in forced fumbles (11) and fifth in quarterback hits (75), joining 2021 Defensive Player of the Year T.J. Watt as the only two players to rank in the top five in each of those five categories during that span.
Over his first two seasons after taking over in Tampa from 2020-21, Foote's starting outside linebacker tandem of Barrett and Jason Pierre-Paul ranked second among all pass-rushing duos in sacks with 45.5. During the 2020 regular season alone, the pairing combined for 112 tackles (18 tackles for loss), 30 quarterback hits, 17.5 sacks, nine passes defensed, six forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries and two interceptions. Pierre-Paul earned his first Pro Bowl nod as a member of the Buccaneers in the 2020 season.
During the 2020 regular season, the Buccaneers' defense ranked first in rushing yards allowed per game (80.6), tied for second in quarterback hits (116), tied for second in tackles for loss (91), tied for fourth in sacks (48.0), sixth in total yards allowed per game (327.1) and eighth in points allowed per game (22.2).
Foote's outside linebackers unit continued to thrive during Tampa Bay's four-game playoff run to a Super Bowl LV victory, including a 5.0-sack performance in the NFC Championship Game victory over Green Bay. In that game, Barrett tied the single-game playoff franchise record with 3.0 sacks, while Pierre- Paul's 2.0 sacks tied for the third-most in team history. Barrett stands tied for third all-time in career playoff sacks by a Buccaneers player with his 4.0 from 2020, while Pierre-Paul is tied for fifth with 2.0.
In Foote's first season in charge of the Buccaneers outside linebacker corps, the position group combined for 35 of the team's 47 sacks. Those 47 takedowns were then the second-most by a Tampa Bay unit since sacks became an official statistic in 1982.
Barrett secured his first Pro Bowl appearance in 2019 after registering 19.5 sacks to surpass Warren Sapp (16.5 in 2000) for the single-season franchise record. While Barrett led the league in sacks in his first season under Foote's guidance, Jason Pierre-Paul tacked on 8.5 sacks in just 10 games played.
Prior to arriving in Tampa Bay, Foote spent the previous four seasons coaching with the Arizona Cardinals (2015-18), first working as the team's inside linebackers coach (2015-17) before being elevated to linebackers coach in 2018. Foote helped oversee the conversion of Deone Bucannon from a college safety to a linebacker, with Bucannon leading the team in tackles in 2015, while adding three sacks and three forced fumbles. The Cardinals defense finished in the top 10 of the NFL in yards allowed for three straight seasons (2015-17) while Foote was a part of the staff.
Before beginning his coaching career, Foote spent 13 years playing in the NFL (2002-14), including 11 seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers (2002-08, 2010-13). During his time with the Steelers, Foote was a part of two Super Bowl Championships (XL, XLIII). Foote spent his first seven seasons in Pittsburgh, before playing for his hometown Detroit Lions for one season (2009). He then returned to the Steelers for four seasons before finishing his career with the Cardinals in 2014. In his 13 seasons, Foote played in 187 games, with 912 tackles, 25 sacks, 10 forced fumbles, six fumble recoveries and four interceptions. He also played in 17 postseason games.
A Detroit native, Foote played collegiately at Michigan, earning All-American honors as a senior.
