# Kelvin Sheppard

Kelvin Anthony Sheppard (born January 2, 1988) is an American professional football coach and former linebacker who is the defensive coordinator for the Detroit Lions of the National Football League (NFL). He previously played in the NFL for 8 seasons. Sheppard played college football for the LSU Tigers and was selected by the Buffalo Bills in the third round of the 2011 NFL draft. He was also a member of the Indianapolis Colts, Miami Dolphins, New York Giants, Chicago Bears and Detroit Lions.
After retiring as a player, Sheppard pursued a coaching career, which he began as the director of player development at Louisiana State University (LSU) in 2020. Sheppard joined the Detroit Lions as their outside linebackers coach in 2021 and coached the linebackers from 2022 to 2024 before being named their defensive coordinator in 2025.

## Playing career
### National Football League

Pre-draft measurables :
| Height | Weight | Arm length | Hand span | 40-yard dash | 10-yard split | 20-yard split | 20-yard shuttle | Three-cone drill | Vertical jump | Broad jump | Bench press |
| 6 ft 1+7⁄8 in (1.88 m) | 250 lb (113 kg) | 31+3⁄4 in (0.81 m) | 9+5⁄8 in (0.24 m) | 4.70 s | 1.66 s | 2.76 s | 4.28 s | 7.25 s | 33.5 in (0.85 m) | 9 ft 2 in (2.79 m) | 22 reps |
| All values from NFL Combine/LSU’s Pro Day ||||||||||||

#### Buffalo Bills

The Buffalo Bills selected Sheppard in the third round (68th overall) of the 2011 NFL draft.

#### Indianapolis Colts

On April 29, 2013, Sheppard was traded to the Indianapolis Colts for Jerry Hughes. He played in 15 games with seven starts in 2013, recording 46 tackles and one sack.
On August 30, 2014, Sheppard was released by the Colts.

#### Miami Dolphins

On September 8, 2014, Sheppard signed with the Miami Dolphins. In 2015, Sheppard played in all 16 games with 13 starts, recording a career-high 105 tackles.

#### New York Giants (first stint)

On April 11, 2016, Sheppard signed with the New York Giants. He played in all 16 games, starting 10, recording 50 tackles and two passes defensed.

#### Chicago Bears

On August 18, 2017, Sheppard signed with the Chicago Bears. He was released on September 2, 2017.

#### New York Giants (second stint)

On November 7, 2017, Sheppard signed with the Giants. Sheppard recorded his first and second career interceptions on December 31, 2017, during Week 17 when he picked off Washington Redskins quarterback Kirk Cousins twice.

#### Detroit Lions

On October 31, 2018, Sheppard was signed by the Detroit Lions.

## NFL career statistics

Legend :
| Bold | Career high |

### Regular season

| Year | Team | Games | Games | Tackles | Tackles | Tackles | Tackles | Tackles | Interceptions | Interceptions | Interceptions | Interceptions | Interceptions | Fumbles | Fumbles | Fumbles | Fumbles |
| Year | Team | GP | GS | Cmb | Solo | Ast | Sck | TFL | Int | Yds | TD | Lng | PD | FF | FR | Yds | TD |
| 2011 | BUF | 16 | 9 | 70 | 46 | 24 | 0.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 2012 | BUF | 16 | 15 | 80 | 56 | 24 | 2.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2013 | IND | 15 | 7 | 46 | 20 | 26 | 1.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2014 | MIA | 14 | 1 | 24 | 17 | 7 | 0.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2015 | MIA | 16 | 13 | 105 | 75 | 30 | 0.0 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2016 | NYG | 16 | 11 | 50 | 30 | 20 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2017 | NYG | 7 | 6 | 49 | 32 | 17 | 0.0 | 2 | 2 | 17 | 0 | 12 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2018 | DET | 7 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | | 107 | 63 | 429 | 281 | 148 | 3.0 | 25 | 2 | 17 | 0 | 12 | 11 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |

### Playoffs

| Year | Team | Games | Games | Tackles | Tackles | Tackles | Tackles | Tackles | Interceptions | Interceptions | Interceptions | Interceptions | Interceptions | Fumbles | Fumbles | Fumbles | Fumbles |
| Year | Team | GP | GS | Cmb | Solo | Ast | Sck | TFL | Int | Yds | TD | Lng | PD | FF | FR | Yds | TD |
| 2013 | IND | 2 | 2 | 11 | 3 | 8 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 2016 | NYG | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | | 3 | 2 | 11 | 3 | 8 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |

## Coaching career
### LSU

In March 2020, Sheppard was named director of player development at Louisiana State University. He replaced Kevin Faulk who held the position prior to Sheppard.

### Detroit Lions

On February 3, 2021, Sheppard was hired by the Detroit Lions as their outside linebackers coach under head coach Dan Campbell. In 2022, Sheppard went from coaching the outside linebackers to the entire linebackers unit. On January 30, 2025, Sheppard was promoted to defensive coordinator, replacing Aaron Glenn, after his departure to become head coach of the New York Jets.

## Personal life

Sheppard is the first cousin of retired NFL wide receiver, Dwayne Harris.