Amid speculation that his alma mater LSU could approach him about returning as head football coach, Kelvin Sheppard said Thursday that he's "blessed and fortunate to hold the position that I do here as the defensive coordinator for the Detroit Lions, a winning, soon-to-be championship organization. And I don’t take that lightly."
"This position comes with a lot," Sheppard said. "And whether you’re in this position, or (quality control), or you’re a janitor, if you start to look out and stretch out, looking for other things, you will lose the things that you hold onto currently. And I’ve seen that. I’ve seen that happen to people, I’ve seen it happen to players, chasing contracts, chasing plays on the field, instead of letting things come to you."
Sheppard, 37, was a national championship-winning linebacker at LSU and returned to the program as a director of player development in 2020 before joining the Lions' coaching staff under Dan Campbell in 2021. He still follows the Tigers closely and said "that school expects championships, and they should."
"You cut me open, I’m not going to lie to you and say I’m all Lion. No, I spent five years down there, six if you include the year of coaching," Sheppard said. "That place molded me into the man that I am today and still becoming. You cut me open, I’m a Liger -- I think that’s what they call it. Half-lion, half-tiger."
After LSU fired Brian Kelly last week in the midst of his fourth season as head coach, Sheppard has been named as a potential replacement for the program to pursue. Asked Thursday if he has any interest in the job, Sheppard said he hasn't been contacted by the university and that "I can't be interested in something I have no idea about."
"It’s a lot of things you can get into and speculate about, but the truth of the matter is, nobody has contacted me about anything dealing with a job outside of anything I’m doing right now," Sheppard said. "And that’s the honest truth."
His interest, he said, is "in beating the Minnesota Vikings" on Sunday.
"I’m tasked with another Tiger this week in Justin Jefferson -- since we're on the Tiger conversation -- and that’s a tall one. He’s one of the LSU greats, so that’s what I’m interested in. I’m interested in seeing us come off this bye week and stop cutting ourselves short of the potential that I believe we can be as a defense and as a team. It’s time to make this final push, and it starts with us limiting points, putting our offense in certain situations to capitalize on us getting the ball back to them," Sheppard said.
Sheppard has thrived in his first season as defensive coordinator for the Lions after taking over for one of his mentors Aaron Glenn. Detroit is eighth in the NFL in total defense despite battling several absences in the secondary, with Sheppard eyeing further improvement over the second half of the season -- and not eyeing anything else.
"I didn’t get to this position by trying to be the defensive coordinator in Detroit," he said. "I got to this position by understanding what my role was within this organization. I got to this position by understanding you gotta put your head down and go back to work whether you have success or failure. So I’m gonna remain doing that. And whatever may lay out there for me, God willing, that’s going to happen, but that’s going to happen through success in my current position, not through anything else, not by politicking for anything, not by trying to set headlines a certain way, by putting my head down and giving this organization the best version of myself. And that’s what I plan to continue to do."
As for LSU, Sheppard hopes the university finds the right man for the job, whoever it may be.
"We hoisted a trophy when I was there, they hoisted one after I left there. The standard down there, just like we’ve created the standard here, through hard work, through what you put out there, is championships. It’s not just being around, it’s not being competitive, and it’s not winning. We should win. That’s what we put ourselves in position to do over the course of time. It’s championships.
"And that school deserves that. That fanbase deserves that. And I know the people down there in place will make sure that happens moving forward."