Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Joey Fitzgerald enters his fifth season with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2026 as defensive quality control coach.

Joey Fitzgerald enters his fifth season with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2026 as defensive quality control coach.

In 2025, Fitzgerald ran quality control efforts for a defense that finished tied for third in total pressures (251), fifth in fewest opponent rushing yards per game (99.1) and tied for seventh in takeaways (23). Tampa Bay's rush defense has now finished top five in 3-of-4 seasons since Fitzgerald's arrival in 2022. Working closely with the defensive line, Fitzgerald aided in the development of the team's fifth-round selection, Elijah Roberts, who ended up starting nine games for the Buccaneers due to injuries, contributing 21 quarterback pressures, 14 tackles (two for loss), five quarterback hits, three passes defensed, 2.0 sacks and one fumble recovery. Roberts was 1-of-4 rookies to record five-or-more quarterback hits, three-or-more passes defensed and 2.0+ sacks in 2025, joining Cleveland's AP Defensive Rookie of the Year Carson Schwesinger, Cincinnati's Demetrius Knight and Atlanta's James Pearce Jr., leaving Robers as the only member of this group selected outside the top 50 in the 2025 NFL Draft. Roberts, Schwesinger and Atlanta's Jalon Walker were the lone three rookies with 2.0+ sacks and 20+ quarterback pressures on fewer than 300 pass-rushing snaps, per NextGen Stats.

Fitzgerald assisted a top five rush defense for the second year in a row in 2024, as Tampa Bay limited its opponents to the fourth-fewest rushing yards per game (97.8). He handled quality control efforts for a defense that regrouped over its Bye Week to finish second in opponent yards per game (273.9), second in defensive third down conversion percentage (30.1%) and second in points allowed per game (17.0) from Weeks 12-18, propelling the Buccaneers to a 6-1 record over the final seven weeks.

Alongside then Defensive Line Coach Kacy Rodgers, Fitzgerald oversaw a Pro Bowl campaign for nose tackle Vita Vea, in which Vea set career highs in sacks (7.0), tackles for loss (10) and quarterback pressures (47), and matched his career high in quarterback hits (13). Despite missing six games due to injury, second-year defensive lineman Calijah Kancey also took strides forward under Fitzgerald's mentorship, finishing with a team-high and career-best 7.5 sacks in 2024, in addition to also establishing career marks in quarterback hits (17), quarterback pressures (37) and tackles for loss (11). Kancey and Vea finished as 1-of-3 interior defensive tackle duos with 5.0+ sacks each in 2024. With defensive lineman Logan Hall finishing tied for third on the team with a career high 5.5 sacks, all three primary defensive line starters finished with career highs in sacks under Fitzgerald's leadership in 2024.

In 2023, the Buccaneers defense finished fifth in the NFL in rush defense (95.3), seventh in scoring defense (19.1) and tied for seventh in sacks (48.0). Fitzgerald assisted Rodgers in overseeing the development of rookie defensive lineman Calijah Kancey, who finished the season with 26 tackles (10 for loss), 12 quarterback hits and 4.0 sacks. Kancey's 10 tackles for loss tied for second among all rookies, trailing only teammate Yaya Diaby.

In Fitzgerald's first season in 2022, Tampa Bay finished tied for fifth in fewest opponent first downs per game (18.5), sixth in lowest third-down conversion rate (36.9%), tied for seventh in sacks (45.0), ninth in fewest passing yards allowed per game (203.6), tied for ninth in fewest total yards allowed per game (324.3) and 10th in fewest yards allowed per play (5.14).

Most recently, Fitzgerald worked as the quarterbacks coach at Northwestern State (2021) following a two-year stint as wide receivers coach at the University of Louisiana Monroe (2019-20). The Fort Lauderdale native previously served as recruiting specialist at the University of Florida in 2018 – a program that went 10-3 on its way to a Peach Bowl victory that season.

He has also previously held offensive roles at Southeastern Louisiana (2017), University of Virginia's College at Wise (2016) and Eastern Kentucky (2015).

While in graduate school, Fitzgerald began his coaching career as a defensive intern and graduate assistant at Florida Atlantic from 2009-12, working with the defensive backs and linebackers, prior to spending two years at Mississippi State (2013-14) as a graduate assistant and offensive quality control coach. Fitzgerald played quarterback at Hampden-Sydney College from 2005-08, during which his team claimed the 2007 Old Dominion Athletic Conference Championship.

A native of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Fitzgerald graduated from Hampden-Sydney College with a bachelor's degree in psychology. He later earned a master's degree in education from Florida Atlantic in 2012 and a master's degree in teaching from