Jett Modkins enters his fourth season as the Lions' assistant special teams coach in 2024 after originally joining the team in 2021.
Working with Lions Special Teams Coordinator Dave Fipp, Modkins has helped the unit have success in multiple areas. From 2021-23, Detroit was eight-of-10 (80.0%) on fake punt attempts. Four of those conversions came via rushes and four have come via passes.
During the 2023 season, Lions opponents started their average drive at their own 23.7-yard line following kickoffs, the lowest average starting field position allowed in the NFL. The unit was anchored by LB Jalen Reeves-Maybin, who tied for second in the NFL with 13 total special teams tackles and threw for a 31-yard pass on a fake-punt conversion. Reeves-Maybin was named Second-Team AP All-Pro and earned his first-career Pro Bowl nod, becoming the first Lions special teamer (non-punter, non-kicker, non-long snapper) to be selected to the Pro Bowl.
In 2022, the Lions led the NFL with the highest percentage of kickoff returns going for 20-or-more yards (85.3%) and were third in kickoff return average (26.1). Modkins also helped WR Kalif Raymond rank second in punt return average in 2022 (13.2; 10 return minimum) en route to Second-Team AP All-Pro honors.
In Raymond's three seasons under Modkins' tutelage, he ranks second in the NFL in punt return average (11.9) and is third in punt return yards (831).
In 2021, the Lions led the NFL in onside kick recoveries, going three-of-nine (33.33%) on their attempts. Their onside kick conversion percentage marked the most successful rate the team has had in a season since at least 1997, when the data began to be tracked.
Prior to joining the Lions, Modkins spent the 2020 season with the Denver Broncos as the team's diversity coaching intern, assisting with the offense.
His first coaching position came as a defensive volunteer coach with Akron University in 2019.
A native of Chandler, Ariz., Modkins played collegiate football at Glendale (Ari.) Community College and also attended Kent State University. He is the son of Vikings running backs coach/run game coordinator Curtis Modkins.
