NFL Draft prospect Grey Zabel gushes over new Lions TE coach

“I love that man.” NFL Draft prospect Grey Zabel believes the Detroit Lions are getting ‘an unbelievable person’ in new TE coach Tyler Roehl.

New Detroit Lions tight end coach Tyler Roehl has yet to meet with the local media, so we don’t have a great picture as to what he’ll bring to the team in his first NFL coaching job. However, Roehl’s influence was all over the NFL Combine this week, as several players who will be drafted this year passed through Roehl at some point of their career, and all of them had the same thing to say about the Lions tight ends coach.

“A high-energy guy,” Iowa State receiver Jayden Higgins said.

“I’ve never seen him tired because of how much energy he brings each day,” Jaylin Noel added.

But before Roehl was with Iowa State as their assistant head coach/running backs coach, he spent a decade coach at his alma mater: North Dakota State. There, serving roles that spanned from running backs coach, tight ends coach, fullbacks coach and offensive coordinator, he crossed paths with offensive lineman Grey Zabel, and no one showed as much love for Roehl as the offensive lineman.

“Ahh, Tyler Roehl is my guy. I love that man,” Zabel said. “They’re getting an unbelievable person, first off. The energy that he has every single day is unbelievable. I don’t know how he does it. He doesn’t do caffeine, I think—or maybe he does now—but to have that energy every single day is remarkable. And he’s a dude that can get you to run through a brick wall just by having a single conversation with him.”

It’s clear Roehl is going to bring a ton of juice to the Lions’ tight end room that already features to strong players in Sam LaPorta and Brock Wright. And apparently he was pretty close to landing the job with the Lions a few years ago.

“Interviewed him two years ago, and I was close then,” Lions coach Dan Campbell said. “This year was the right year.”

Everything you hear about Roehl—except his lack of caffeine usage—sounds like the exact kind of person Campbell is. So does Zabel think he’ll fit in with the Lions head coach?

“Absolutely.”

Note: Zabel said he had an informal meeting with the Lions at the NFL Combine.