The Tampa Bay Buccaneers today announced that the team has hired Thaddeus Lewis and A.Q. Shipley to the team’s coaching staff.
Lewis, 33, will take over as the team’s assistant wide receivers coach, replacing Antwaan Randle El, who was named wide receivers coach for the Detroit Lions earlier this offseason. Lewis remains in Tampa Bay after spending the 2020 NFL season as a representative of the Bill Walsh coaching fellow program, during which he worked as an assistant to the offense. Prior to arriving in Tampa Bay, Lewis spent two years as an offensive analyst at UCLA under Chip Kelly from 2018-19.
The Opa-locka, Florida, native was a four-year starter at quarterback for Duke (2006-09), where he set school records for career passing yards (10,065) and passing touchdowns (67) and added nine rushing touchdowns. He also set Duke’s program record for most consecutive pass attempts without an interception at 206. He was a finalist for the Davey O’Brien Award – presented to the nation’s top quarterback – in his senior season in 2009. Lewis then went on to spend parts of eight seasons in the NFL (2010-17) with the St. Louis Rams, Cleveland Browns, Detroit Lions, Buffalo Bills, Houston Texans, Philadelphia Eagles, San Francisco 49ers and Baltimore Ravens. He played in seven career games, making six starts, recording 115 completions for 1,296 passing yards and five passing touchdowns, adding one rushing touchdown.
Shipley, 34, is set to begin his coaching career with Tampa Bay as an offensive assistant following his 10-year NFL playing career. He entered the league as a seventh-round selection (No. 226 overall) of the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 2009 NFL Draft.
Shipley spent the 2009 season on the Steelers’ practice squad before joining the Philadelphia Eagles’ practice squad in 2010 and remaining with the Eagles through the 2011 preseason. In 2012, Shipley joined the Indianapolis Colts, appearing in 14 games, with five starts. He was traded to the Baltimore Ravens in 2013, where he appeared in all 16 games, making nine starts. Shipley then re-joined Indianapolis in 2014, playing in 15 games, with five starts for the Colts. He then spent five seasons with the Arizona Cardinals from 2015-19 before spending his final season with Tampa Bay in 2020, playing in five games, with two starts.
For his career, Shipley played in 110 career regular season games, with 72 starts, and two postseason contests. He played for Buccaneers Head Coach Bruce Arians in Pittsburgh, Indianapolis, Arizona and Tampa Bay, covering eight of his years spent in the NFL. The Coraopolis, Pennsylvania, native played collegiately at Penn State.
