Who is Robert Karmelowicz?

Answer 1

Bob Karmelowicz is entering his 18th season as a coach in the NFL. He has spent the previous 17 seasons in the NFL working with the defensive line. For the past 34 years, Karmelowicz has worked every season as a coach focusing on the play at the line of scrimmage, with 26 years coaching defensive line units and eight years as an offensive line coach. Karmelowicz joins the Lions after spending the past three seasons with the Houston Texas. While with the Texans, he was instrumental in the development DE Mario Williams, the first overall pick in the 2006 NFL Draft. In Williams' second season (2007), he exploded as a pass rusher when he jumped from 4.5 sacks as a rookie to 14 sacks the following year.

From 1997-2005, Karmelowicz was the defensive line coach for the Kansas City Chiefs where he worked under Lions Defensive Coordinator Gunther Cunningham. Most recently, Karmelowicz helped develop Pro Bowl DE Jared Allen after he was selected in the fourth round of the 2004 NFL Draft. During Allen's first two NFL seasons (2004-05), he registered 20 sacks (nine in 2004 as a rookie and 11 in 2005) under Karmelowicz tutelage.

Prior to his nine-year tenure with the Chiefs, Karmelowicz worked two seasons as the defensive line coach with the Washington Redskins (1994-96), and his first stop in the NFL was with Cincinnati as the Bengals' defensive line coach from 1992-93.

Karmelowicz entered the pro ranks following a three-year coaching stint as the defensive line coach for the Miami Hurricanes. He was a member of the Hurricanes' coaching staff that led the Hurricanes to a 33-3 record over those three seasons and claimed two National Championships. As the Hurricanes' defensive line coach, he developed All-Americans DT Cortez Kennedy (third overall selection in 1990 NFL Draft) and DT Russell Maryland (first overall selections in 1991 NFL Draft).

Before joining the Hurricanes coaching staff, he coached on the college level at Washington state (1987-88), Illinois (1983-86) as both a defensive line and offensive line coach, UNLV (1982), Texas-El Paso (1981), Massachusetts (1980) and his first five years as a coach at Arizona State (1975-79). He served as an offensive line coach at UTEP, Massachusetts and Arizona State.

Karmelowicz was a three-year starter and consensus Little All-America nose tackle at the University of Bridgeport, where he earned his bachelor's degree in 1972. He received a master's degree from Arizona State in 1977. A native of Plainville, Conn., Karmelowicz and his wife Olga have three children: daughters, Liz and Marissa and son Dave.