Mike Hodges is in his second season as the Bengals' linebackers coach and his 10th as an NFL coach in 2026. He came to Cincinnati from New Orleans, where he spent the 2017-24 seasons in various roles for the Saints.
In 2025, his first season with Cincinnati, Hodges' linebackers room featured a pair of rookies, Demetrius Knight Jr. and Barrett Carter, who started a combined 26 games. Knight totaled 106 tackles, which ranked second on the team and second among all NFL rookies, while adding three sacks, seven PDs and two INTs. Carter also crossed the 100-tackle mark, finishing with 102, and contributed four PDs. The duo's improvement as the season progressed served as a catalyst for a defense that allowed 9.3 fewer points per game and 97.1 fewer yards per game over final eight contests compared to the first nine.
Hodges spent his final five seasons (2020-24) with New Orleans as the Saints' LBs coach. In 2024, he helped LB Demario Davis record a career-high 136 tackles, which led the team and ranked 16th in the NFL. In 2023, he oversaw the LB duo of Davis and Pete Werner, who paced the Saints with 121 and 93 tackles, respectively. Davis also tied his career high with 6.5 sacks and was named second-team All-Pro by the Associated Press. The LB play spearheaded a Saints defense that ranked eighth in the NFL in points allowed per game (19.2).
In 2022, Hodges helped Davis earn his first career Pro Bowl selection, as he led the team in tackles for a fifth consecutive season (109) and led all NFL inside LBs with 6.5 sacks. Hodges also guided LB Kaden Elliss to a breakout campaign, as the fourth-year pro started 11 games and posted 74 tackles, seven sacks and two FFs.
Under Hodges' tutelage in 2021, Davis tallied a team-high 105 tackles, three sacks and seven PDs en route to being named a second-team All-Pro. As a team, New Orleans finished fourth in the NFL in rushing defense (93.5 yards allowed per game), fourth in scoring defense (19.7 points allowed per game), and seventh in total defense (318.2 yards allowed per game).
In 2020, Hodges' first season as LBs coach, New Orleans claimed its fourth consecutive NFC South Division title with a 12-4 record. Hodges helped Davis lead the team with 119 tackles, his most as a member of the Saints at that time. The Saints acquired LB Kwon Alexander in a trade in November, and working with Hodges, the sixth-year pro tied for the team lead with two FRs in just seven games played.
Hodges spent the 2019 season as assistant linebackers coach for the Saints, after serving as a defensive assistant from '17-18. In 2019, Davis posted 111 tackles and a career-best 11 PDs to net first-team All-Pro honors.
Hodges joined New Orleans' coaching staff after three seasons (2014-16) at Eastern Illinois University. He served as linebackers coach from 2014-15, before transitioning to co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach in '16. He spent two seasons (2012-13) as a defensive graduate assistant at Fresno State University, where he coached inside linebackers and assisted with film breakdown and scouting.
Hodges played LB at Texas A&M University from 2008-10, when Bengals head coach Zac Taylor was an offensive graduate assistant and tight ends coach for the Aggies. He led Texas A&M in tackles and earned second-team All-Big 12 Conference honors as a senior in 2010, after receiving honorable mention all-conference the previous year. He also was a two-time Academic All-Big 12 selection and was named a first-team Academic All-American in 2010. He was presented the 2010 Heart Award, which is the highest honor given to a Texas A&M senior football player.
Hodges was born in San Antonio, Texas, on Sept. 29, 1986. He earned his bachelor's degree from Texas A&M in 2010, then received his master's in 2011. He and his wife, Ashley, have one daughter, Sawyer, and one son, Lincoln.
Playing and coaching history: 2008-11—Played LB at Texas A&M. 2012-13—Graduate assistant coach, Fresno State. 2014-16—Assistant coach (AC), Eastern Illinois. 2017-24—AC, New Orleans Saints. 2025-present—AC, Cincinnati Bengals.
