MOBILE, Ala. -- USA Today's Mike Garafolo is reporting the Detroit Lions will hire Jim Washburn as a defensive assistant. The move has yet to be officially announced by the team.

Washburn has 14 years of NFL experience, all as a defensive line coach. He most recently held the role in Philadelphia, but was relieved of his duties in the middle of last season after the Eagles lost eight straight and the team's defensive line was under-performing.

Prior to Philadelphia, Washburn worked 12 seasons with the Tennessee Titans, overlapping with Jim Schwartz's entire eight-year tenure as the team's defensive coordinator.

The Lions defensive line is currently coached by Kris Kocurek, who is entering his fifth year in Detroit. There was no indication his role with the team is changing. He was coaching the defensive line for the South squad at the 2013 Senior Bowl on Monday.

During Washburn's time in Tennessee, the Titans finished in the top 10 in sacks eight times. In 2011, his first year in Philadelphia, the Eagles led the NFL with 51 sacks.

Washburn is known for his heavy utilization of the Wide-9 defensive end alignment, further illustrating the Lions have no plans of significantly reduce the use of the technique in their current 4-3 defensive scheme. He had this to say during an interview with the Philadelphia media last year.

"Everybody talks about the Wide 9, but we just move a guy three feet. It's 54 percent pass on first down. I can get a 290-pounder out there to play the run 100 times better than I(Jason) Babin or Phillip Hunt and you're conceding 54 percent of the time, but what we want is to have our cake and eat it too. Want to be able to get in a position where you can pass-rush and play the run equally well. We've been the top two or three in the league in rush defense playing the same front. There's some snakes into every defense you play. You play 3-4, there's some places they can get you. I just think after a year we know where the snakes are."

In a unique twist, Washburn will join his son Jeremiah in Detroit. Jeremiah was recently promoted by Schwartz to be the team's offensive line coach.