Former Houston Texans offensive coordinator George Godsey is back in the NFL and moving to the defensive side of the ball.

Godsey was hired Tuesday by the Detroit Lions as a defensive assistant in charge of special projects, a nebulous title that was also used by Detroit in 2016 when it had Randy Edsall serving as the assistant in charge of special projects.

Edsall left in December to return to UConn for his second stint as the Huskies' head coach. Edsall had worked with time management and clock management issues and advanced scouting.

Godsey was the Texans' offensive coordinator in 2015 and 2016 and coached Houston's quarterbacks under Bill O'Brien in 2014. Before heading to Houston, Godsey was an assistant coach with the New England Patriots, serving two seasons as an offensive assistant and one as the team's tight ends coach.

The 38-year-old former Georgia Tech quarterback started his coaching career as a high school quarterbacks coach in Georgia before joining the University of Central Florida, where he was a graduate assistant, quarterbacks coach and running backs coach.