Over his first four NFL seasons, Detroit Lions wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown has only had Antwaan Randle-El as his position coach. St. Brown obviously brings talent and a unique work ethic into the equation, but Randle El can get some credit for the "Sun God" becoming one of the best wide receivers in the NFL.
With the Lions losing both of their coordinators to head coaching jobs this offseason, there was natural risk of losing multiple assistant coaches to the new staffs Ben Johnson and Aaron Glenn were building. That didn't happen quite as much as it seemed it could have early in the process, but two Lions assistants, Randle El and assistant quarterbacks coach J.T. Barrett, are following Johnson to Chicago.
News of a coach leaving can sometimes come as a total surprise to players. Other times, the communication level is good enough that players know what an assistant coach might be doing.
Amon-Ra St. Brown reveals how he found out Antwaan Randle El was leaving
On the new episode of his podcast, St. Brown told the story about how he ended up finding out Randle El was leaving the Lions.
"I hit up the group chat, I go, ‘El, ain’t you from Chicago?” St. Brown said. “I sent that. Next one. ‘You following Ben?’ Literally, I sent that at 6:17 p.m. Two minutes later, I get a call from him. ‘The f*ck?’ I answer."
"He said, ‘What’s up, man.’ He goes, ‘Hey man. How’d you know? Did that get leaked?’ I said, ‘Nah, I was just messing around.’”
St. Brown was thinking about his coaching staff, and apparently pondering who could leave to join Johnson or Glenn, and found out Randle El is from the Chicago area. That prompted his inquiry to the group chat between Randle El and the Lions' wide receivers, followed by Randle El's reaction. The timing is almost impossible to believe, with it being a proverbial "Friday evening news dump."
But ultimately, St. Brown understands why Randle El left.
"I get it,” St. Brown said. “He’s from Chicago, too. So, it’s a step up, he gets to be receivers coach, knows the offense, knows Ben. It just makes sense for him. I’m not upset. I’m not upset about it. I’m happy for him. It’s just funny how it all went down.”
As for who will replace Randle El, assistant wide receivers coach Seth Ryan is a natural internal candidate. New offensive coordinator John Morton also has a lot of history working with wide receivers.