Amon-Ra St. Brown reveals significant history with new Lions coach David Shaw

Amon-Ra St. Brown and new Lions passing game coordinator David Shaw have known each other for years.

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On last week's episode of the "St. Brown Podcast", Detroit Lions wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown made it clear he's not concerned about all the turnover on the coaching staff.

"We’ll be all right, though,” St. Brown said. “Players make plays, right?”

The day after that podcast episode went up, the Lions pulled a surprise out of their hats to hire former Stanford head coach David Shaw as passing game coordinator to replace the departed Tanner Engstrand. Shaw spent this past season in the Denver Broncos' organization, where new Lions' offensive coordinator John Morton was the passing game coordinator.

St. Brown and his brother Equanimeous were both recruited by Shaw out of high school but went to USC and Notre Dame respectively. Their middle brother Osiris did go to Stanford, playing wide receiver for Shaw there from 2018-2020.

Amon-Ra St. Brown reveals his history with David Shaw

On this week's episode of the "St. Brown Podcast", both of the brothers talked about being recruited by Shaw out of high school. Amon-Ra was able to go a little deeper when Equanimeous brought up the Lions hiring Shaw, referring to his attending camps at Stanford.

"I always thought he was a great guy, honest, and then you went to Notre Dame and Osiris (St. Brown's other brother) always wanted to go to Stanford, so he ended up going to Stanford," St. Brown said. "I went to the camps at Stanford with him, with Osiris, saw Shaw there, and so kind of got to know him."

St. Brown acknowledged conversations with Shaw back then were on a personal level, and less about football, but he'll lean toward Shaw's shared history with Morton to foster confidence in his passing game acumen.

"He was with Johnny Mo (Morton) in Denver and Johnny Mo was doing a lot of good stuff when he was here in Detroit so I'm excited," St. Brown said. "... When I saw it, I was like 'no way', coach Shaw with the Lions, that's a crazy full-circle moment. And then a few days after, he texted me and said he can't wait to see me out in Allen Park. So I’m excited to see him, it’s going to be fun. New coaches, fresh faces, time to get back to work.”

Shaw was a surprising hire to the refurbished coaching staff in Detroit, but his experience and overall acumen is undeniable as he comes back to the NFL. That he has some history with one of the Lions' best offensive players will only be helpful as he works with a new set of players.

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