John Morton’s stint as the Detroit Lions’ offensive coordinator is over after just one season, as the team announced they were parting ways with the coach on Tuesday evening.
It wasn’t the most surprising move after head coach Dan Campbell took playcalling duties from him in Week 10 and never returned them, signaling that perhaps Morton wouldn’t be long in Detroit.
Campbell brought Morton in this past offseason to replace Ben Johnson, who departed for the Chicago Bears’ head coaching gig. Campbell and Morton’s relationship dates back to being on Sean Payton’s staff with the New Orleans Saints, and he served as a senior offensive assistant on Detroit’s staff in 2022, Johnson’s first season as offensive coordinator.
The expectation was for Morton to pick up where Johnson left off and steer Detroit’s offense back towards elite status.
Instead, it was a turbulent, frustration-filled year for the Lions. Though they finished as a top five offense in both yards and points per game, upon further inspection it becomes clear that this wasn’t the same unit who took the NFL by storm under Johnson in 2024.
What went wrong with John Morton and the Lions in 2025
Detroit’s rushing attack, once the lifeblood of one of the best offenses in NFL history, fell off a cliff in terms of efficiency. The Lions were 25th in the NFL in estimated points added per rush at -0.06 and 24th in rushing success rate at 40.05% in 2025. They were top five in both categories the year before.
The Lions were hit hard by the surprise June retirement of All-Pro center Frank Ragnow and guard Kevin Zeitler’s departure in free agency. Rookie Tate Ratledge and second-year Christian Mahogany struggled to adjust early, and center Graham Glasgow was no Ragnow.
Quarterback Jared Goff took the most sacks of his career at 38, as his lack of mobility became more of a glaring issue for Detroit than ever before with him constantly facing interior pressure and unable to evade it.
There were also issues with getting the ball to Jameson Williams, who had two games with less than 10 receiving yards and five with less than three catches with Morton calling plays. Morton even went as far as to say he “failed” Williams back in October.
It all culminated in Campbell taking playcalling duties from Morton in the team’s November game against the Washington Commanders. The Lions’ offense performed better to end the year under Campbell, but went 4-5 in that stretch and missed the playoffs for the first time since 2022.
“I just wanted to change things up a little bit,” Campbell said of the move at the time. “Let’s just see if maybe a different play-caller can, maybe give us a little rhythm. That’s all. And, honestly, it’s nothing more than that.”
At one point in the year, it looked like Morton had Detroit’s offense right on track. Following a kick in the teeth in Week 1 where the Lions lost to the Green Bay Packers 27-13 and the offensive line got manhandled, the Lions averaged over 40 points per game in a four game stretch.
But only one of those games came against a good defense, against the Cleveland Browns in Week 4. And Detroit only managed 277 total yards of offense in that game. That stretch wound up not lasting, to say the least.
You could pinpoint several areas where Detroit’s offense faltered under Morton, but the underlying issue with the group this year was clearly the offensive line. It went from being among the best in the NFL to a flat-out bad unit in 2025, which ultimately derailed things despite one of the most statistically productive seasons of Goff’s career.
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Injuries to tight ends Sam LaPorta and Brock Wright only hurt the running game more, and every starter on Detroit’s offensive line save for Ratledge missed at least one game. It begs the question of how much of the blame Morton truly deserves for the inconsistent season.
There probably aren’t many play-callers who would have been able to run the ball much better with such poor offensive line play. The Lions’ offense did look better under Campbell, but even then they had completely lost the ability to run the ball effectively by the time December came around.
But still, Morton struggled to get some of Detroit’s key playmakers consistently involved like Williams and running back David Montgomery, and the offense was far too inconsistent under him given the wealth of skill talent they had.
Now that Detroit again has a vacancy at offensive coordinator, the pressure is on Campbell to knock this hire out of the park. The Lions still have one of the most talented offenses in the league and a roster that is more than capable of contention.
This is the most pivotal offseason of the Campbell-Brad Holmes era in Detroit. Chiefly among the top priorities should be fixing the offensive line and hiring a playcaller who can get the most out of this offense, assuming Campbell doesn’t retain those duties in 2025.
It just didn’t work out with Morton, whose tenure will be remembered as one element of perhaps the most disappointing season in Lions history. 2026 will be a big one.