The Detroit Lions are in the market for a new offensive coordinator for the second consecutive offseason after firing John Morton following one season in Detroit. It just never worked out with Morton in Detroit, and the move to fire him was preceded by head coach Dan Campbell taking playcalling duties away from him after Week 10.
Morton was hired after serving as a senior assistant on Detroit’s offensive staff in 2022 and as the passing game coordinator for the Denver Broncos from 2023-24. His relationship with Campbell goes back to when they were on Sean Payton's staff in New Orleans in 2016.
The expectation was that Morton would provide continuity, picking up right where Ben Johnson left off in making Detroit’s offense an elite unit. But after a four-game stretch from Weeks 2-5 where the Lions averaged 40 points per game, the offense regressed and Campbell took over play-calling.
Detroit had one of the most disappointing seasons in franchise history, going 9-8 and missing the playoffs a year after a magical 15-2 season. Though the offensive line regressed quite a bit in 2025, the Lions are still stocked with playmakers at every skill position and have the horses to be one of the league's best offenses— especially if they can shore up the line in the offseason.
Which means they really can’t mess this hire up. This core of players won’t be here forever. Campbell did a decent job of calling plays, but may want to focus his energy on being a full-time head coach, especially since his in-game management became a bit more questionable once he started calling plays.
It begs the question– does Detroit go with another inside hire like Johnson was, or a quasi-inside hire based on continuity like Morton? Or do they go outside of the box and hire someone who’s never been in their facility before?
Lions are still elite landing spot for a future OC
Possible inside hires for the Lions include their current assistant head coach / wide receivers coach Scottie Montgomery, offensive line coach Hank Fraley and passing game coordinator David Shaw.
Montgomery has been in Detroit since 2023, Fraley since 2018 and Shaw since 2025. They all have familiarity with the Lions’ scheme and language, but Fraley has never called plays before. Still, Montgomery and Fraley’s names have frequently come up in other teams’ coaching searches, and Shaw has over a decade of head coaching and play-calling experience at the college level.
That familiarity can provide continuity and allow for a smooth transition as Detroit aims to get back to the level it was at when Johnson was in the building. They weren’t that far off from it last year, finishing top 5 in yards and points per game, but an ineffective run game and poor pass protection ultimately doomed the season.
Coaches with a long-lasting relationship with Campbell are also generally less likely to get poached for other openings, something Detroit would probably like to avoid given how affected they were by the brain drain of losing both their coordinators this past offseason.
But familiarity and continuity are not always the best thing in the NFL. The old adage goes, “If you stayed the same, you got worse”. The Lions brought in Morton because of his relationship with Campbell and the belief that he’d be able to hit the ground running. It didn’t work out.
Some flashier outside hires could be Baltimore’s Todd Monken (who has not parted ways with the organization yet, but the belief is that he may soon), former Washington OC Kliff Kingsbury, New York Giants interim head coach / playcaller Mike Kafka, former Miami head coach Mike McDaniel and even former Lions quarterback David Blough, an assistant quarterbacks coach in Washington who emerged as the first name linked to Detroit’s search for a new play-caller.
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An outside hire would bring a fresh perspective to Detroit’s offense and provide some new wrinkles. It may help Detroit to hire someone who’s not trying to just be Johnson, although admittedly that’s not a bad play-caller to want to emulate.
After a year where the Lions’ offense often looked stagnant, sluggish and predictable as it struggled to sustain drives, a new hire from outside the building could be just what they need to reinvigorate the team.
But, it takes a long time to install a new system and get things clicking, and Detroit would be signing up for some growing pains that could be largely avoided if they opt to promote from within. For a team that still has Super Bowl aspirations in 2026, they might not want to be that patient.
An outside hire also runs the risk of simply not being a fit at all, and could be another one-and-done like Morton. But that’s always a possibility when hiring someone for any job at all.
A lot of Detroit’s coaching search depends on who even becomes available at all. The Commanders already blocked multiple interview requests for Blough last year, and Monken could end up remaining in Baltimore entirely. We’ll know a lot more in the next few weeks.
But one thing is for certain— Detroit has to nail this hire. The popular sentiment right now is that their Super Bowl window is closing, or may have already closed. If they want to push back on that and prove themselves as legitimate contenders in a stacked NFC North, their offense has to get back to Johnson levels.
All eyes are on Campbell and general manager Brad Holmes, for maybe the most important offseason in the history of this franchise. This seems like a pretty major fork in the road.