Is John Morton as philosophically aligned with Dan Campbell as it seems?

New Lions offensive coordinator John Morton seems to be incredibly aligned aligned with Dan Campbell philosophically, but is that really the case?

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John Morton was mentioned peripherally as a candidate to replace Ben Johnson as Detroit Lions offensive coordinator. Between Sunday night and Monday afternoon he went from being a candidate to watch to all but officially being the guy, and reports on Tuesday say it's official.

Morton has been in coaching since 1998, with most of that time in the NFL. But more casual fans will will say "who the (bleep) is he?", since he has rarely been above a position coach. In total, between two years at the college level at USC and one year with the New York Jets, he has been an offensive coordinator for three seasons in his coaching career.

Morton was on the Lions' staff in 2022, in what by all accounts was an influential role as a senior offensive assistant, and he spent the last two year's under Dan Campbell's mentor Sean Payton with the Denver Broncos as passing game coordinator. He also overlapped with Campbell for one year (2016) on Payton's staff in New Orleans.

So the alignment Campbell made it clear he would prioritize with a new offensive coordinator appears to naturally exist with Morton. But is it really true?

There are potential concerns with John Morton as Lions' offensive coordinator

Overall, to put it candidly, Morton is a boring offensive coordinator hire. Of course being a splashy name is not a requirement for success as a play caller, but immediate reactions are generally on the "don't love it, don't hate it" fence regarding Morton replacing Johnson.

All we can go on right now, until Morton puts his imprint on the Lions' offense and we see the results, is his history as a play caller. It's also not a lot of history, and there were reported philosophical differences with then-Jets' head coach Todd Bowles that led to his firing after just one season.

ESPN's Rich Cimini, via his report Morton had been fired in January of 2018, provided some details for why it didn't work with the Jets.

"Bowles felt Morton was too pass-reliant, a sentiment echoed in the locker room. Several players were unhappy with his playcalling throughout the season, ESPN reported on Jan. 1. He "thinks we're the New Orleans Saints, playing in a dome," one player said, alluding to Morton's previous team."

"Members of the coaching staff also clashed with Morton, sources said. They expressed concern about his ability to design and execute a consistent running game."

To be fair to Morton, he didn't have much talent to work with calling plays for the Jets' offense in 2017. The offense wasn't especially good at anything-28th in total yards, 24th in scoring, 19th in rushing offense, 24th in passing offense and 23rd in third down conversion rate. The Jets were mid-pack (17th) in rush attempts per game.

In Morton's two years as USC's offensive coordinator, the Trojans were 85th (2009) and tied for 58th (2010) in rushing attempts per game (out of 120 FBS teams). The offense was notably better overall in that second season, but Lane Kiffin took over play-calling duties after coming back to replace Pete Carroll as head coach. With play-calling duties taken from him, Morton resigned at USC after the 2010 season.

With a lesson learned from his first offensive coordinator hire (Anthony Lynn), Campbell made it clear he would not completely pass off responsibility for the Lions' offense as a new coordinator came aboard.

It was a long time ago, and time always allows people to learn from what went awry before. But previous players and colleagues questioning Morton's play calling tilt/acumen and "ability to design and execute a consistent run game" as an offensive coordinator invites surprising questions about how he'll mesh with Campbell.

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