The Detroit Lions' ongoing search for an offensive coordinator has been a major topic among fans over the last few days. Following John Morton’s dismissal as the Lions' offensive coordinator after one season, Detroit has expressed its interest in several replacements for its vacant OC job.
The popular choice among Lions fans, former Miami Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel, interviewed for the position on Tuesday, and another potential candidate is set to interview with Detroit on Thursday: Atlanta Falcons offensive coordinator Zac Robinson.
According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, Robinson is set to interview with the Lions for the open OC job on Thursday. Robinson has a history working with Lions quarterback Jared Goff, as he was the Rams' assistant quarterbacks coach in 2019.
Robinson gets interview with the Lions
While a majority of Lions fans want McDaniel as the team’s next offensive coordinator next season, bringing in Robinson to reunite with Goff may not be a bad consolation prize if Detroit can’t land the former Dolphins head coach as OC.
Hiring Robinson, however, comes with several risks. During the two seasons that Robinson was the offensive coordinator for the Falcons, he called offensive plays for one of the youngest and most talented offenses in the league; however, he failed to lead Atlanta to the playoffs.
While most of the blame for those failures, however, lies on the incompetence of former head coach Raheem Morris, Robinson does share some of the blame.
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A fresh start under a competent head coach, Dan Campbell, could help Robinson thrive. With the Falcons, Robinson coached one of the most talented running backs in the league, Bijan Robinson.
Pairing Robinson with Lions running back Jahmyr Gibbs could help the Lions' running game return to the dominance that fans were accustomed to seeing before former offensive coordinator Ben Johnson departed to be the head coach for the Chicago Bears following the 2024 season.
Robinson's ranks from his time with Atlanta as their OC aren't exactly inspiring: the Falcons were 24th in points in the NFL, 19th in the league in passing yards, and 26th in touchdowns scored. Much of their offense, as we already mentioned, was lifted by their running back in Bijan Robinson.
In what is a pivotal offseason for the Lions after they failed to make the playoffs, going from first to worst in the NFC North with a 9-8 record, the hiring of an offensive coordinator is a hire that Detroit needs to get right if they hope to return to being a Super Bowl contender in 2026.