As the Detroit Lions have risen to success, there's a consequence of that success head coach Dan Campbell has handled well. Assistant coaches will be in-demand for opportunities elsewhere, and the staff will have to be rearranged or restocked every year.
Nothing will probably ever quite be like after the 2024 season on that front for Campbell. Ben Johnson and Aaron Glenn both left for head coaching jobs, and as expected both took multiple Lions' assistant coaches with them. That isn't to say there aren't more future head coaches on the Lions' staff, but losing both coordinators in the same hiring cycle is rare.
This season isn't even over, and the Lions are set to lose an assistant coach. Tight ends coach Tyler Roehl will finish the season with the team, but he is heading back to Iowa State as the offensive coordinator under new head coach Jimmy Rogers.
One way or another, Roehl probably won't be the only assistant coach Campbell has to replace after the season. As jobs come open, there will be more opportunities for people to leave.
Lions could lose another coach to the college hiring carousel
On Wednesday, the University of Michigan fired head coach Sherrone Moore. So the Wolverines are now engaging in a search for a new head coach after the hiring cycle on the college level has pretty much stopped. Top candidates on the college level are likely to stay where they are now, with few exceptions.
The general timing of things works against Michigan hiring someone who currently has a job in the NFL. But the job could appeal to some candidates who are currently working in the league, with Los Angeles Chargers (and former Wolverines) defensive coordinator Jesse Minter easily leading that list.
However, Michigan may have to go further down their list of options to replace Moore then they'd like to. Including candidates from the NFL.
On any list of coaches the Lions could lose after the season, wide receivers coach Scottie Montgomery sits prominently. He's also a definite candidate to be the Lions' offensive coordinator next year, as John Morton's departure feels inevitable.
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Dating back to 2006, Montgomery has an uniquely extensive coaching resume. On the offensive side of the ball, at the college and/or NFL level, the only things he hasn't done is coach tight ends and offensive lineman.
Montgomery also has three seasons as a college head coach on his resume, albeit with a dismal 9-26 record at East Carolina from 2016-2018. He was mentioned as a candidate at Duke, his alma mater, when that job was last open two years ago. For what it's worth, Duke head coach Manny Diaz has garnered mention as a candidate for Michigan.
If there are odds out there attempting to predict who will be Michigan's next head coach in the wake of Moore's dismissal, and there surely are somewhere, Montgomery would be an incredible long shot. If he would even make the list.
But if Diaz were to become the next head coach at Michigan, Montgomery would be an automatic candidate for the job at Duke.
The college coaching carousel has fired back up unexpectedly with a prominent job opening. So Montgomery, directly or residually, may end up with an unanticipated opportunity to leave the Lions' coaching staff if he wants to entertain it.