The Detroit Lions are looking for out-of-house solutions for their hole at offensive coordinator, which is a shift in logic from just one offseason ago.
Dan Campbell, Brad Holmes, and the rest of the Lions' decision makers have been lining up some interesting candidates for the OC job, with their latest docket including former Miami Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel and New York Giants head coach Mike Kafka.
Kafka is the surprise addition to the Lions' interview schedule, with the interim coach likely a big name this offseason in the OC hiring cycle, specifically. He feels a lot more attainable than McDaniel at this juncture, and truthfully, wouldn't be a terrible get for Detroit. Overall, his name included in their hiring pool signals that the Lions are seeking fresh minds to enter the building.
Kafka adds to name of OC's getting reeled to Detroit for interviews
Kafka led the Giants after the firing of Brian Daboll this season, almost pushing the Lions to a loss back in Week 12. The offense for New York was humming in that game, although, they were playing a very depleted Detroit defense. Still, some of the looks he was getting for Jameis Winston of all people were admirable, and he's clearly got a solid eye for play-calling.
Detroit is obviously looking to get some newer faces into the building after trying, and failing, to hire internally for their former OC role. So far, the names mentioned are actually pretty inspiring if you're a Lions fan looking to see some more creativity injected into the Lions' play-calling.
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Kafka is especially unique in that he was the quarterbacks coach for one of the best signal callers in the NFL during one of his most successful stretches of his career: Patrick Mahomes. He has lurked behind the scenes as one of the major puzzle pieces to what's gone right for the Giants in recent years, as well, being the OC while Tyrone Tracy and Malik Nabers had their breakouts with New York.
Jaxson Dart was also made to look quite competent down the stretch with Kafka at the helm, with New York winning some fun ones to end their season (much to the chagrin of Giants fans looking to get a better draft pick).
Between McDaniel and Kafka interviewing for this job, the Lions are looking to win back some goodwill from fans who might be feeling like the team is getting too conservative as of late with their decision-making. Picking John Morton last offseason seemed like a potential mistake from the get-go, and that intuition was proven to be true.
Hopefully, Detroit manages to snag one of these coaches off the coaching cycle sooner rather than later, as there's major prep to be done soon for the 2026 NFL Draft and some key offensive pieces to be evaluated in their trenches.