The Detroit Lions are looking to replace both coordinators this season, which has the potential to shake things up for one of the most dominant franchises the past two seasons.
Fresh off winning homefield advantage throughout the NFC Playoffs, only to fall to the Washington Commanders in the divisional round on the heels of a run to the NFC Championship Game the prior season, the Lions will look to continue their recent run of success despite Aaron Glenn departing to take the New York Jets head coaching job and Ben Johnson defecting to lead the NFC North rival Chicago Bears.
Head coach Dan Campbell’s hypercompetitive culture is the bedrock to the Lions’ success, as is one of the youngest, and most gifted homegrown rosters across the league, but there could be some growing pains as Detroit adjusts to two new playcallers this fall.
Detroit Lions’ John Morton Aiming for Continuity
John Morton, the Lions’ new offensive coordinator, will be tasked with replacing Johnson who built Detroit into one of the most prolific offenses across the league in recent seasons, but he says he isn’t exactly bringing a new playbook with him to Ford Field.
“I mean, I’m not changing much,” Morton told reporters during a press conference during Lions OTAs.
Morton, 55, returns to his home state of Michigan after spending the past two seasons as the Denver Broncos’ passing game coordinator, including helping oversee Bo Nix’s strong rookie season and is just three years removed from spending the 2022 campaign as Johnson’s senior offensive assistant.
While Morton plans to stick with what has worked in Detroit, he still intends to put his own spin on some of the concepts that worked well under Johnson.
“It’s just about techniques and certain things, [like] how I talk, how I see it, how I’m teaching them the concepts. Why we’re calling [a certain play],” Morton said. “That might be something they’ve never heard before because I’m teaching everybody [the same way] you teach the quarterback. I think that’s important. Like, why are we running this play? They should know.”
