The Detroit Lions were put into a rare circumstance when they lost both of their coordinators to head coaching jobs this offseason. Ben Johnson and Aaron Glenn also each took multiple assistant coaches with them, adding more turnover for Dan Campbell to navigate as he reshaped his staff.
Ultimately, having assistant coaches be in-demand for others jobs is a testament to the Lions' success and how Campbell has built his coaching staff since he arrived in 2021.
Other teams deal with the prospect of losing assistant coaches every year, it's just a new thing for the Lions and it's likely not going away anytime soon. Johnson and Glenn were only the first Campbell assistants to leave for a head coaching job.
Lions' beat writer tabs next assistant coach Dan Campbell could lose to a head coaching job
ESPN rounded up their NFC North beat reporters to address some questions from around the division. Regarding which key assistant is most likely to be in the 2026 head coaching cycle, Lions beat writer Eric Woodyard stayed with the team he covers as he tabbed wide receivers coach Scottie Montgomery.
"Detroit's coaching staff has been gutted since last season, and Montgomery is making the switch from coaching the running backs to the wide receivers."
"He has said his ultimate goal is to become an NFL head coach, and he has put in the work."
"For the past two seasons, Montgomery's leadership has played a key role in turning the Lions' ground attack into one of the most prolific in league history, with running backs Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery becoming the first duo to each rush for at least 10 touchdowns in consecutive seasons in 2023 and 2024. That's no small feat, and if he's able to continue that production with the wide receivers, he certainly could be in the next head coaching cycle as a name to watch."
As Woodyard noted, Montgomery replaced Antwaan Randle El as the Lions' wide receivers coach after two seasons as running backs coach.
Montgomery has a wide range of coaching experience, including being a wide receivers coach in multiple spots (Duke, the Pittsburgh Steelers). He has also been an offensive coordinator, quarterbacks coach and head coach at the college level, with two years as the Indianapolis Colts' running backs coach before coming to the Lions.
Montgomery has interviewed for a couple NFL offensive coordinator jobs since coming to Detroit, including one right after the Lions hired him in 2023. Being a play caller at the NFL level would seem to be the next step for him, but it's not ludicrous to think he could skip that step and have multiple head coaching interviews yield a job in the 2026 hiring cycle.
