Daniel Mears, The Detroit News

After a fantastic 2024 campaign that led to a mass poaching of their coaching staff, the Detroit Lions have now finished compiling their player position coaching staff. Old faces returned, familiar ones were promoted, and new ones joined the den. We have gone over each hire in detail, so now we will compile all of them here for your reading convenience.

Offensive Coordinator: John Morton (replaces Ben Johnson, now Bears HC). Morton comes in to fill some large shoes. Morton was hired in 2022 as a senior offensive assistant for Detroit before heading off to Denver as their Offensive Coordinator. Morton joins Campbell’s crew ready to get the offense humming again.

Defensive Coordinator: Kelvin Sheppard (replaces Aaron Glenn, now Jets HC). Prior to leaving for greener pastures (pun intended), Glenn mentioned that he was prepping Sheppard for this job. Now his opportunity is in front of him with some work to be done. The defense was decimated by injuries this past season, and it’s up to Coach Shep to get them back to early season form.

Quarterbacks Coach: Mark Brunell Brunell’s tenure in Detroit has been stellar since being hired back in ’21. Getting Jared Goff to play at an MVP caliber quarterback level is his biggest accomplishment in the eyes of Lions fans. Detroit is lucky to have kept Brunell from being poached in the offseason, so expect Goff to keep up his great play.

Running Backs Coach: Tashard Choice (replaces Scottie Montgomery, now WR/AH Coach). This is a fantastic hire as he and RB Jahmyr Gibbs have great history together. When asked why he went to Georgia Tech over other schools, Gibbs simply said it was because of Choice. The former Cowboys RB interviewed for their RBs Coaching gig, but landed in Detroit instead.

Tight Ends Coach: Tyler Roehl (replaces Steve Heiden, now Jets OL Coach). Roehl previously helped coach the Iowa State Cyclones offense to a bowl win over Miami as their RBs/Assistant Head Coach. Hopefully he can help get star TE Sam LaPorta back to rookie season dominance, which we saw a glimpse of towards the end of last season.

Wide Receivers/Assistant Head Coach: Scottie Montgomery (replaces Antwaan Randle El, now Bears WR/AH Coach). Montgomery takes over for Randle El as he goes to Chicago to help Johnson. Montgomery has been with the Lions since ’23 as their RBs coach, and was last a WRs coach at Duke back in 2013. He coached the likes of Hines Ward and Antonio Brown in his time with Pittsburgh.

Offensive Line/Passing Game Coordinator: Hank Fraley (promoted to Passing Game Coordinator). Fraley is a man that the players love. Retaining him, much like Brunell, is fantastic for this team. Getting a bit of a promotion to overseeing the passing game, the OL Coach will keep this offensive line in peak form heading into the 2025 season.

Defensive Line Coach: Kacy Rodgers (replaces Terrell Williams, now Patriots DC). Rodgers comes from coaching Vita Vea to this Lions defensive line. This should be a no-brainer upgrade at the coaching position. The Buccaneers defensive line has been stout, ranking 4th in run defense and 6th in sacks last season. This should help the woeful defensive line that the Lions had to trot out towards the end of the season.

Linebackers Coach: Shaun Dion Hamilton (replaces Kelvin Sheppard, now DC). Hamilton is an internal promotion from Assistant Linebackers Coach to Linebackers Coach. Coach Shep was doing what good coaches do and prepared Hamilton for this role. With how solid the Lions LB play has been the past two seasons, Hamilton needs to keep the consistency with guys like Anzalone and Blankenship coming off injuries.

Defensive Backs Coach/Defensive Passing Game Coordinator: Deshea Townsend. Townsend put an impressive secondary out in the 2024 season with two safeties receiving some recognition for their lockdown play. Safety Kerby Joseph led the league with 9 interceptions and made the 2024 All-Pro team. His partner-in-crime, Safety Brian Branch, also had an incredible season and made the Pro Bowl. Townsend needs to work with an injury-filled CB room, so his work is cut out for him.

The Lions will continue to hire assistant coaches in the future. For now, the main coaching staff has come together and look to get back to dominant form. HC Dan Campbell and GM Brad Holmes look ahead to free agency and the draft to get the players they need to make a push in 2025.