Revamped Coaching Staff Will Benefit Lions

New assistants should help Lions sustain success in 2025.

Jul 25, 2024; Tampa, FL, USA; Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive tackle Vita Vea (50) and defensive coordinator Kacy Rodgers during training camp at AdventHealth Training Center. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images / Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images

The Detroit Lions’ coaching staff won't look quite the same in 2025. 

Dan Campbell remains intact as head coach. However, both Aaron Glenn and Ben Johnson have left for head coaching jobs with the Jets and the Bears, respectively.

Meanwhile, there's been a mass exodus of assistant coaches, mainly because of Glenn and Johnson using ex-Lions assistants to fill out their coaching staffs.

Glenn has already poached Detroit tight ends coach Steve Heiden, who is set to become the Jets’ next offensive line coach. And according to multiple reports, he's targeting Lions passing game coordinator Tanner Engstrand to be the team's new offensive coordinator. 

As for Johnson, he's tapped Lions wide receivers coach Antwaan Randle El to serve as receivers coach in Chicago, with the additional responsibility of assistant head coach. Plus, he's added Detroit assistant quarterbacks coach J.T. Barrett, who will serve as the Bears’ quarterbacks coach.

Additionally, the Lions lost defensive line coach Terrell Williams to the Patriots. Williams is set to become the defensive coordinator for Mike Vrabel in New England. Williams has been replaced by former Buccaneers defensive line coach Kacy Rodgers.

Almost each offseason, winning teams, like the Lions, experience some sort of assistant coach turnover. It's just a matter of how significant it will be.

Detroit, undeniably, has been hit hard – and harder than any other franchise this offseason – by the assistant coaching carousel. As noted above, Campbell's squad has already lost its two coordinators and four other valued assistants, with a seventh coach (Engstrand) reportedly on the verge of leaving in the coming days (if not the coming hours).

It's far from an enviable situation to be in for Campbell. Yet, it's not the worst-case scenario, either, as shocking as it may sound. 

Detroit Lions linebackers coach Kelvin Sheppard talks to linebacker Ben Niemann (51) during OTAs / Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK

Don't get me wrong: Each of the aforementioned seven assistants brought an immense amount of value in their respective roles on Campbell's staff. Glenn and Johnson were two of the very best coordinators in the game. In addition, there was constant conversation about the likes of Heiden and Randle El being highly effective position coaches. Simply, each of these assistants will be missed (as will Engstrand if he ends up leaving).

However, this is not a doomsday scenario for Detroit. 

After two straight seasons with at least 12 wins and an NFC North division title, Detroit is entering a very difficult stage as an organization. The onus is now on Campbell & Co. to sustain that success headed into the 2025 campaign and beyond. While a key component of that is certainly retaining as many key players and coaches as possible, it's also pumping in new blood – from both a personnel and assistant standpoint – as time goes on.

No matter how effective a leader and communicator a coach is, players have the tendency of eventually tuning that individual out. Because of the mass departure of assistants from Campbell's staff, the Lions will be afforded the opportunity to have several new voices – or coaches in elevated roles – in the locker room. 

For starters, Detroit will have both a new defensive coordinator (Kelvin Sheppard) and offensive coordinator (John Morton) in 2025. Sheppard was formerly the team's linebackers coach, while Morton, who spent the 2022 season as a senior offensive assistant for the Lions, served the last two years as the Broncos’ passing game coordinator. Morton also has prior coordinator experience, having served as the offensive play-caller for both USC from 2009-10 and the N.Y. Jets in 2017. 

And with the elevation of Sheppard and addition of Morton comes the injection of fresh ideas for both sides of the ball. It's something that could help prevent complacency from settling in for Campbell's team.

Change, in any facet of life, is seemingly never easy to accept when it first happens. Detroit fans are living that reality now, unsure of what's to come with Sheppard and Morton leading the defense and offense, respectively. 

But, sometimes a bit of a shake-up – or in the Lions’ case, a massive shake-up – is what it takes to stay relevant. And as weird as it may sound right now, it could be the key to Detroit not only sustaining success but also taking the next step as a franchise in the coming season.