Pride of Detroit
New Lions OC John Morton and new Lions DC Kelvin Sheppard spoke to FOX 2 Detroit this week. Here are the biggest takeaways.
The Detroit Lions officially announced the hiring of their new coordinators—John Morton as the offensive coordinator and Kelvin Sheppard as defensive coordinator—on January 30. It’s been nearly three weeks, and we had yet to hear from the coaches, but the two broke their silence this week in a pair of interviews with Fox 2 Detroit’s Dan Miller. You can view each interview separately below;
But here are the most important points from each interview.
Morton will be calling plays
I never thought it was really in question, but I suppose there was a chance Dan Campbell would retain play calling duties after he did so during a short period in 2021. Morton made it clear, though, that he’ll be in control of that in 2025.
Morton was the play caller for the Jets in his lone other offensive coordinator job, back in 2017. That team struggled offensively but also had a very thin pool of talent. Morton explained why he expects things to be different this time around.
“I just think that situation in New York, it was tough,” Morton said. “I was hired in, I had to keep the coaches—I didn’t know anyone there. Here, I know people. They know me, I know them.”
Morton was involved in filling out the rest of the Lions’ coaching staff
Perhaps this won’t come as a surprise considering his close ties to new pass game coordinator David Shaw, but Morton also revealed he was in on some of the coaching interviews the Lions recently did to fill out the rest of their staff.
“We just finalized our staff. I was in on those interviews,” Morton said. “I can’t tell you how excited I am for the coaches we have here now.”
Morton worked closely with Jared Goff in 2022
Morton was the Lions’ senior offensive assistant back in 2022, and it wasn’t clear what that role was at the time, other than helping install the offense. Morton revealed to Miller that he was actually working very closely with quarterback Jared Goff during that time, and believes that connection between coordinator and quarterback will help him moving forward.
“It all starts with the quarterback,” Morton said. “So just kinda knowing him, and then when I was here, I was in the quarterback room. So I have a feel for what he likes, what he doesn’t and that’s important as a play caller.”
Morton will “continue the vision”
Obviously, any time a new coach comes in, they’ll have their spin on things. However, Morton said he plans on continuing what has already been built in Detroit: the No. 1 offense in the NFL.
“They’ve already established a philosophy here, and it’s just my job to make sure I continue the vision of how Dan (Campbell) wants things,” Morton said. “We’ll...
