Pride of Detroit
The Lions hired Morton as their new OC on Tuesday after days of speculation.
The Detroit Lions have a new offensive coordinator, and it isn’t a hotshot youngster or a name you’ve heard being prepped from the ranks of Lions offensive assistants for Ben Johnson’s departure. The Lions turned semi-externally, bringing in Denver Broncos passing game coordinator John Morton.
The coaching search didn’t exactly go as many expected it to. Lions passing game coordinator Tanner Engstrand is a name that was frequently thrown around with the expectation that he’d be the next man up, akin to how Kelvin Sheppard filled in for Aaron Glenn as defensive coordinator. The Lions couldn’t go with up-and-comer and former Lions WR coach Antwaan Randle El either, as he left for Chicago with Ben Johnson.
However, Morton isn’t exactly an outsider. He was a senior offensive assistant for Detroit in 2022, and Campbell credits Morton’s work with Tanner Engstrand’s growth. Campbell and Morton also go back to New Orleans in 2016, where Morton was wide receivers coach and Campbell was tight ends coach and assistant head coach. Between that overlap, and Morton spending his last two years in the same coaching tree that Campbell came from under Sean Payton, there’s a good amount of familiarity.
My answer: absolutely.
I understand the allure of going with a trendy young guy like Engstrand, but the odds of someone like that being as successful as Ben Johnson are not great. For every Ben Johnson, there are a dozen Joe Lombardis and Jim Bob Cooters. I’m glad that the Lions did their due diligence on weighing internal and external candidates.
As far as Morton goes, he has an impressive body of work. What he did with the 2017 Jets offense led by Josh McCown was nothing short of a miracle.
More recently, watching the development of Bo Nix as a passer in 2024 is really encouraging for what Morton brings to Detroit. On top of that, there’s a certain amount of synergy that his hiring brings if what Dan Campbell said in 2023 was true.
“Johnny’s a superstar now and there’s a number of things that he did for us last year that are things that we’ve kept. And I really feel like that helped Tanner as well. And he took a lot of that, and he learned from that, and he’s grown from that and so, he’s in a good spot. He’s an asset for us.”
That means the Lions are getting an experienced offensive mind, but also someone who we already know helps make others in the coaching rooms more effective. That’s the kind of effect the Lions are looking for to help grow their assistants. For all we know, Engstrand may not have been ready for offensive coordinator responsibilities, and more time to learn under Morton may be what he needs to get ready (if Engstrand opts not to...
