A giant red flag is up for one of Lions fans’ favorite offensive coordinator candidates
The Lions might want to stay away from this one.
The Detroit Lions are officially on the hunt for a new offensive coordinator after firing John Morton on Tuesday. So far, they’re bringing in Washington Commanders quarterback coach and former Lions quarterback David Blough for an interview.
But one of the favorites for many is Baltimore Ravens OC Todd Monken, who is now available following John Harbaugh’s firing. But that might not be the move.
Monken’s relationship with Lamar Jackson and others fractured, and Harbaugh’s refusal to let him go is one reason he was fired
The Athletic’s Ravens beat writer, Jeff Zrebiec, went on the Ravens Collective podcast Tuesday night and explained that there was a big rift between Monken and the Ravens’ former MVP quarterback, and some of the other players weren’t very happy with him.
“It’s very clear that John Harbaugh wanted to keep Todd Monken,” Zrebiec said. “Lamar Jackson, I think, and Todd Monken’s personalities, I don’t think, meshed very well at times. I think John was the buffer between the two for much of the year, and much of the last couple years. It’s not that they hated each other … The manner in which this kind of went down was a little shocking, and I know left some people in the building pretty disappointed.”
In terms of other players having issues, Baltimore Banner’s Giana Han wrote earlier this week that players took issue with Monken’s game plan.
“Those sources, who had direct knowledge of how Monken ran the offense, said players felt the Ravens worked on a specific game plan during the week only to abandon it mid-game, creating chaos and confusion,” Han reported Tuesday. “They also viewed Monken as increasingly standoffish and unwilling to collaborate with players.”
That is a big deal. The Lions are looking for someone who fits the team and fits what they want to do. Someone who has disagreements with the quarterback and changes course on offensive game plans mid-game, upsetting players in the process, is not really a fit.
Monken has gotten a lot of praise for the Ravens’ offense, but one has to wonder how much of that is due to Jackson and Derrick Henry being pretty much unstoppable at times. Monken has had three offensive coordinator jobs in the NFL in the last 10 years, and none of them have ended all that well.
The Lions might be willing to sit down with him and have a conversation, but it’s hard to see this being the move for Detroit.
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