4 veteran defensive coaches the Lions could bring in to help Kelvin Sheppard, including a former NFL head coach
Detroit has used experienced defensive assistants to help young coordinators before. If Campbell wants to do it again, there are several veteran coaches with intriguing connections and plenty of experience.
There’s no secret that Detroit Lions defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard is struggling with the Lions’ defense right now. The team is 32nd in the league in all the stats you don’t want to be 32nd in the league in.
This has led many to wonder if Sheppard could be dismissed by the team at some point. Lions head coach Dan Campbell has been steadfast that he believes Sheppard is the guy for them. Lions players have been saying the same thing. So if they don’t move off of him, what could they do? Some Lions fans have pointed out the idea of hiring a senior defensive assistant to come in and help out.
The Lions have done this before. Dom Capers held a senior defensive assistant role in 2021, when Aaron Glenn was starting out as a defensive coordinator, and John Fox filled that role in 2023.
I know the most popular names floating around are former Browns DC and Lions head coach Jim Schwartz and former Bills head coach Sean McDermott. Neither one of those is realistic. Despite resigning, Schwartz is still contractually tied to the Browns in 2026. McDermott told Rich Eisen in September that he does not want to take any assistant jobs right now, in hopes that he can get back into a head coaching role. So with both of those guys out, who could the Lions look to? Usually coaches will look to guys from their past. Here are some that make sense, so we’ll start there. But we’ll offer two other options.
Mark Duffner
Sheppard has called Duffner one of the best coaches he’s ever had and said he gets his personable approach from him. Duffner has a very lengthy coaching history that includes being Sheppard’s linebacker coach in Miami. He was on Dan Campbell’s staff there when Campbell was the interim head coach. So there are connections all over.
Duffner was the Bengals’ defensive coordinator for two seasons in 2001 and 2002 and became the Buccaneers’ interim defensive coordinator for the final 11 games of the 2018 season. He was also a linebacker coach for the Packers, Bengals, Jaguars, Dolphins, and Buccaneers. Most recently, he was a senior defensive assistant in Cincinnati. When the Bengals wiped out their defensive staff after the 2024 season, he was one of the guys let go. He’s now regularly doing analysis and content with the Jaguars.
Mike Nolan
Lions fans should be familiar with Nolan. He was the Michigan Panthers’ head coach before the team left town. He coached them to the UFL Championship game, but they didn’t win.
His experience is not limited to the UFL, though. Nolan has been a defensive coordinator for the Giants, Commanders, Jets, Ravens, Dolphins, Falcons, Broncos, and Cowboys. He was also the 49ers’ head coach from 2005 to 2008. Nolan was on staff with Campbell in both Miami and New Orleans, so there’s a connection there.
Steve Wilks
Wilks is one of those guys who makes you wonder why he doesn’t have an NFL coaching job right now. Look, I get that 2025 didn’t go well for the Jets, but Wilks has a lot more good experience than he does bad. He’s just never fully gotten a fair shake, in my opinion.
He’s currently serving as a special assistant to athletics at his alma mater, Appalachian State, but he isn’t coaching a defense. He’s been a head coach in the NFL and was the interim head coach of the Panthers in 2022 when they beat the hell out of the Lions late in the season. He’s also been a defensive coordinator with stops in San Francisco, New York, and Cleveland. What makes it even better is that he specializes with defensive backs. Something this team needs all the help it can get with right now.
Mike Zimmer
Probably a long shot because he did retire after the 2024 season, but he also had conversations with Sean Payton and the Broncos this offseason about taking on this exact type of role. Denver met with Zimmer about a senior coaching position, and there was reportedly mutual interest, but he never actually took the job.
Zimmer was the Vikings head coach from 2014 to 2021 and won the PFWA Assistant Coach of the Year award as the Bengals’ defensive coordinator in 2009. He also helped the Cowboys win their last Super Bowl in the ’90s as their defensive backs coach. This guy coached Deion Sanders. That’s fun. He is 70 and retired, so it’s probably not happening, but he has at least shown interest in coming out of retirement very recently.
Detroit Lions News