The Detroit Lions have officially lost Ben Johnson to the Bears. Now it's time to fill the open spot and there is going to be some serious interest in this job from coaches around the league. 

The expectation for a while now is that someone on the inside would fill this job. Someone like Tanner Engstrand, Scottie Montgomery, or Mark Brunell. Ultimately we believe that this is Montgomery's job to lose, but the Lions plan to look outside of Detroit and interview external candidates. 

We've put together a list of outside coaches that we believe the Lions will interview in the coming weeks. Here is that list:

Former Bears offensive coordinator Shane Waldron

The Bears offensive coordinator last season who got fired way too fast if you ask us. He was only there for a few months. Waldron was Jared Goff's quarterbacks coach and the Rams passing game coordinator when Los Angeles went to the Super Bowl in 2018. With Goff having some input, there's reason to believe he might throw Waldron's name out there.

Bears interim head coach Thomas Brown

Brown clearly didn't get the Bears job after being the interim coach there, but there have been a lot of people impressed with Brown in the last few years. He's worked his way up the coaching ladder and could be ready to be an offensive coordinator. There's some connection with Goff too, Brown was the Rams running backs coach during that Super Bowl run.

Bills quarterbacks coach Ronald Curry

It continues to be strange to me that this guy isn't an OC already. Curry was with Campbell in New Orleans for years and is currently the Bills quarterbacks coach. Not only has he been a quarterbacks coach, he's also been a passing game coordinator and a receivers coach too. He also played for the Lions in 2009 for a short time.

ESPN analyst Dan Orlovsky

I get that people think Orlovsky is a joke because of some of his bad takes on ESPN, but this guy has long been a smart football mind when it comes to the playbooks. There's a reason this guy was in the NFL for a decade plus. It wasn't because he could play. There's a connection between Orlovsky and Campbell as they were teammates for two seasons. Orlovsky was also Goff's teammate in 2017. Other teams are interested, by the way, the Packers tried to hire him last year. 

Vikings quarterbacks coach Josh McCown

Speaking of teammates, McCown and Campbell were together in 2017. McCown who is now the quarterbacks coach for the Vikings, is someone that has garnered a lot of interest from teams for a while now. He has been interviewing for head coaching jobs as of late. That includes the Jets job. 

Broncos Senior Offensive Assistant Pete Carmichael 

Carmichael was the Saints offensive coordinator from 2009 to 2023. That is a long time to be in that job. He was obviously there with Dan Campbell for part of that time. Campbell has modeled a lot of what the Lions offense likes to do after what the Saints did in that time. Particularly the run game. 

Broncos offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi 

I'm sure there was an audible gasp that just happened from anyone reading this. Lombardi was the Lions offensive coordinator in 2014 and 2015 and it did not work out well. Since then he's been pretty successful with the Chargers and Broncos. He did have a stop with Dan Campbell and the Saints before he took those jobs. Don't be shocked if he interviews. 

Commanders assistant quarterbacks coach David Blough

Blough just started coaching this year, but he has already begun to make his mark on the Washington offense and he is someone that is expected to rise up the coaching ranks fast. He'll be head coach in this league before you know it. It might be too early, but it wouldn't be shocking to see Blough interview for a chance to come back to Detroit in a big role. 

There’s some smoke around the idea that ESPN’s Dan Orlovsky could be considered for the Lions offensive coordinator position, but will there be fire?

The Detroit Lions are in the middle of a mass exodus of their coaching staff. Ben Johnson has already gone to the Bears and more coaches could be following him there.  The Lions will soon need to begin their search for a new offensive coordinator. The belief for a while was that the Lions would […]