Dan Campbell’s comments from November could point to David Blough having the best chance at getting the Lions’ OC job
Campbell may be looking for a guy to sit under him for a short period.
The Detroit Lions moved on pretty fast. On Tuesday, they fired offensive coordinator John Morton, and within a few hours, they had their first interview set up with former Lions quarterback-turned-Washington Commanders quarterbacks coach David Blough.
There’s no doubt this search has to be much more extensive than last year’s, when the Lions just kind of hired Morton and didn’t really talk to anyone else. At least there were no reported interviews outside of Morton’s. I do believe the Lions will interview more candidates this time, but…
Dan Campbell’s comments from November could point to David Blough having the best chance at getting the OC job
“…Don’t forget. (Bears Head Coach) Ben (Johnson) – I called those games. I called whatever that was, eight or nine games – I don’t remember what it was – in ’21 while he helped me,” Dan Campbell said in November. “But he watched, he learned, he saw how I ran it, how I wanted to run it, what I was looking for. And then it evolved, he evolved it from there. He took it, he knew exactly what I wanted, and by the middle of ’22, I didn’t have to say a word.”
To me, I’m hearing Campbell say he has an offensive outlook and wants a guy who will run it exactly as he wants and has the ability to evolve it a bit from there. Kind of makes you wonder about the possibility of hiring Blough and having him sit under the learning tree for a bit, and watch Campbell call plays before Campbell hands the sheet to him.
It’s an unorthodox way of doing things in the NFL, but it’s pretty normal stuff in the outside world. I’m sure everyone reading this has job-shadowed or trained for the first few months of at least one job in their lifetime. Why can’t that happen in the NFL?
In some sense, it’s like Campbell is trying to grow another Ben Johnson right out of the ground. At least with Blough, we know there is tremendous upside. He is frequently discussed around the league as one of those up-and-coming coaches to watch. He’s also already demonstrated that he has ideas for this Lions offense.
Detroit Lions News
7 offensive coordinator options for the Detroit Lions after firing John Morton
These are the guys the Lions could have their eyes on this offseason
