If the Lions were to go all in on a coordinator reset, these are the 2 guys to hire and the strategy they need to follow

Lions would bring in two former head coaches to fill their coordinator roles.

Mike Payton — Detroit Lions Beat Writer
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A story similar to the one the Detroit Lions are going through happened not long ago. The Philadelphia Eagles went 14-3, made it to the dance, and lost.

They lost both of their coordinators to head coaching jobs. They hired two new coordinators and barely made it to the playoffs the next season, only to get beaten badly when they got there. The Eagles could have done what most teams would do and just stuck with those coordinators, hoping things would get better. But instead, they fired them both, hired two of the best guys available, and then won the Super Bowl.

So the question is, should the Lions do that too? If you ask me, I’m torn. I 100% believe a new offensive coordinator needs to be hired. But I also believe Kelvin Sheppard deserves another year on the job with a healthy defense and one that wasn’t cheaped out on.

But I do see the value in a full-on reset with the strategy not so much being Campbell hiring guys he’s worked with before, but hiring the best guys available. If that’s the plan, then the Lions have to hire these two guys:

Former Titans head coach Brian Callahan

Real quick, people need to get over the whole “but he just got fired thing.” The Titans are a pretty bad example of how a franchise can be run from the top, and I don’t think Brian Callahan ever had a real shot there. This is the team that also fired the head coach who is heading up the No. 1 team in the AFC right now.

Callahan is a great offensive coordinator. There’s a reason the Titans wanted him. He spent five years as an OC with the Bengals and helped get that team to the Super Bowl in 2021. He helped that team remain one of the league’s top offenses until he left for the Titans’ job in 2024.

While he and Campbell have never worked together, Callahan can get the recommendation letter from his old head coach, Zac Taylor. A guy who was Campbell’s OC when he was the interim coach of the Dolphins, and someone he speaks very highly of and has a relationship with.

You could go with the next hotshot like Rams passing game coordinator Nate Steelhaase, but bringing Callahan, who was the Lions’ quarterbacks coach in 2016 and 2017, back to Detroit is the way to go.

Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon

Jonathan Gannon is likely to be fired in a couple of weeks, and the Lions should swoop right in and hire him to be their new DC if they plan to go on his total coaching reset.

Remember that 14-3 Eagles team that lost their coordinators? Gannon was the DC they lost after he spent two years on that job. In both seasons, he had them ranked among the best defenses in the league, particularly in 2022, when the Eagles allowed the fewest passing yards in the NFL. That’s something this Lions team could use right now after all the explosive pass plays they’ve let up, even when healthy.

While Campbell has no connection to him, Brad Holmes does. Holmes and Gannon were both scouts for the Rams for three seasons before Gannon took on his first NFL coaching job.

We’ll see where things go, but if the strategy is to go with whole new coordinators who have no coaching connection to Dan Campbell and are purely the best guys available, which is what Nick Sirianni did in Philadelphia, then this is the best way to go.

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