The Lions’ hasty decision last year could wind up being a failure that’s bigger than just one year

The Lions should have had a much broader OC search last year. Now, they have to fight 10 teams for their guy

Mike Payton — Detroit Lions Beat Writer
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Detroit Lions GM Brad Holmes and head coach Dan Campbell walk off the field after practice Thursday, July 28, 2022 at the Allen Park practice facility. Lions1
Kirthmon F. Dozier / USA TODAY NETWORK

At this same time a year ago, the Detroit Lions were coming off a loss in the NFC Divisional Round to the Washington Commanders, and their offensive coordinator Ben Johnson was a day away from taking the head coach job with the Chicago Bears. The Lions needed a new OC, and there were some solid choices out there.

The Lions could have interviewed guys like Grant Uldinksi, Declan Doyle, Nick Caley, or Tommy Rees. Instead, the Lions interviewed just one guy and then hired him. That was John Morton. But in Week 10, he lost his play-calling duties and was fired after the season concluded.

Now the Lions are searching again. The major problem is that they’re looking for an OC at the same time that 10 other teams are looking for new OC’s.

The Lions rushing their OC search in 2025 could seriously burn them in 2026.

There have never been this many teams looking for new head coaches at the same time before. The problem is that all these teams are interviewing the same candidates the Lions actually like for their OC job, for both their head coach and OC positions.

Detroit Lions offensive coordinator candidates and who they’re talking to

  • Mike McDaniel: Also interviewed for Falcons, Titans, Browns, Ravens, and Raiders head coach jobs. Also interviewed for Eagles and Buccaneers offensive coordinator jobs.
  • Mike Kafka: Interviewed for the Giants head coach job and the Eagles offensive coordinator job
  • Arthur Smith: Interviewed for Cardinals and Titans head coach jobs
  • Zac Robinson: interviewed for Buccaneers and Eagles offensive coordinator jobs
  • Tee Martin: Interviewed for the Commanders’ offensive coordinator job

This is all from before the Buffalo Bills fired Sean McDermott. Now there’s a whole other team that is likely to want to talk to some of these guys, and this team has the best quarterback of the bunch. The Lions were finally in a good spot, where they might have had a shot at their top candidate, Mike McDaniel, since he doesn’t appear to be the favorite anywhere. However, now they may have to wait on that, as the Bills are likely to want to talk to him.

At the end of the day, the Lions might be in the best spot to be the team to fall back on and hire the candidate they may not have been most in love with, since they have a head coach who can make calls.

However, if the Lions had a broader OC search in 2025 and hired the right guy then, they wouldn’t have had to fight 10 other teams to get the guy they feel is the best. We’ll see what happens in the coming weeks.

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