The Detroit Lions made some changes to their coaching staff on Wednesday. They first made the hires of both Terrell Williams and Deshea Townsend official. Both were hired in the last few weeks.
The Lions also hired former Northwestern defensive coordinator Jim O'Neil to be a defensive assistant on their staff. In addition to his work at Northwestern, O'Neil has also coached in the NFL in multiple different defensive positions. He's spent time with the Browns, 49ers, Raiders, Bills and Jets.
While the Lions made some hires, they also relieved some coaches on the coaching staff on Wednesday. The Lions let go of cornerbacks coach and former Lions corner Dre Bly after a very rough year for the Lions secondary. Townsend will take over his role. The Lions also parted ways with defensive line coach John Scott. Williams will take over his role.
Defensive backs coach Brian Duker was hired to be the Dolphins new secondary coach a couple weeks ago. The Lions have officially removed him from their site.
Senior assistant Jim Hostler and defensive quality control coach Wayne Blair are also both out after their contracts have expired. John Fox, who was a senior defensive assistant will also no longer be with the team.
Fox is the only real surprising one here. He has a ton of experience as a head coach and defensive coordinator in the NFL and it seemed like he was a good guy to have on the sideline. It's odd that he's not coming back. But this wouldn't be the first time this has happened. The Lions had Dom Capers on this staff at one point too and then he left after a short period.
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