Lions Have Opportunity to Significantly Upgrade Coaching Staff

Change has already started to occur in the National Football League.

With the 2025 regular season coming to a close, teams have already started to make their decisions regarding who is leading the front office and coaching staff.

The fact of the matter is the Detroit Lions were not a well-coached football team in 2025. Following a 15-win season last year, head coach Dan Campbell was put in the position to replace both of his coordinators.

A plan was in place, but unfortunately did not work out, as there simply is no substitute for experience at the highest level of football.

John Morton and Kelvin Sheppard were put in the unenviable position of following two assistants who helped make the Lions winners in the postseason.

Campbell chose two inexperienced coordinators and hoped for the best. The play out on the field proved that a team with a very talented core needed coordinators who could match their talents with elite schemes.

That simply did not occur, as Detroit's running game fell off the map at worst possible times, and Kelvin Sheppard acknowledged the defense gave up far too many explosive plays in the second half of the season.

It appeared as thought players never quite grasped their responsibilities in different defensive coverages and better defenses easily took the Lions out of their comfort zone. Without a reliable running game, the offense fell apart in critical must-win games.

As of Monday, Raheem Morris of the Falcons and Kevin Stefanski of the Browns were both dismissed from their positions.

Morris won a Super Bowl as defensive coordinator of the Rams and Stefanski built his reputation working his way up the Vikings organization.

Falcons owner said in a released statement, "I have great personal affinity for both Raheem and Terry and appreciate their hard work and dedication to the Falcons, but I believe we need new leadership in these roles moving forward. The decision to move away from people who represent the organization so well and have a shared commitment to the values that are important to the organization is not an easy one, but the results on the field have not met our expectations or those of our fans and leadership. I wish Raheem and Terry the absolute best in their future pursuits."

Stefanski was able to secure 11 wins in his first season coaching the Browns back in 2020. He became the 16th coach to win the AP NFL Coach of the Year award twice (2020, 2023).

Detroit's fifth-year head coach indicated a "few changes" needed to take place in order to quickly rebound from a disappointing 9-8 2025 season.

With the talent level on the roster being what it is, Campbell owes it to the players to match their talent with elite coaches who have winning experience and the ability to put them in the best positions to succeed.

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