The Detroit Lions lost seven assistant coaches this offseason, led by the departures of offensive coordinator Ben Johnson and defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn. Johnson and Glenn both took multiple Lions' assistants with them to their head coaching jobs, so Dan Campbell had some work to do to rebuild his coaching staff.
John Morton and Kelvin Sheppard lead the way of people in new posts, as offensive and defensive coordinator respectively. Morton spent the last two seasons as the Denver Broncos' passing game coordinator, while Sheppard was promoted from linebackers coach.
On Tuesday, the Lions' officially announced their coaching staff for 2025 with new faces and some new titles for incumbents.
Detroit Lions announce 2025 coaching staff
Offensive Staff
John Morton – Offensive Coordinator
Scottie Montgomery – Assistant Head Coach/Wide Receivers
David Shaw – Passing Game Coordinator
Mark Brunell – Quarterbacks
Tashard Choice – Running Backs
Tyler Roehl – Tight Ends
Seth Ryan – Assistant Tight Ends
Hank Fraley – Run Game Coordinator/Offensive Line
Steve Oliver – Assistant Offensive Line
Bruce Gradkowski – Offensive Assistant
Marques Tuiasosopo – Offensive Assistant
Justin Mesa – Offensive Quality Control
The new hires were mostly already known (David Shaw, Tashard Choice, Tyler Roehl, Bruce Gradkowski), with Montgomery's reported shift to wide receivers coach to make room for Choice.
As for the previously unknown changes.
Marques Tuiasosopo is a former NFL quarterback who has been in the collegiate coaching ranks since 2009, most recently as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Rice. He overlapped with Morton in Oakland when he was a player.
Justin Mesa has been a college assistant for over a decade, most recently as assistant tight ends coach/special tams at Washington State.
Seth Ryan has moved from assistant wide receivers coach to assistant tight ends coach.
Defensive Staff
Kelvin Sheppard –
Defensive Coordinator
Kacy Rodgers – Run Game Coordinator/Defensive Line
David Corrao – Senior Defensive Assistant/Outside Linebackers
Shaun Dion Hamilton – Linebackers
Deshea Townsend – Passing Game Coordinator/Defensive Backs
Jim O’Neil – Defensive Assistant/Safeties
August Mangin – Defensive Assistant
Caleb Collins – Defensive Assistant
Dre Thompson – WCF Minority Coaching Assistant/Defensive Quality Control
Mangin, Collins and Thompson are previously unknown new hires/promotions. O'Neil unofficially worked with the Lions' safeties last season, and now that's an official part of his title.
Mangin has been with the San Francisco 49ers for the last four seasons, most recently as special teams quality control/game management specialist. He played with Sheppard at LSU. Collins also has LSU roots, with two years as a defensive assistant (2018-2019), and he was outside linebackers coach at Baylor for the last four seasons.
In an another change, Jesse Giambra will have a change in title from Teams Operations Manager/Head Coach Administration to Chief of Staff/Head Coach Administration.
