The Detroit Lions have addressed one coordinator vacancy and still have one remaining.
In promoting Kelvin Sheppard to defensive coordinator, the Lions took their first step in filling the voids left by Aaron Glenn and Ben Johnson. Glenn left his post as the Lions' defensive coordinator to become the New York Jets head coach, while Johnson became the Chicago Bears head coach after three years as the Lions' offensive coordinator.
While the Lions conduct their search, a popular candidate that has emerged in the form of current Lions passing game coordinator Tanner Engstrand. Detroit has also reportedly interviewed veteran coach John Morton.
"The more I think about this, the more I think an external hire could be coming. Ben Johnson is an offensive mastermind, absolutely, but I think as we've looked into this a little bit more, Dan Campbell might've had his fingerprints on this offense more than people initially thought," said co-host Christian Booher. "Dan Campbell is an offensive mind, and we heard him talk in his last press conference about he wanted to be super involved with the hire, he wanted to get someone who aligns philosophically with him.
"Obviously all the guys in the building do, but if Dan Campbell is an offensive mind and he has all these concepts, why wouldn't you want to bring in somebody externally who can help fill in the gaps?" Booher continued. "Whereas, if you go internal, it's gonna be a lot of the same stuff."
If the Lions were to hire Engstrand, it would give them two first-time coordinators around the fifth-year coach Campbell.
The latest 'Lone Wolves' podcast dissects the promotion of Kelvin Sheppard and hiring of defensive line coach Kacy Rodgers, evaluate potential offensive coordinator candidates and the impact of potentially having two first-time coordinators, and analyze Brad Holmes' comments at his end of season press conference.
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