New Lions Coach is a ‘Mystery,’ Which Is Nerve-Wracking

Getty

One of many Detroit Lions’ latest coordinators is a “thriller,” and it may go both means with this piece of the Lions puzzle.

he Detroit Lions are coming off a troublesome and high-profile preseason loss to the Los Angeles Chargers which was downright embarrassing. Let’s not speak about that. What we are able to speak about is that the Lions have an thrilling season forward of them, with head coach Dan Campbell again and main two new coordinators, in addition to different new items of the Lions workers. So, what’s going to it’s like with out offensive coordinator Ben Johnson and defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn?

Fortunately, the Detroit Lions have Campbell and stellar gamers, equivalent to Jared Goff, Amon-Ra St. Brown, Jahmyr Gibbs, Aidan Hutchinson and others. However, with the brand new coordinators, some within the NFL are questioning if Campbell goes to have the identical stage of success that he did the previous two seasons.

Now, ESPN has launched its tally of one of the best teaching staffs within the NFL. Within the function, Ben Solak breaks down all of the NFL team’s staffs and ranks them from greatest to worst. So, the place do the Lions and Campbell fall?

Dan Campbell and the Detroit Lions Nonetheless Get Props

Whereas there’s a lot of speak about one of the best gamers within the NFL leading up to the 2025-26 season, and rightly so, generally, it’s simple to miss that there are different components to a workforce’s success.

GettyHead coach Dan Campbell of the Detroit Lions appears on in the course of the first quarter of the 2025 Professional Soccer Corridor of Fame Sport in opposition to the Los Angeles Chargers at Tom Benson Corridor of Fame Stadium on July 31, 2025 in Canton, Ohio.

One of many greatest measures of how properly a workforce goes to do in the course of the season, for any sport, is their teaching workers. From the top coach all the way down to the coordinators and their workers, having a strong teaching workers is so important to creating positive a workforce thrives.

Solak ranks the Detroit Lions teaching workers the No. 11 greatest workers within the NFL. Hey, we’ll take it. He may have positioned the Lions a lot decrease on the tally contemplating that they’ve new offensive and protection coordinators. Shedding even one would have been a blow.

Solak says his greatest query mark is with protection coordinator Kelvin Sheppard, who he calls a “thriller.”

“The trick in rating the Lions is placing them low sufficient to acknowledge the lack of two wonderful coordinators in Ben Johnson and Aaron Glenn, however not so low that Campbell makes me seem like an fool when he retains this prepare chugging proper alongside in 2025,” he notes within the function.

He provides, “Sheppard is extra of a thriller. A participant as lately as 2018, he has solely coached in Detroit beneath Glenn, so his teaching DNA is trickier to riddle out. Morton and Sheppard get the benefit of a wonderful chief in Campbell, but additionally a sneaky good schematic thoughts — Campbell had a a lot larger hand within the improvement of Johnson’s offense than is commonly appreciated.”

Lastly, he says that he expects a “drop-off in play calling from Glenn and Johnson, however I’m assured it’ll be small.” We like that confidence.

PFF Names the Prime NFL Coaches for 2025-26

PFF has additionally launched their tally of the highest 10 best NFL head coaches. What’s nice is that Campbell makes the roster at No. 9. He picks Kansas Metropolis Chiefs head coach Andy Reid at No. 1, and Reid does have the stats to indicate he’s one of the top in the league now and probably of all time.

Possibly in the future Campbell will get that No. 1 spot. For now, let’s simply give attention to getting the Lions again to the playoffs.

Anne Erickson is an award-winning reporter for Heavy Sports activities protecting the NFL, NBA and faculty soccer. Anne Erickson has years of expertise protecting the NFL and extra sports activities, and her work has been revealed by way of ESPN, Fox Sports activities and extra. She has interviewed a few of the greatest names in sports activities, together with Detroit Lions quarterback Jared Goff. Erickson additionally hosts a number of podcasts and is a Detroit-based radio host. More about Anne Erickson