The Detroit Lions appear to have landed on their new offensive coordinator.
The Detroit Lions may have their successor to Ben Johnson. According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the Lions are “working to hiring” John Morton to be their next offensive coordinator.
For the past two years, Morton has been working for Dan Campbell’s mentor, Sean Payton, as the pass game coordinator for the Denver Broncos. This year, Broncos rookie quarterback Bo Nix impressed under Morton, starting all 17 games and finishing with 3,775 yards, 29 passing TDs, 12 INTs, and a 93.3 passer rating.
Prior to that, Morton worked directly with Campbell, serving as the Lions’ senior offensive assistant in 2022. Campbell credited Morton with helping Lions’ current pass game coordinator Tanner Engstrand grow as an offensive coach.
“Johnny’s a superstar now and there’s a number of things that he did for us last year that are things that we’ve kept,” Campbell said in 2023. “And I really feel like that helped Tanner as well. And he took a lot of that, and he learned from that, and he’s grown from that.”
Morton also worked with Campbell for a year with the New Orleans Saints. In 2016, he served as the team’s wide receivers coach while Campbell was in charge of tight ends.
If he joins Detroit, Morton will be tasked with keeping Detroit’s high-powered offense among the best in the NFL. In 2024, the Lions offense ranked first in the NFL after scoring the most points in franchise history.
For most of Morton’s coaching career—which dates all the way back to 1998 as a Raiders offensive assistant—he has worked closely with the wide receiver position. He was a receivers coach at the University of San Diego (2005), USC (2007-10), San Francisco 49ers (2011-14), and with the Saints, (2015-16).
If hired, this will be Morton’s third stint as an offensive coordinator. He served as the Trojans’ OC/WR coach for one year under Pete Carroll (2009) and was the Jets’ offensive coordinator for just a single season with the New York Jets in 2017 under Todd Bowles. Coincidentally, that year the Jets’ defensive coordinator was Lions’ new defensive line coach Kacy Rodgers.
