The Detroit Lions hired John Morton to be their offensive coordinator this week. Morton will have big shoes to fill, as Ben Johnson led the Lions to the highest-scoring season in franchise history and the NFL lead in points per game in 2024.
To get an idea of how Morton may do with the Lions, let’s take an in-depth look at every place he’s coached over the past nearly 30 years. After that, we’ll look at what some of his players and fellow coaches have said about him.
Detroit Lions coaching profile: OC John Morton
Resume + performance
1997 — Raiders personnel department
1998-99 — Raiders offensive assistant
2000-01 — Raiders quality control coach
2002-03 — Raiders senior offensive assistant
2004 — Raiders tight ends coach
After his playing career as a wide receiver ended, Morton spent the next eight years within the Oakland Raiders organization, first working in the personnel department before eventually working his way up to tight ends coach.
His first four years were spent under Raiders coach Jon Gruden, who had this to say about Morton (per the Detroit Free Press):
“You talk about a guy that can scheme them up. Man, he’s at the top of the food chain in terms of the guys I’ve worked with.”
During this time, Morton worked with the receivers and tight ends — including legends Jerry Rice and Tim Brown. The Raiders also produced top-five scoring offenses in three consecutive years from 2000-02, culminating in a Super Bowl appearance in that final year.
As for his stint as tight ends coach, his room didn’t produce much in the passing game:
- Doug Jolley: 27 catches, 313 yards, 2 TDs
- Courtney Anderson: 13 catches, 175 yards, 1 TD (seventh-round rookie)
- Teyo Johnson: 9 catches, 131 yards, 2 TDs
However, none of those players ever really amounted to much before or after Morton left.
2005 — University of San Diego — Passing game + WR coach
Coincidentally enough, Morton crossed paths with Tanner Engstrand in this single year, with Engstrand working as a graduate assistant at the time.
Both worked under head coach Jim Harbaugh. That year, the Toreros went 11-1, winning the Pioneer Football League Championship. The offense was extremely explosive, averaging 42.6 points per game. Per an LA Times story, Morton did dabble in play-calling during this season.
Quarterback Josh Johnson (yes, that one) completed 236-of-344 passes for 2,881 yards (8.6 Y/A) 31 TDs, and 8 INTs in what would become the first of his three years as a starter. The leading receiver was someone named Adam Hannula, who hauled in 65 catches for 907 yards and nine touchdowns.
Johnson eventually became the first-ever player from the University of San Diego to be drafted in the NFL. (Fun fact: former Lions PR Jamal Agnew became the second, and there have been none since.)
2006 — Saints passing game coordinator + offensive assistant
Morton jumped back into the NFL to join head coach Sean Payton and work under offensive coordinator Doug Marrone. That year—which was also Payton’s first year—the Saints turned what was the 31st-ranked offense into the No. 5 scoring offense. Drew Brees led the entire NFL with 4,418 yards, was third in touchdowns (26), but did have 11 interceptions. Brees finished that year second in MVP, Offensive Player of the Year, and Comeback Player of the Year voting.
2007-08 — USC — Pass game coordinator + WR coach
2009 — USC — Offensive coordinator + WR coach
2010 — USC — Pass game coordinator + WR coach
Morton jumped to USC right in the middle of Pete Carroll’s era, just a couple of years removed from the back-to-back National Championships in 2003-04.
In the year prior to Morton’s arrival, the Trojans averaged 30.5 points per game with quarterback John David Booty running the show (3,347 yards, 29 TDs, 9 INTs). When Morton jumped aboard, they jumped to 32.6 points per game, with Booty as the starter until he broke his finger. Mark Sanchez took over for three games. Combined, the quarterbacks had 3,090 yards, 31 TDs, and 15 INTs.
In 2008, Sanchez took over and the Trojans, again, pushed their points total up to 37.5 points per game. The passing offense exploded to 3,207 yards, 34 passing touchdowns, and just 10 INTs.
When offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian left for a head coaching job in 2009, Morton took over, but Carroll made the decision to have quarterbacks coach Jeremy Bates call plays. Morton would collaborate with Bates on the weekly game plans, then head to the booth on gamedays, with Bates on the sideline.
The Trojans offense—now without Sanchez—did take a significant step back, but they were also starting true freshman Matt Barkley. In Morton’s single full season as offensive coordinator, USC averaged just 26.5 points per game
The following year, Carroll left for the Seattle Seahawks and Lane Kiffin replaced him. Kiffin demoted Morton back to pass game coordinator/WR coach with Kennedy Polamalu taking the offensive coordinator gig. Kiffin was calling the plays, anyway. The offense bounced back modestly, averaging 31.0 points per game. Barkley improved to 2,791 yards passing, 26 touchdowns, and 12 interceptions.
That era did produce a couple of wideouts that made it to the NFL. Both Damian Williams (2010) and Patrick Turner (2009) were third-round picks, but neither lasted more than five years in the league.
2011-14 — 49ers WR coach
Morton would reunite with Harbaugh for a four-year stint with the 49ers. San Francisco would make three straight conference championships and one Super Bowl. While those teams were defined by their defense and strong rushing attacks, Morton helped Michael Crabtree have two of his most successful years, including a 2012 season where he caught 85 passes for 1,105 yards and nine touchdowns. Under Morton, Anquan Boldin saw a bit of a career revival, as well, earning back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons in 2013-14. Boldin quickly became a big fan of him, and would later consider reuniting with him in New Orleans (but ultimately chose… Detroit!)
2015-16 Saints WR coach
Sean Payton was next on the reunion tour, as Morton re-joined the Saints for a couple of years. But this time, he would cross paths with the incomparable tight ends coach Dan Campbell in 2016.
As a team, the Saints weren’t overly successful, going 7-9 in back-to-back years. But the offense was stellar, ranking eighth and second in scoring.
Morton, in particular, shined due to his work with a trio of young receivers: Willie Snead (undrafted in 2014), Brandin Cooks (2014 first-round pick), and Michael Thomas (2016 second-round pick.
Snead, after not playing in his rookie season, produced 984 yards in 2015 and 895 yards in 2016. After Morton left, Snead never had more than 700 yards in a season.
Cooks had a pair of breakout seasons after a quiet 2014 season, earning a combined 162 catches, 2,311 yards, and 17 touchdowns under Morton.
Receiver Michael Thomas had one of the great rookie seasons of all time in 2016, earning 1,137 yards and nine touchdowns—both top-15 marks in NFL history for a rookie receiver.
2017 Jets offensive coordinator
After his stellar work with the Saints receivers, Morton parlayed that opportunity into his first chance at offensive coordinator at the NFL level. He reunited with Bates (Jets QB coach) but coached under Todd Bowles. Ironically, Bates would again jump him in 2018 as the new Jets offensive coordinator—but that would be his final year in coaching.
Morton took over an offense that finished 30th in scoring and 20th in yards per play. Going into 2017, everyone pretty much expected a disaster with 38-year-old Josh McCown at quarterback and an underwhelming set of weapons around him.
Things improved, but not by much under Morton. They jumped to 24th in scoring and 21st in yards per play. But looking at that roster, there wasn’t much Morton could do, and you could certainly make an argument he made the most of a bad situation.
That said, after his firing, Morton—fairly or unfairly—was accused of several things, as outlined by our friends at Gang Green Nation. In short, he was criticized for passing too much, and some reported he “clashed with players, coach Todd Bowles and other assistant coaches.”
That said, one Jets reporter believes Morton never got a fair chance in New York:
(Fun fact: New Lions DL coach Kacy Rodgers served as the Jets defensive coordinator this year).
2019-21 — Raiders senior offensive assistant
Jon Gruden, come on down! You’re the next coach as part of Morton’s Reunion Tour.
In 2018, the Raiders offense ranked just 28th in scoring. With some help from Morton, they improved to 24th in 2019, 10th in 2020, and 18th in 2021.
2022 — Lions senior offensive assistant
Morton met back up with Campbell in Detroit for a pivotal year for the Lions offense. After finishing just 25th in scoring in Campbell’s and Jared Goff’s first year in Detroit, the Lions offense exploded under Morton and offensive coordinator Ben Johnson, finishing fifth in points.
Morton was apparently huge in installing everything they wanted in their new offense.
“Johnny’s a superstar now,” Campbell said in 2023. “And there’s a number of things that he did for us last year that are things that we’ve kept.”
2023-24 — Broncos pass game coordinator
Joining Payton, once again, Morton helped build up a Broncos offense from scratch. In 2022, Denver ranked dead last in points scored and their pass offense ranked 26th in DVOA. Under Morton and Payton, that improved to 19th in scoring and 19th in pass DVOA. Last year, they jumped again: 10th in scoring and 15th in pass DVOA—and with rookie Bo Nix at quarterback.
To put a bow on this section, Morton had tough years in New York and USC (coincidentally, his only two offensive coordinator stops), but he found success almost everywhere else he’s gone. He’s been tasked with building several offenses from the ground up, and he’s managed to succeed almost every time.
His best years were with the New Orleans Saints, and with the Detroit Lions, he’ll have just as talented of a squad.
Quotes from other people
During a meeting, Morton would present them to Payton, explain why they’d work, and break down the film illustrating the exact situation they could be used.
“They were all so well thought out,” Payton said. “I may like three of them, not the other eight, but he’s going to come back with the same energy and passion for the next category… He has been around guys like [Jon] Gruden, [Jim] Harbaugh, myself. He’s very meticulous.”
“I think he’s a tremendous football coach,” Payton said. “I do. I know this – there’s not any lack of passion. He’ll be there until whatever hour it takes. He’ll spend a lot of nights there, I’m sure.
“He stays on most of them. He stays on most of them. He coaches them hard, he coaches them with love because he sees what they have. It’s [WR] Troy [Franklin] today, but he’s an equal opportunity… He’s teaching all the time. He’s teaching all the time. I’ve been with him a long time, and I like hearing it. I like hearing it from a coach with passion because I think the players do as well. It’s when it gets quiet and no one’s talking to you is when you have to begin to worry.”
“I’m excited for him and the opportunity that he has. He’s been around some great play-callers throughout his career, guys like Norv Turner in Oakland, Jon Gruden [and] of course Sean Payton, just to name a few. My experiences with Johnny have been great, especially over the last two years when he came back to New Orleans. I thought he brought a lot of great ideas and kind of a presence with the coaching staff and contributed a lot. I wish him well. I hope he does a great job.”
“He brings confidence, I know that much. He’s a brash guy, and that’s part of the reason why I hired him. He’ll compete, now, he’ll play a game of jacks and he’s going to compete and beat you. I don’t care if [you’re] 4 years old. He’s going to try to win that game. But he’s a smart guy, he understands the game.”
“The longer you’re in this game you get the opportunity to watch coaches grow into promotions to higher positions, and you could see that when he was working in San Francisco [as a receivers coach] that this guy is going to be a coordinator or head-coach type of guy. “There’s an urgency to him to how he wants things done, and I think he knows he can communicate that with his words and his intensity and his energy.
“For him to create that kind of frenzied environment for us at practice, it’s helping the guys understand how intense it’s going to be in the game.’’
