The Detroit Lions have lost a lot of coaches, but that means a lot of new up-and-comers to be excited about.
The Detroit Lions lost both their offensive coordinator and defensive coordinator to head coaching jobs this offseason, but that was just the tip of the iceberg. Those coaches brought along several assistants from their respective staffs for promotions, and that means the Lions are turning over a sizeable portion of their staff.
However, new faces mean new opportunities. The Lions will certainly miss their coordinators—they were hired away for a reason—but there’s a lot to be excited about on this new staff.
Question of the day: Which new Detroit Lions coach are you most excited about?
There are a few that come to mind off the top of my head. New offensive coordinator John Morton has big shoes to fill, but his success in turning Bo Nix into an NFL-caliber quarterback in year one has me excited. Morton was followed to Detroit by former Stanford HC David Shaw, who spent last year as a senior personnel executive in Denver alongside Morton and will now serve as the Lions’ passing game coordinator. Shaw brings a wealth of success and experience. It’s hard not to get excited about new defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard, too, after seeing what he has done with the linebackers unit.
My answer: those are hires I’m excited for, but one really stands out to me, and that’s Bruce Gradkowski. He doesn’t have a flashy title like Morton or Shaw (yet), and thus the hire didn’t raise many eyebrows. However, Gradkowski comes from a role as offensive coordinator for the St. Louis Battlehawks, who consistently had one of the best offenses over the last two seasons in spring league football.
Gradkowski has only been coaching full time for four years, with the first of those being in high school. He has since quickly moved up the college and professional ranks, and now finds himself in good company in Detroit to learn and grow as an assistant.
His strong start as a coach shouldn’t come as a surprise. Gradkowski spent the back half of his career as a backup for the Cincinnati Bengals and Pittsburgh Steelers. You don’t stick around as long as he did as a backup unless you’re a smart player, especially in a place like Pittsburgh. Those kind of guys (think a Kellen Moore type) usually translate very well as coaches.
We may not see measurable contributions right away. It’s always hard to measure how much of a team’s success comes from their coordinators as opposed to their assistants, just like how we’ll never know how much of Ben Johnson’s success came from a guy like Tanner Engstrand. However, Gradkowski is firmly on a trajectory to become an offensive coordinator in the NFL. If things don’t go smoothly with Morton, Gradkowski could be the next Ben Johnson—but hopefully we don’t have to find out that way.
You can keep track of all the Lions’ coaching changes and rumors here. Which new hire are you most excited about? Let us know in the comments.
