During his weekly radio appearance, Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell offered an interesting perspective on what his thought process will be when assessing the team’s coaching staff for the 2026 season.
“How much of that [our struggles] is because there’s a ton of new [coaches]? I mean, I’ve got eight new coaches here and two new coordinators,” Campbell said. “Does that mean we just need to get some things in sync, and we buy a little more time? Or is it not salvageable? These are all the little things that you think about when the time is right, and I’m not there. I’ve still got another week.”
While the Lions had struggles with player health and a downgrade in talent at some positions (see: offensive line), there were also a handful of games in which the Lions looked uncharacteristically outcoached. Whether it was questionable game-planning from kickoff, failure to adjust mid-game, or problems in which solutions were never found all season, a hefty load of blame falls on the Lions’ coaching staff.
The question is: which coaches should stay and which need to go? It seems unlikely, based on recent comments from Campbell, that Kelvin Sheppard is going anywhere, but what do the Lions do at offensive coordinator and play caller? After another disappointing year in pass rush, do the Lions need a fifth defensive line coach in five years? Who else should be on the hot seat right now?
Or do the Lions need to take a different approach to coaching? Maybe it’s less about the teachers in the room and more about becoming more flexible schematically and adopting some different overall philosophies. Should the Lions give more focus to defending the pass than stopping the run? Should they change their priorities when it comes to player acquisition—allowing for a little more pass rush juice, even at the expense of clogging rushing lanes? And, offensively, should the Lions follow the trend of equipping themselves with a deep bench of tight ends?
Erik Schlitt and I discuss that and a whole lot more on this week’s Midweek Mailbag podcast.
Other topics on this week’s show include:
- What does the future of the offensive line look like?
- How can the Lions fix their center problem this offseason?
- Will Frank Ragnow come back? Will Detroit lose two more veteran offensive linemen in Taylor Decker and Graham Glasgow?
- Why not play young players like Mekhi Wingo vs. the Bears?
- Are Lions fans being too critical of management after the first sign of decline?
- Do media/fans need to re-evaluate their own perception of the team after the Lions failed to meet expectations?
- Is the Lions’ high amount of Pro Bowlers despite a bad year an indictment of coaching, management, or just a sign the Pro Bowl is a popularity contest?
You can catch this week’s episode on whatever podcasting platform you prefer, or use the embedded Spotify player below:
You can also catch the episode over on our YouTube page and Twitch channel. Both include a bunch of extra content between segments, essentially doubling the size of the episode.
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