Lions Fire John Morton as Offensive Coordinator
The Detroit Lions have made the decision to fire John Morton from his position as offensive coordinator, the team announced on Tuesday. Morton, 56, arrived to the team to replace Ben Johnson, who was hired as the head coach of the Chicago Bears after the Lions’ record season in 2024, in which they achieved 15 victories. This season, Detroit finished with a 9-8 record and failed to qualify for the playoffs for the first time since 2022. The head coach, Dan Campbell, took over offensive play-calling duties from Morton in Week 10, following a surprising 27-24 loss to Minnesota on November 2. Campbell hasn’t decided yet whether he will continue to be in charge of the plays in the future.Despite being among the league leaders in total points per game (28.3), Detroit struggled to establish a consistent offensive identity outside of highlight plays this season, despite having standout players like Amon-Ra St. Brown and Jahmyr Gibbs, among others. Under Johnson’s direction, the Lions led the NFL with 33.2 points per game in 2024. Previously, Morton also was part of Campbell’s staff with the Lions in 2022 as a senior offensive assistant, before joining Sean Payton’s team with the Denver Broncos as a pass game coordinator in the 2023-24 season. He is originally from Rochester Hills, Michigan.I’m open to any possibility. I don’t exactly know where I am with that yet. One of the good things if I did that, you wouldn’t have to worry about someone else leaving,” Campbell said on Monday. “You wouldn’t have to worry about your play caller leaving. That would be one of the advantages. But I’m going to think about all that and I want to do what I think is best for the team, and that would include that. If I think it’s best for us and I feel good about it, then I’ll do it. If I feel like ‘Eh’, then I won’t do it.
Dan Campbell
