Detroit Lions hiring John Morton as new offensive coordinator

HOUSTON, TX – DECEMBER 03: On December 3, 2023, in Houston, Texas, the Denver Broncos and Houston Texans play football at NRG Stadium. John Morton, the team’s pass game coordinator, is in charge of practice. (Image via Icon/Leslie Plaza Johnson)

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    The Lions hired John Morton, an Auburn Hills native, as offensive coordinator to replace Ben Johnson.
    
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    Morton spent the past two seasons in Denver and coached up rookie QB Bo Nix.
    
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    The new offensive coordinator also spent 2022 in Detroit as an assistant on Johnson’s staff.
    

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  The Lions hired John Morton, an Auburn Hills native, as offensive coordinator to replace Ben Johnson.
  
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  Morton spent the past two seasons in Denver and coached up rookie QB Bo Nix.
  
• 
  The new offensive coordinator also spent 2022 in Detroit as an assistant on Johnson’s staff.
  

DETROIT (FOX 2):With the hire of John Morton to manage the potent offense that includes Jared Goff, Amon-Ra St. Brown, Jahmyr Gibbs, and others, the Detroit Lions have replaced their offensive commander.

was the first to reveal that Morton had been hired by the Lions to serve as offensive coordinator. The Lions signed Morton, according to the New York Times, which cited NFL Network insiders Ian Rapaport and Tom Pelissero as sources.

Born in Auburn Hills, Morton, 55, attended Western Michigan during his collegiate football career. Before beginning his coaching career in 1998, he played as a practice player for multiple NFL clubs and the Canadian Football League for a few years after going undrafted in 1993.

Morton has played for the New Orleans Saints and Oakland Raiders, among other teams, throughout the last 25 years.

Based on the figures:

Prior to joining Sean Payton’s staff in Denver in 2023, Morton served as a senior offensive assistant in Detroit in 2022. He led rookie quarterback Bo Nix to a fantastic debut campaign last year, amassing 3,775 yards, 29 touchdowns, and just 12 interceptions.

In addition to working under Payton, Morton was the offensive coordinator for the New York Jets for one season until being fired at the end of that season. He also coached under Jim Harbaugh at the University of San Diego.

The backstory

After Ben Johnson left for the Chicago Bears last week, the Lions acted swiftly to appoint a replacement for offensive coordinator. Despite being heavily pursued by NFL teams during the previous offseason, Johnson chose to stay in Detroit.

Head coach Dan Campbell has been prepared to replace defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn and Johnson because he anticipated losing both during this coaching cycle, according to Lions general manager Brad Holmes.

At his postseason news conference on Thursday, Holmes stated, “Dan has been preparing for it and I have the full faith and trust in Dan to make sure that we’re going to have the right people in place in those spots.”

The Lions want to retain their best remaining assistants and other staff members, even though some of them will have possibilities with the Bears and Jets. However, there was little they could do to persuade Johnson and Glenn to stay.

“It s not only in coaching, it s in personnel as well,” Holmes stated. “I ve always said it s hard to keep the good ones, but I understand that when guys want to poach guys from our program, you ve just got to be prepared for it.”

The Source: The hiring of John Morton was covered by the New York Times and ESPN’s Adam Schefter. The Lions have not verified it.