The Detroit Lions have reportedly settled on their next offensive coordinator: John Morton.
As expected, based on the way things were trending on Monday , the Detroit Lions have hired John Morton as their next offensive coordinator, as first reported by NFL Network. Morton becomes the successor to former Lions OC Ben Johnson, who was hired as the Chicago Bears ’ head coach last week.
Morton, 55, was with the Lions back in 2022, serving as the team’s senior offensive assistant. Lions coach Dan Campbell credits Morton for helping them install their new offense under Johnson, and bringing in ideas for pass game coordinator Tanner Engstrand that still are with the team today.
“Johnny’s a superstar now and there’s a number of things that he did for us last year that are things that we’ve kept,” Campbell said in 2023. “And I really feel like that helped Tanner as well. And he took a lot of that, and he learned from that, and he’s grown from that and so, he’s in a good spot. He’s an asset for us.”
In the past two years, Morton has served as the Denver Broncos’ pass game coordinator under head coach Sean Payton. In 2023 with Russell Wilson as quarterback, the Broncos produced the sixth-best passer rating (96.7). In 2024, with rookie quarterback Bo Nix, they dropped to 13th, but with a strong 93.3 passer rating for the first-year passer.
With Morton’s hiring, the Lions have now replaced both of their coordinator losses this offseason. On the defensive side, former Lions linebacker coach Kelvin Sheppard was promoted to defensive coordinator to replace Aaron Glenn, who left to become the Jets head coach.
Track all of the Lions’ coaching changes for the 2025 season here.