Now that the Detroit Lions have surprisingly been eliminated from the NFL Playoffs after losing to the Washington Commanders in the NFL Divisional Round, all signs point to Ben Johnson and/or Aaron Glenn landing a head coaching job elsewhere.
Both are considered top head coaching candidates in this year’s hiring cycle and as The Athletic’s Dianna Russini reported, interviews are expected to heat up this week.
However, if/when Johnson and Glenn get a head coaching job elsewhere, who will the Lions replace their offensive and defensive coordinators with? A few names have already emerged.
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Who will Detroit Lions replace Ben Johnson and/or Aaron Glenn with?
There’s certainly no guarantee that the Detroit Lions will lose both of their coordinators. It’s possible they won’t lose either one. Yet, most analysts within the industry are expecting the Lions to lose at least one of their play-callers, if not both.
If so, who could replace Ben Johnson and Aaron Glenn?
According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, there are three early candidates.
- Lions assistant head coach/running backs coach Scott Montgomery
- Lions passing game coordinator Tanner Engstrand
- Lions linebackers coach Kelvin Sheppard
Montgomery, who/s been with the Lions since 2023, has been an offensive coordinator before, but only in college with Maryland from 2019 to 2020.
Meanwhile, Engstrand has been with the Lions since 2020 and has also been an offensive coordinator before, but never in the NFL. He was previously an offensive coordinator for San Diego in college and for the DC Defenders of the UFL.
Unlike the previous two, who are candidates to replace Johnson, Sheppard is a candidate to replace Glenn. He’s been with the Lions since 2021 but has never been a defensive coordinator.
The one thing each of these candidates have in common is that they’re all former football players, which is a common theme on the Lions’ coaching staff.
