For the second straight January, Dan Campbell and his Detroit Lions team have had to deal with a crushing playoff defeat.
Twelve months ago, the Lions let a 17-point half-time lead slip against the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Championship game, while last weekend saw the NFC’s number one seed go one-and-done in the playoffs as they were beaten by the rejuvenated Washington Commanders side in the Divisional Round.
One of the occupational hazards of success in the NFL means your coaching staff will be stripped as coordinators will be earmarked as potential head coaches elsewhere, and as the Lions lick their wounds, they now have to deal with two key exits.
The defeat to the Commanders has quickly been followed by the departure of both their offensive and defensive coordinators, with Ben Johnson joining NFC North rivals the Chicago Bears as their new head coach, while Aaron Glenn was revealed as the New York Jets’ new chief on Wednesday.
This means Campbell and Lions general manager Brad Holmes are set for a busy offseason, with Holmes moving to allay fears that Johnson and Glenn’s exits will have a disruptive effect on the team next season.
“We were prepared to lose those guys,” Holmes said in a end-of-season press conference. “Those guys are great coaches. We were lucky to have both of them this year.
“But I know Dan has been prepared for it, and I have full faith and trust in Dan to know we’re going to have the right people in place in those spots. He’s had to encounter that before, not at the coordinator level, but position coaches, and it’s always worked out.
“With coordinators leaving, and if there’s tweaks to scheme, as long as Dan’s the head coach here and as long as I’m here, those are things that we talk about that are not going to change.”
Holmes also conceded that the Lions’ success over the past two seasons, which has seen post a combined 27-7 regular season record, means further coaching exits are likely.
“It’s hard to keep the good ones. When [other teams] want to poach guys from our program, you’ve got to be prepared for it.”
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