Originally posted on Side Lion Report | By Brad Berreman | Last updated Feb 22, 2025 6:00 AM ET
Dan Campbell knew it was happening before it did, and indeed the Detroit Lions lost both of their coordinators (Ben Johnson and Aaron Glenn) to head coaching jobs after their season-ending loss to the Washington Commanders. It’s rare to lose both coordinators in the same offseason, and the total of seven assistant coaches leaving (with other assistant coaches Johnson and Glenn took with them) brought a lot turnover to Campbell’s staff.
As expected, no one with the Lions is going to invite the idea there will be any kind of drop-off with the change in coordinators. New offensive coordinator John Morton was about as close to an internal hire as there could have been, and new defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard was promoted from linebackers coach.
Lions defensive end Aidan Hutchinson made a return to “The Squeeze” podcast with actor Taylor Lautner and his wife Tay during Super Bowl week in New Orleans, and the episode was released this past week. Along with acknowledging what he and Myles Garrett talked about at NFL Honors, Hutchinson acknowledged the kind of coaching turnover the Lions had is what happens “whenever you have a lot of success in the NFL and you get a one seed.”
Aidan Hutchinson dismisses the significance of losing Ben Johnson and Aaron Glenn
Then Hutchinson went a different direction regarding the loss of Johnson and Glenn.
“I don’t care who they bring,” Hutchinson said. “Obviously keeping Dan there is what we all want, but coordinators, position coaches, it doesn’t matter. As long as we have the right guys in the locker room and those foundation guys on offense, on defense — you can roll anyone in there to call the plays. At the end of the day, it’s going to be the playmakers who are making those plays on Sundays. As long as we keep our core group and keep everyone there, we’re going to stay in this window of winning.”
It’s one thing to say “players make plays” or something along that line, like Amon-Ra St. Brown did when he talked about the Lions’ coaching staff turnover. But Hutchinson went further to say “I don’t care who they bring” and “you can roll anyone in there to call the plays.”
Hutchinson said it doesn’t matter who the Lions have calling plays on either side of the ball (or as position coaches), and he might be right. But there are ways to say that beyond those exact words, and ways not to. Once again, you’d think someone who’s had some level of media training going back to his college career would be able to choose his words better in a public forum.
