ASU offensive analyst Ryan Silverfield joining Detroit Lions' coaching staff
Arizona State senior offensive analyst Ryan Silverfield is joining the NFL’s Detroit Lions as assistant offensive line coach, according to a league source.
This was Silverfield’s first year at Arizona State. He replaces former Lions assistant offensive line coach Terry Heffernan, who was fired as part of an offensive staff shakeup late last month.
Silverfield joins a Lions team that has a disappointing 2-7 record this season, but is coming off its biggest win of the season, an 18-16 victory at Green Bay on Sunday. Last season he was an offensive consultant at Toledo, where he worked with the offensive line.
Prior to that, Silverfield spent six seasons with the Minnesota Vikings, including his last three as assistant offensive line coach. He assisted with the team’s defensive line from 2009-10 after working for a year in offensive quality control.
Silverfield was a graduate assistant at Central Florida from 2006-07. He was an assistant at Jacksonville University in 2005 and before that was the head coach at Memorial Day High School in Savannah, Ga., for a season. From 2000-03, he was an offensive assistant at his alma matter, Hampden-Sydney College.
Last month Detroit fired its offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi as well as offensive line coach Jeremiah Washburn and Heffernan. Team president Tom Lewand and general manager Martin Mayhew were also fired just over a week later.
The Lions had an 11-5 record under second-year coach Jim Caldwell last season and lost in a NFC Wild-Card Game.
