Ex-Stanford Football Coach Will be Vital to Detroit Lions Success in 2025

After being away from the sidelines for a couple of seasons, former Stanford head coach, David Shaw, is returning to coaching for the 2025 season after getting hired by the Detroit Lions to be their new passing game coordinator.

Bringing many years of experience while also having a reputation for having a strong offensive mind, Shaw figures to play a big role in helping the Lions' offense this coming season.

But with former offensive coordinator Ben Johnson being hired away from the team when he became the new head coach of the Chicago Bears, Detroit was left with a lot of questions. Who will lead its offense next year? What will their scheme look like? Will quarterback Jared Goff be able to continue his MVP-caliber play with a new play caller?

Enter Shaw, who could take on a pseudo-offensive coordinator role, given his past experience. The Lions hired former Denver Broncos passing game coordinator, John Morton, to be their new OC. Morton, who confirmed that he will be the play caller in 2025, only has one season of prior experience performing those duties (as the New York Jets offensive coordinator in 2017).

Shaw, on the other hand, not only has a good track record of getting the most out of quarterbacks (Andrew Luck being the best example with Stanford) but also has been a play caller for years. He could now be instrumental while working in tandem with Morton run the offense, and his perspective and ideas could help Detroit's offense remain one of the most potent in all of football.

Shaw's official role as passing game coordinator will be to oversee all aspects of the team's passing attack and develop a plan and strategy for all situations such as third downs, red zone plays, two minute drills, etc.

But Shaw will be working very closely with both Morton and head coach Dan Campbell throughout the season. The only other coach on staff that has held a full-time head coaching job (QB coach Mark Brunell and offensive assistant Bruce Gradkowski coached high school), Shaw could evolve into a key resource for the Lions franchise.

Even though they lost both of their coordinators, with defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn taking the Jets head coaching job, the Lions will most likely enter 2025 with lofty expectations after making the playoffs the last two seasons.

While it may take a little bit of time now for everyone to get acclimated to the new scheme, having an elite football mind like Shaw's around could help the process be seamless as Detroit looks to continue to build on their recent success.