Analyst Questions Kelvin Sheppard's Leadership, Expects Growth in 2026

The Detroit Lions elected to hang on to defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard for a second season heading into 2026.

In his first year replacing Aaron Glenn, Sheppard had some ups and downs leading the defense. Previously leading the linebackers, Sheppard adjusted to handling the defense as a whole amidst some growing pains.

Injuries played a big role in these growing pains, as Detroit's defense was raided by an plague of ailments. Additionally, the defense had some tough assignments against solid offenses late in the year.

Now, heading into his second season, the pressure is on Sheppard to prove he can keep the defense consistent.

A recent episode of the "Lions Collective" podcast explored thoughts about how Sheppard would learn and grow from the growing pains experienced in his first year in charge of the Lions' defense.

"Last season was sort of a tale of two halves. In the first half, when they got to the bye, that defense was humming," said Colton Pouncy, Lions beat writer for The Athletic. "We were talking about the "Legion of Whom" and how they were making it work with whoever they were trotting out there."

Unfortunately the injuries kept piling up for Detroit. This, in turn, led to a late-season swoon where the team struggled to get stops in a stretch that defined their season.

"As more guys started to exit the lineup, get hurt, you played some better teams, better offenses, they kind of got exposed in some ways. And I thought there was kind of a failure to adjust," Pouncy explained. "I would say the one thing that I didn't love from Shep was he would come out there every other week, every time they had a bad game, and would kind of make excuses for his defense."

Following some of these performances, the former NFL linebacker indicated the performances were better than what the statistics showed. Pouncy raised a question to this, indicating that the excuses could be a sign of inadequate leadership.

"When he would go up there and say 'Well, I'm not going to make excuses.' And then he would go up there and make excuses about how they were playing. I didn't really love that," said Pouncy. "I didn't think that was like a strong sign of leadership."

Despite growing pains, many, including Pouncy, believe Sheppard will excel during his tenure in Motown. Sheppard has built a strong reputation in the coaching world, and there remains a strong possibility that he can help lead a more consistent defense in 2026.

"I think Shep has the chops to be a really good DC in the league. I think he's a really smart coach. I thought he did some good things last year, but I think that's part of growing on the job," Pouncy said. "Like this was his first year in that role. I would expect some of that to change next year. And this season, though coming up, I would expect him to get those guys ready to play more than they were at that time last year. Obviously, injuries played a factor. You never know who you're going to have available. But, he did some good things last year. But some growing pains were also kind of obvious in certain ways."

The struggles at the end of the year, even as the team was without Brian Branch and Kerby Joseph among others, led some to believe the Lions could consider moving on. However, head coach Dan Campbell reaffirmed his belief in Sheppard by not making any changes to the defensive staff.

"It's kind of irrelevant how I feel about Kelvin Sheppard, but more relevant as to how Dan feels about him," said Pouncy. "And he did not make any changes on that defensive staff at all this offseason. It told me that there's a lot of trust in there. When you hear Dan talk about Shep, he thinks that he's going to be a rising star in this industry.

"You kind of felt like he was going to be the guy after AG (Aaron Glenn) for years. It was just a matter of time," Pouncy added. "No matter when AG got that opportunity, and when he finally did, there was not a lot of hesitation in naming Kelvin Sheppard his successor. So obviously, they're very high on him."

Beat writer questions Kelvin Sheppard’s leadership Year 1, expects growth in 2026 @DetroitPodcast pic.twitter.com/RJihYueTLT
— Detroit Lions On SI (@AllLionsFN) May 23, 2026

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