Lions Parting Ways With Offensive Coordinator

The Detroit Lions are in the market for an offensive coordinator for the second straight year.

Detroit announced Tuesday that it has parted ways with John Morton. Morton was hired last offseason to replace Ben Johnson. Morton was in charge of the offense, however the unit struggled with consistency and as a result he was stripped of play-calling duties beginning in Week 10.

Detroit finished in last-place in the NFC North with a 9-8 record, and while the offense finished fourth in points and fifth in yards in the entire league, there were signs of inconsistency throughout the year.

The Lions began the year 5-2 through the first seven weeks, but lost to Minnesota coming out of their bye in Week 9. For the team’s next game against Washington Commanders and ever since, Lions head coach Dan Campbell took over the play-calling duties.

During that time, Morton remained heavily involved in the passing game and was still consulted for parts of the game plan. He admitted that he hoped to stay with the organization, and that calling plays would not be a requirement he’d have to remain working under Campbell.

“I’m heavily involved in the passing game. I love the personnel that we’ve got, I love this organization and the coaches and everything,” Morton said prior to the Bears game. “We do a great job working together, putting this all together. We have great players, it’s really fun to put gameplans in the passing game. It’s fun, I have a blast doing it because we’ve got a lot of weapons and it’s pretty cool. And then we come up with something new, the guys don’t even blink. It’s fun. And we did a couple of things today. And I just love it. I love my job. I love coaching, I love game planning, I love everything that goes into it and then watching it on Sunday.”

The Lions announced today that they have parted ways with offensive coordinator John Morton.
— Detroit Lions (@Lions) January 6, 2026

Morton has a long-standing connection with the Lions, dating back to the 2022 season when he served as an offensive analyst in Johnson’s first year as the team’s coordinator. When Johnson departed to become the head coach of the Chicago Bears, Morton was a natural replacement.

Prior to returning to Detroit, Morton had spent the last two years as the passing game coordinator for the Denver Broncos under Campbell’s mentor, Sean Payton. He and Campbell spent time together on Payton’s staff with the New Orleans Saints. Morton has also worked with coaching influences such as Jon Gruden, Jim Harbaugh and Pete Carroll.

The veteran coach had one year of previous play-calling experience, as he was the offensive coordinator for the New York Jets during the 2017 season.

This season marked the second time in Campbell’s five-year tenure that he elected to take the play-calling duties into his own hands. In his first season, he made the same decision while Anthony Lynn was serving as coordinator. Lynn did not return at the conclusion of the 2021 season.

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