The Detroit Lions have yet another vacancy to fill on their coaching staff.
After the rival Chicago Bears tapped Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson to be their next head coach and the New York Jets landed defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn, another assistant coach appears to have jumped ship.
Assistant quarterbacks coach J.T. Barrett, who was with the Lions for the last two seasons, took to social media to hint at his departure from the team. The move will leave the Lions with even more positions to fill in the offseason, when they will be rebuilding following an early playoff exit.
Quarterbacks Coach Makes Roundabout Announcement
Though neither the Lions nor Barrett made a formal statement about his departure, the former Ohio State quarterback seemed to announce the move on Instagram as he changed his handle to “QB coach” while tagging the Bears.
Reporter Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune also reported the move, noting that Barrett was following his offensive coordinator.
“J.T. Barrett also coming from Detroit to join Ben Johnson’s staff,” Biggs shared in a post on X. “He will be the #Bears quarterbacks coach. Served as asst QB coach the previous 2 years for the Lions.”
Johnson has already brought some key Lions coaches with him to Chicago. Benjamin Raven of MLive.com reported that reporting wide receivers coach Antwaan Randle El was also joining Johnson on the Bears’ staff.
“Randle El is following former offensive coordinator Ben Johnson to the Bears, where he will take over as the assistant head coach and wide receivers coach,” Raven noted. “It’s a promotion for the former Pittsburgh Steelers receiver who has been on Dan Campbell’s staff in Detroit since the beginning.”
Randel El left a big imprint on the offense in Detroit, Raven added, and it will be hard for the team to replace him.
“Randle El’s work speaks for itself,” Raven wrote. “Amon-Ra S. Brown is a two-time All-Pro and three-time Pro Bowler through the first four seasons of his career, all under Randle El. Jameson Williams hit 1,000 yards for the first time this year, hitting on his sky-high potential as a first-rounder despite more off-field distractions.”
Lions Could Promote From Within
The Lions may already have a candidate in mind to take over for Johnson as offensive coordinator next season. Carlos Monarrez of the Detroit Free Press reported that passing-game coordinator Tanner Engstrand is a frontrunner for the job.
“So who takes over for Johnson as the Lions’ OC? My money would be on passing-game coordinator Tanner Engstrand,” Monarrez wrote. “He’s held the position for two seasons and it’s the same job Johnson had before Dan Campbell promoted him to OC.”
The Lions had one of the NFL’s top offenses over the last two seasons, building a balanced attack both on the ground and through the air. Though the Lions won a league-best 15 games this season, they fell flat in the divisional round of the NFL playoffs as the offense struggled with execution, throwing four interceptions in a loss to the Washington Commanders.
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Lions Get More Bad News on the Coaching Front