As part of the Detroit Lions offseason following their 15-2 campaign in the 2024 NFL season, they lost a pair of key coordinators. Defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn departed the organization to accept the head coaching job with the New York Jets, while offensive coordinator Ben Johnson departed to accept the head coaching job with the rival Chicago Bears.
Adding insult to injury was the fact that not only did the Lions lose their top spot in the NFC North Division in 2025, but that title now currently belongs to Johnson and the Bears, who advanced to the playoffs while the Lions were finished after the regular season.
John Morton, who was hired to replace Johnson, had his playcalling duties taken away midway through the season by head coach Dan Campbell, and the club moved on from him shortly after the season; that role is now held by Drew Petzing, who arrived from the Arizona Cardinals. Meanwhile, the Lions promoted linebackers coach Kelvin Sheppard to the role of defensive coordinator.
Detroit Lions Insider Takes Kelvin Sheppard To Task
Lions beat writer Colton Pouncy, who writes for The Athletic, had questions about Sheppard’s leadership and ability to adjust as things began getting tough down the stretch.
“Last season was sort of a tale of two halves. In the first half, when they got to the bye, that defense was humming,” Pouncy said during a recent episode of the Lions Collective. “We were talking about the “Legion of Whom” and how they were making it work with whoever they were trotting out there.”
“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.”
He then questioned whether Sheppard was really serious about not making excuses.
“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.”
Will Kelvin Sheppard’s Performance As Defensive Coordinator Improve This Season?
Despite this, Pouncy believes that Sheppard can improve.
“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.”
Detroit Lions Insider Calls Out Defensive Coordinator Kelvin Sheppard