On Wednesday afternoon, the Detroit Lions presented four coaches to the media for the first time since their appointment: offensive coordinator Anthony Lynn, assistant head / running backs coach Duce Staley, defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn and special teams coordinator Dave Fipp.
The four addressed questions for approximately 10-15 minutes each, explaining their goals, their analysis of the team, and their plans for 2021 and beyond. There was a lot to see, so here are my six biggest take-aways from the press.
Prepare for Jared Goff to be the 2021 starter, regardless of what the Lions do in the draft
Lynn, like any Lions coach at the moment, is not allowed to talk much about Jared Goff because it would be seen as a mess, even though Goff will be a Detroit Lion when the trade goes official on March 17. Still, the media got creative when asking Lynn about Goff and a possible upcoming camp fight with a rookie quarterback should Detroit go that way in the draft.
While Anthony Lynn admitted that if a novice quarterback won the fight in training camp, he would have to start in week 1, he spent a lot more time talking about the benefits of sitting for a year or so.
“I’d love to see that rookie sit for a while,” Lynn said. “If he could watch half a season, or watch the first year like Patrick Mahomes did, I think you can learn so much from the right veteran quarterback.
“Because there are a lot of rookies in this competition and they are not ready yet. The speed of the game is twice as fast as in college. They are unsuccessful and in today’s environment – with social media – things go wrong and some of these guys lose their confidence and never get it back. So if I can sit a rookie, I will. ”
Aaron Glenn loves the lions’ defensive backs
When it comes to Detroit’s under-performing secondary, Glenn only sees potential. Glenn is full of athletes and sees many parallels to when he took over coaching a young high school in New Orleans. That secondary, incidentally, finished in the top five in allowed passer-by rating and interceptions in 2020, and was top 10 in yards per allowed attempt.
“I had a young high school with Marshon Lattimore, Vonn Bell, Marcus Williams. All those young boys, you get to grow these boys up as puppies, ”Glenn said. “I am enthusiastic about that. Jeff Okudah, freshman player. Amani (Oruwariye), young player. Even the two protections we have, young players. I get the chance to mold those guys exactly the way I want those guys to play. I know AP (Defender Aubrey Pleasant) is going to do a great job in that situation. ”
Indeed, Dan Campbell was a huge influencer for hiring coaching
To give you an idea of how excited some of these coaches are to be coaching under Dan Campbell, here was Special Team Coordinator Dave Fipp’s answer to a question about his level of excitement to be one of the best special teams units of 2020. inherit.
“No doubt about that. These guys played at a really high level a year ago. They have a lot of really good players, but I would personally say that the thing that I am honestly most excited about is to come here and get the chance to play. Dan Campbell. He’s an incredible guy. He’s put together a great staff. ”
For Aaron Glenn, it was their shared past. They are both from Texas A&M. They played the Cowboys together and coached with the Saints. With all those overlapping years, Glenn learned how good of a person and strong of a leader Campbell was.
“Being with him all these years gives you the opportunity to get to know the man better than the soccer coach,” said Glenn. “I am more attracted to the man than to the football coach, to be honest. You just know that the type of person he is will bring in the right guys. “
Last year’s defense was poorly coached
Glenn didn’t put it outright, but he was referring to Campbell’s comments a few weeks ago that suggested the players didn’t know their assignments or were not playing with confidence.
Dan said it. The players seemed confused, without confidence, ”said Glenn. “And all we have to do is change the players’ story of their thinking so they can start playing with confidence and get them to play quickly. What we’re going to do as staff is to make that happen. That is our main job. ”
Anthony Lynn was more than willing to mention plays
Lynn has only one year of offensive coordinator experience to his credit, but the 52-year-old coach quickly shrugged off any concerns that his lack of playing experience could affect his efficiency in 2021. Although he was the Chargers’ head coach. since 2017 he has been closely involved in calling plays.
“In the last four years I had offensive coordinators, and I made those guys call plays, but I probably called a third of those plays,” said Lynn. “I was always involved. I don’t think that’s something I’ve forgotten how to do. ”
This coaching staff is actually nice
The Lions coaching staff weren’t afraid to show their personality a bit in their Detroit first press, following Dan Campbell’s lead. There was Glenn, who was asked about his position as a player, when he made the tackle on the part in which Barry Sanders exceeded 2,000 yards in 1997. His response:
“Oh, are you really going to bring that up again?” he said with a smile. However, he played along and told the story and how embarrassed he felt at the time. Barry had just crossed 2,000 yards, but it was right on the dot. At the next play, Sanders took it 51 yards for a first win of the game. Who was there to deal with him just before a touchdown? Aaron Glenn.
‘When I was chasing him, I looked up and saw 2000 meters. So I’m tackling on Barry Sanders for his 2000 meters. ”
Oh, and there was a remarkable moment between running backs coach Duce Staley and hunky Pride of Detroit editor-in-chief Jeremy Reisman:
It’s easy, of course, to be personable and affable at the first press conference of the year. No setback yet. Yet this already feels like a lot more personality than we have accumulated in the past three years.