The Detroit Lions have once again turned to an ex-NFL player to help fill in their coaching staff, hiring Antwaan Randle El to coach the team’s receivers.
Randle El has been an offensive assistant at Tampa Bay for the past two seasons, helping the team win the Kansas City Super Bowl earlier this month.
The 41-year-old played in the NFL for nine years with Pittsburgh and Washington and played in 143 games with 71 starts. He caught 370 passes for 4,467 yards and 15 touchdowns. He was also a returnee for part of his career with 26 returns for 288 yards and a touchdown.
Randle El played quarterback in college in Indiana.
After retiring from the NFL, he became the athletic director of Virginia Academy, a high school he helped start. Then he decided to start coaching in 2019.
Randle El will become the newest former NFL player to join the Lions coaching staff, along with head coach Dan Campbell, offensive coordinator Anthony Lynn, defense coordinator Aaron Glenn, quarterbacks coach Mark Brunell, assistant head coach / running backs coach Duce Staley , offensive line coach Hank Fraley and defensive assistant Kelvin Sheppard.
Campbell said that was not intentional when he put his staff together.
“I didn’t go into this and said I’m only going to hire ex-players. That never occurred to me,” Campbell said. “In my head, I said, who is the best guy I know as far as I know as an excellent teacher and coach. Those were the criteria. That was, those were always the set standards and I swore I never was. hire the coach first and the second person, i hired the person first and the second coach.
“So I declined, this is what I did know, I refused to hire my friends who are average coaches or the man I owe, but an average coach is just an excellent person. Because you get so average. And so it was. it was a bonus that I knew AG It was a bonus that I knew A-Lynn because they are excellent people who are excellent coaches and so I just got into this thing and literally said, ‘Where do I find the best guys? find the best boys, who are the best boys? ”