On Wednesday afternoon, Detroit Lions introduced four coaches to the media for the first time since signing: offensive coordinator Anthony Lynn, assistant coach / running backs Duce Staley, defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn and special team coordinator Dave Fipp .
The four questions answered for about 10-15 minutes each, while explaining their goals, their team analysis and their plans for 2021 and beyond. There was a lot to learn, so here are my six biggest lessons from printers.
Get ready for Jared Goff to be the 2021 starter, regardless of what Lions do in the draft
Lynn, like all Lions coaches now, is not allowed to say much about Jared Goff because that would be seen as adulteration, although Goff is a Detroit Lion when the exchange becomes official on March 17. Still, the media was creative in asking Lynn about Goff and a possible camp battle with a rookie quarterback, Detroit should go in that direction in the draft.
Although Anthony Lynn admitted that if a novice quarterback wins the training camp battle, he should start in Week 1, he spent much more time talking about the benefits of sitting for a year or more.
“I would love to see that newbie sit and watch for a while,” said Lynn. “If he could watch for half a season, or watch for the first year like Patrick Mahomes did, I think you can learn a lot from the right veteran defender.
“Because many newbies come to this league and are not ready. The game speed is twice as fast as in college. They are unsuccessful and in today’s environment – with social media – things get out of hand and some of these guys lose confidence and never regain it. So, if I can sit as a newbie, I will. ”
Aaron Glenn likes the defensive back of Lions
When it comes to Detroit’s underperforming secondary, Glenn sees only potential. A full roster of athletes, Glenn sees many parallels to when he took on the training of a junior high school student in New Orleans. This secondary, by the way, finished in the top five in allowed passer classification and interceptions in 2020, and was in the top 10 in yards per allowed attempt.
“I had a young secondary with Marshon Lattimore, Vonn Bell, Marcus Williams. All these kids, you can raise these guys like puppies, ”said Glenn. “I am excited about this. Jeff Okudah, first year player. Amani (Oruwariye), young player. Even the two security guards we have, young players. I have a chance to shape these guys exactly how I want them to play. I know that AP (defense coach Aubrey Pleasant) is going to do a great job in this situation. ”
Dan Campbell, in fact, was a major influencer for coaching hires
To give you a sense of how excited some of these coaches are to train under Dan Campbell, here is special team coordinator Dave Fipp’s answer to a question about his level of enthusiasm for inheriting one of the best special team units of 2020.
“No doubt about it. These guys played at a very high level a year ago. They have a lot of really good players, but I would personally say, for me, what I’m most excited about, honestly, is getting here and having the chance to work for Dan Campbell. He’s an amazing guy. He’s put together an amazing team. ”
For Aaron Glenn, it was the shared past. Both are from Texas A&M. They played together at Cowboys and trained together with the Saints. With all those years overlapping, Glenn learned how good a person was and the strong leader Campbell.
“Being with him for all these years, you have a chance to get to know the man more than the football coach,” said Glenn. “I feel more attracted to the man than the football coach, to be honest with you. You just know that the type of person he is is going to bring in the right guys. “
Last year’s defense was poorly trained
Glenn did not say so openly, but did refer to Campbell’s comments a few weeks ago that suggested that players did not appear to know their assignments or to play with any confidence.
“Dan said that. The players looked confused, without confidence, ”said Glenn. “And the only thing we need to do is to change the players’ narrative about their thoughts so that they can play with confidence and make them play fast. What we will do as a team is to make sure that happens. This is our number one job. ”
Anthony Lynn more than prepared to call moves
Lynn has only one year of experience as an offensive coordinator on his resume, but the 52-year-old coach quickly dismissed any concerns that his lack of experience as a player could affect his efficiency in 2021. Although he has been Chargers’ head coach since 2017 , he has been heavily involved in calling moves.
“For the past four years, I’ve had offensive coordinators and let these guys call the shots, but I probably called a third of those shots,” said Lynn. “I was always involved. I don’t think I forgot to do that ”.
This coaching staff is really fun
The Lions technical team was not afraid to show its personality a little in its first presses in Detroit, following the example of Dan Campbell. There was Glenn, who was asked about his point of view as a player, when he tackled the play in which Barry Sanders eclipsed 2,000 yards in 1997. His reaction:
“Oh, are you really going to bring this back?” He said with a smile. He played together, however, told the story and how embarrassed he felt at the time. Barry had just eclipsed 2,000 yards, but he nailed it. On the next play, Sanders advanced 51 yards for a first down that won the game. Who was there to face you just before a touchdown? Aaron Glenn.
“When I chased him, I looked up and saw 2,000 yards. So, I’m on the tape facing Barry Sanders for his 2,000 yards. ”
Oh, and there was this remarkable moment between running back trainer Duce Staley and handsome editor-in-chief Jeremy Reisman of Pride of Detroit:
Of course, it’s easy to be personal and affable at the first press conference of the year. No adversity to speak of yet. Still, it already looks like a lot more personality than we had in the past three years together.