Detroit Lions coach Dan Campbell knew he wanted to have some experience with him on his coaching staff, and on Saturday he did so, hiring former Los Angeles Chargers coach Anthony Lynn as the team’s offensive coordinator, sources said. Dan Graziano of ESPN.
Lynn, 52, was with the 2017-20 Chargers with a 33-31 record. Prior to that, he was the offensive coordinator for Buffalo Bills for one season in 2016.
He and Campbell are also familiar with each other. Lynn was the trainer for running backs in Dallas in 2005, when Campbell was a tight end with the team.
“What is most important to me, as an offensive coordinator, is someone who I believe has an offensive view in the same way that I do,” Campbell said on Thursday. “Just as far as, ‘Listen, I’m not going to get stuck in what you want to call terminology. I will not be stuck in the style of system you want to implement. ‘
“I like ‘man more, show me what nuts and bolts you believe in’” One thing Campbell emphasized in his introductory press conference is making sure your coordinators – the team officially announced Aaron Glenn as coordinator defensive on Saturday – can identify and exploit match incompatibilities.
In Buffalo in 2016, Lynn had the best quick attack in the NFL, averaging 164.4 yards per game and 5.35 yards per load with LeSean McCoy as his main defense. Lynn also showed a willingness to launch. His Chargers team last season was sixth in the league in passing passes per game (270.6) with a rookie defender, Justin Herbert, behind the center for most of the season and had the No. 6 pass attack in 2019 (276 , 6 yards per game).
Lynn will likely be working with a new defender in 2021, too, as ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that Matthew Stafford requested a Detroit switch – the only place he played in his career after being chosen as No. 1 overall in 2009.