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Lions hoping to avoid setback after coordinators left

ALLEN PARK — The Detroit Lions are the third team since at least 2010 to have both coordinators become NFL head coaches in the same offseason.

They’re hoping not to take a step back next season as the other two teams did.

Just days after the NFC’s top-seeded team was stunned by sixth-seeded Washington, offensive coordinator Ben Johnson was hired by the Chicago Bears and defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn left to lead the New York Jets.

Both are finalists for The Associated Press 2024 NFL Assistant Coach of the Year award.

Philadelphia lost coordinators Shane Steichen and Jonathan Gannon to Indianapolis and Arizona following the 2022 season. Cincinnati coordinators Jay Gruden and Mike Zimmer were hired by Washington and Minnesota after the 2013 season.

The Eagles won the NFC East and went to the Super Bowl with Steichen and Gannon on the coaching staff, then finished second in the division and lost in the wild-card round the next year.

The Bengals were AFC North champions with Gruden and Zimmer and slipped to second place in the division the following year.

Lions general manager Brad Holmes said AP NFL Coach of the Year finalist Dan Campbell has been ready to replace Johnson and Glenn because he expected to lose both of them during this coaching cycle.

“Dan has been preparing for it and I have the full faith and trust in Dan to make sure that we’re going to have the right people in place in those spots,” Holmes said Thursday at his postseason news conference.

While there was not much the Lions could do to convince Johnson and Glenn to stay, they want to keep their top remaining assistants and other staff members even though some of them will have opportunities with the Bears and Jets.

“It’s not only in coaching, it’s in personnel as well,” Holmes said. “I’ve always said it’s hard to keep the good ones, but I understand that when guys want to poach guys from our program, you’ve just got to be prepared for it.”

The Lions also will have to decide whether to sign some key unrestricted free agents such as guard Kevin Zeitler and cornerback Carlton Davis.

Holmes may also want to give long-term contract extensions to players such as safety Kerby Joseph, who can potentially become an unrestricted free agent in 2026.

“It’s hard to find ball-hawk guys that will tackle like how he does, and I think that’s what makes him unique,” Holmes said. “We haven’t had any intense dialogue about that yet, but obviously we want to keep the good players here.”

The Lions were great in the regular season, winning a team-record 15 games that gave them consecutive division championships and a No. 1 seed for the first time in franchise history, before playing one of their worst games at the wrong time.

Detroit went into the NFL playoffs as Super Bowl favorites, according to BetMGM, and lost to the Commanders by two touchdowns at home in the divisional round.

“Fell short of the goals that we set out to accomplish this year and it stung,” Holmes said. “It’s humbling, but I won’t allow it to discredit all of the positives that we were able to accomplish as well this season.”

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Follow Larry Lage at https://apnews.com/author/larry-lage

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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL

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