New Lions assistants like what they see from Jameson Williams, Jared Goff and others

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ALLEN PARK, Mich. — Dan Campbell lost both of his coordinators, several position coaches and was forced to overhaul his coaching staff this offseason. You might have heard about it once or twice.

For many, the new faces on Campbell’s staff offer an easy reason to cast doubt on the Lions this year. There are a lot of moving parts, after all. But after hearing from them, Detroit’s new coaches seem poised to help deliver Campbell’s message and carry out his vision for the offense.

Several of those new offensive assistants spoke Tuesday for the first time since they joined the staff, in addition to those who returned for another run. They had a lot to say about why they’re here and the players they’re now coaching.

Let’s discuss.

Campbell’s new assistants aren’t strangers, and it shows

It’s not ideal for a Super Bowl contender like the Lions to see their staff raided, but the folks chosen to keep this thing humming all feel like strong fits. That could make for a smoother transition than you might think.

Passing game coordinator David Shaw and offensive coordinator John Morton go way back. Like, back to 1998. They came up through the Jon Gruden tree, both worked for Jim Harbaugh and consider each other best friends. Morton said he needed someone he knew and could trust when he accepted the job, and his first call was to Shaw — who spent the 2024 season in Denver with him as a senior personnel executive, but was eyeing a return to coaching.

“There’s gotta be one guy in this business that you trust, because it’s hard to trust guys in this business. … We grew up together, we’ve always been friends for the longest time, so we targeted him right away,” Morton said. “To get him, because I know other teams wanted him, it’s a big deal for me because he’s my soundboard. He lets me know the heartbeat of the staff sometimes or the players. … So, that was real big for me getting him, man.”

Scottie Montgomery and Tashard Choice aren’t best friends, but you wouldn’t know it. They’ve known one another for years. They both spent time at the college level, and position coaches talk. Montgomery and Choice likely spent a lot of time discussing Jahmyr Gibbs — whom Choice coached at Georgia Tech — during the 2023 pre-draft process. That pick has turned out pretty well.

But Montgomery is now Detroit’s wide receivers coach. The opening created an opportunity for Choice — viewed as one of the best running back coaches in college football — to leave the University of Texas and join Detroit’s staff for the same role. He’ll reunite with Gibbs (and defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard — one of his actual best friends).

“I tell you what, you’re getting an unbelievable ball coach, one that has a tremendous amount of knowledge but is also very, very eager to learn, who connects with the players as well as anybody that I’ve seen,” Montgomery said of Choice. “What they’re getting is a guy who is very, very eager to make us a better program overall.”

Scottie Montgomery on #Lions running backs coach Tashard Choice pic.twitter.com/jpwfr6DHuM

— Detroit Lions (@Lions) May 13, 2025

Lions tight ends coach Tyler Roehl first crossed paths with Campbell in 2021, when Campbell visited North Dakota State’s campus for Trey Lance’s pro day. Months prior, Campbell had been hired as Lions head coach, and his kneecap speech at his introductory news conference had made the rounds.

Campbell’s words and philosophy resonated with Roehl, a former running back/fullback who has since become a young, high-energy coach. Roehl learned grit from delivering newspapers in negative-20 degree weather in Fargo, N.D., back in the day. Football taught him physicality, and it bleeds into his coaching style.

Two years after Roehl and Campbell met at Lance’s pro day, Campbell interviewed Roehl to be his tight ends coach. The timing wasn’t right then and the Lions ultimately hired Steve Heiden, but when Heiden left this offseason, Campbell circled back and Roehl was his target.

Roehl still remembers their initial conversation fondly.

“I think it was shortly after he was introduced as head coach, and I just said, ‘Hey, I admire the way you handled your press conference and the messaging,’” Roehl recalled. “That’s how I look at the game of football. I want to preach and play with that desire, that intent, that mentality. … Just hearing how genuine and from the heart that message was, shoot, I go back to those quotes, quite honestly, quite a bit. … We just hit it off right away.”

Tuff stuff pic.twitter.com/jmQrQfG0rg

— Detroit Lions (@Lions) May 13, 2025

While Campbell’s staff is new, the relationships aren’t. They all have the mentality Campbell covets. The talent on the roster gives this team a high floor, and if the coaches can mesh together quickly, they have enough to hoist the Lombardi Trophy in February 2026. That process is underway.

Morton on his offense

This was our first time talking to Morton since the combine, which was just a few weeks after he was hired. That was before he’d been able to see his players up close in a practice setting, before he’d been able to evaluate the rookies and before he’d been able to settle into his new gig as Campbell’s offensive coordinator.

While that will be an ongoing process as he gets acclimated, Morton can check a few of those boxes off as he begins to shape his tenure with the organization.

Long story short, he’s not gonna rock the boat.

“Just some adds that maybe I’ve done before in the past. We’ll see. It will be something like that, but other than that, I’m not changing much,” Morton said, when asked what might look different about his offense. “I mean, why? It’s working, right? So that would be the smartest thing to do.”

Campbell credits Morton with installing some schematic elements the Lions still use to this day from his time here in 2022 as a senior offensive assistant. The learning curve won’t be as steep as it would be for a brand-new OC because of that familiarity. And unlike his first stint as an OC with the Jets, Morton’s offense won’t lack talent. Seven of Detroit’s 11 starters have made a Pro Bowl within the last two seasons.

Morton is focused on communication right now. He wants to teach his players how he talks, how he sees things and why he’s calling things. Vice versa, he wants to know what works for his players, what doesn’t and why. He’ll teach with a quarterback’s perspective in mind and believes that’s important because it helps slow the game down for everyone involved.

He isn’t concerned about pressure or who came before him. His sole focus is keeping an elite offense elite so this franchise can win a Super Bowl.

“I don’t look at who was here. I just concentrate on what I’ve known has worked in the past,” Morton said. “I’m not going to put something in if I know they can’t do it. I mean, why do that? What they’ve been doing here has been working. I don’t think about who called plays and this and that, I don’t compare myself with other people. I don’t do that. I just try to be myself, I try to learn through my experiences and we go from there. The most important thing, to me, is the relationship with the quarterback and everybody. That’s what we gotta do this offseason, so they get a sense of how I feel, how I do things. I think that’s important in how they see things.

“We have to paint our own picture here, so we can get the ultimate picture, which is the Super Bowl. Like, let’s win now. Let’s get it done. We have the pieces, so it’s my job, us as coaches, everybody. I’m just the orchestrator, boom, they go do it. So, that’s kind of how I look at it.”

New coaches on the talent in their rooms

Several of Detroit’s new coaches spent time talking about the talent they’ll be working with for the first time this season. Here are a few of the highlights.

Shaw on Jared Goff: “There is a hunger in Jared that I think is great. You feel it. You feel it in the meeting room. You feel it when he’s out there on the field with the guys. He’s trying to play up to a standard and bring everybody up along with him. I’ve known Jared for a long time, since probably his junior year of high school. … As far as him being in the upper-echelon of this league, he absolutely is. I’m really excited to be on the same side with him.”

Roehl on Sam LaPorta: “Just a real natural feel in the pass game. Where can I continue to add value for him in the run game? He’s got the right mindset and intent. You can tell that he has a really good foundation to build upon. There are small things in the run game that I can help out with, but talking about no ego, about the team, high capacity to learn and an unbelievable work ethic. Just our communication and the way he goes about his work, excited to continue to help add value to his game.”

Choice on Gibbs: “I always tell him he’s one of the smartest running backs I’ve ever coached. He’s just a natural football player. You tell him something, he understands it, he gets it right down. You don’t have to coach him over and over again on football stuff. It is easy to him. So having an opportunity to get around him now, coaching — I’m going to be harder on him even more. … But Jahmyr Gibbs, I love. Same thing with David Montgomery.”

Montgomery on Isaac TeSlaa at rookie minicamp: “No. 1 thing was poise. We threw a lot at him mentally. I challenged him, put him at multiple positions to see if he could handle that. Brought him along as fast as we could. He didn’t blink an eye. … What you saw is a guy that definitely belonged, and his physical talent and ability showed that not only did he belong, but he’s exactly what we thought he was at this point in time. Just gotta grow and develop as a player.”

A lot of love for Jameson Williams

There was one player who stood above the rest in terms of love received. It was none other than Jameson Williams.

Morton, who was here for Williams’ rookie year in 2022, was asked how far he’s come since then and what he’s seen out of the fourth-year receiver this offseason. His praise was effusive.

“Unbelievable. Just unbelievable,” Morton said. “When I first got here, he came in to see me, we had a chat and I’m painting the picture, this is what you need to do, this is how I see it and he has been unbelievable. Unbelievable. In the meetings, the attention to detail, I mean, I’m so excited to see him this year. It’s going to be a breakout year for him. So I can’t wait, I just can’t wait, man.”

Morton is a receivers coach by trade and doesn’t beat around the bush, so his words carry weight. Montgomery, Williams’ new position coach, echoed those same sentiments.

“When I came off of the couple-week break we had, Jamo was already here,” Montgomery said. “In the offseason, I didn’t have to call him. Once I got the job, he knew exactly what it was. He came up just to say hello to me because he knew what we needed to get done. And then now, two days ago or yesterday … probably one of the better meetings I’ve ever seen him in. It was a total offensive meeting. … The communication level and the questions and the football IQ and the acumen that he was asking questions about is what you really wanted to see.”

After an offseason of speculation over his future in Detroit, it appears Williams has put his head down and gone to work. It’s important to note that most of the praise has been for his off-the-field progress — not his speed or potential.

Williams proved himself on the field last season. This is the next logical step in his development, for a player who has yet to reach his immense ceiling.

(Photo of Scottie Montgomery, left, and John Morton: Junfu Han / USA Today Network via Imagn Images)

This news was originally published on this post .

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