The Detroit Lions are known for having one of the NFL’s best offensive lines year after year. Having first-rounders Taylor Decker, Frank Ragnow and Penei Sewell is a definite investment in talent, but the unit consistently comes together as greater than the sum of its talented parts.
That credit goes to offensive line coach, and now run game coordinator, Hank Fraley.
Fraley nearly left the Lions this offseason. He was offered higher-level jobs with other teams but chose to stay in Detroit. The Lions added on the run game coordinator tag, but keeping the veteran coach in Detroit was a very big priority.
It certainly means a lot to Sewell. The All-Pro right tackle showed how important he believes Fraley is with a quick joke during his media meeting on Thursday.
“I told him if he wasn’t coming back, I’m retiring,” Sewell quipped when asked about Fraley’s potential departure.
“Nah, I’m kidding,” Sewell continued. “…I told him, ‘you mean more than anything to me’.”
Sewell noted that Fraley recruited him when he was in high school, while Fraley was coaching at UCLA (Sewell chose to attend Oregon). That long-term relationship has helped forge Sewell into arguably the best offensive lineman in the NFL.
Fraley has been with the Lions since the 2018 season, first as an assistant OL coach before taking over the unit in 2020. He’s had multiple chances to leave Detroit but has chosen to stay, and that makes Sewell–and all Lions fans–quite happy.