{"id":683416,"date":"2026-01-17T04:33:16","date_gmt":"2026-01-17T04:33:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/683416\/"},"modified":"2026-01-17T04:33:16","modified_gmt":"2026-01-17T04:33:16","slug":"lions-get-bad-news-on-dream-coach-candidate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/683416\/","title":{"rendered":"Lions Get Bad News on Dream Coach Candidate"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\t\t\t\t<img width=\"780\" height=\"439\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/GettyImages-2255941086-1.jpg\" class=\"attachment-featured-image size-featured-image wp-post-image\" alt=\"Dan Campbell of the Detroit Lions.\"   decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\"\/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGetty\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>The Detroit Lions just got bad news on their ideal coach candidate, as they search for a John Morton replacement.<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/sports\/nfl\/detroit-lions\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Detroit Lions<\/a> are on the hunt for their next offensive coordinator, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=i8fuCyXeMZk\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">after the team released<\/a> John Morton on January 6, following <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nfl.com\/news\/lions-fire-offensive-coordinator-john-morton-after-1-season\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">just one season<\/a> with the team. Lions head coach Dan Campbell was making the offensive play calls for the majority of the season, so it was inevitable what was going to happen to Morton and only a matter of time.<\/p>\n<p>After the Detroit Lions\u2019 season wrapped up with a win over the <a class=\"wpil_keyword_link\" title=\"Bears\" href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/sports\/nfl\/chicago-bears\/\" data-wpil-keyword-link=\"linked\" data-wpil-monitor-id=\"143969\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Chicago Bears<\/a> in a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/nfl\/game\/_\/gameId\/401772965\/lions-bears\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">19-16 final score<\/a>, Campbell spoke to reporters. They asked\u00a0 him if he would keep making those offensive play calls for the 2026-27 season, and he said he was open to it.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m open to anything. I don\u2019t know exactly where I\u2019m at with that yet,\u201d Campbell said. \u201cI mean I guess one of the good things if I did do that, you don\u2019t have to worry about somebody else leaving,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=0lXQjdeFtTQ\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Campbell said<\/a>. \u201cYou don\u2019t have to worry about your play-caller leaving. So, that would be one of the perks of it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He added, \u201cListen, I\u2019m going to think through all of that, and I think I really want to do what I feel is best for the team, and that included. If I believe that\u2019s what\u2019s best for us and I feel good about it, then I will. If I just feel like, \u2018Eh,\u2019 then I won\u2019t do it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The main reason who the offensive coordinator position is to call offensive plays, so let\u2019s hope he has a change of heart with the right person in the job. Now, one of the strongest candidates for that role so far may have a larger opportunity elsewhere.<\/p>\n<p>Detroit Lions Offensive Coordinator Candidate Takes Interview for Head Coach Job<\/p>\n<p>On Thursday, January 15, the <a class=\"wpil_keyword_link\" href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/sports\/nfl\/baltimore-ravens\/\" title=\"Baltimore Ravens\" data-wpil-keyword-link=\"linked\" data-wpil-monitor-id=\"145700\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Baltimore Ravens<\/a> announced that they <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/Ravens\/status\/2011965736369992032\" rel=\"nofollow\">have officially interviewed<\/a> former Miami Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel for their head coaching vacancy.<\/p>\n<p>When McDaniel got let go from the Dolphins on January 8, the talk of him coming to Detroit was strong. He\u2019s one of the top-minded offensive minds in the league, and even though it didn\u2019t work out for him in Miami, he would still thrive in the offensive coordinator role.<\/p>\n<p>But, if someone wants him to be head coach instead, such as the Ravens, that\u2019s an obviously better offer, and he would likely take that over Detroit.<\/p>\n<p>McDaniel was head coach of the Miami Dolphins for four years. He made the playoffs in each of his first two seasons, but the team never won a playoff game and didn\u2019t make it there in his last two seasons. His <a href=\"https:\/\/pro-football-history.com\/coach\/947\/mike-mcdaniel-bio\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">overall record<\/a> with Miami was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/coaches\/McDaMi0.htm\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">35-33 in the regular season<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Detroit Lions Offensive Coordinator Candidate in Demand<\/p>\n<p>The Lions have already interviewed McDaniel for the offensive coordinator opening, according to a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.detroitnews.com\/story\/sports\/nfl\/lions\/2026\/01\/12\/lions-set-to-interview-mike-mcdaniel-for-vacant-oc-job\/88151477007\/\" data-mrf-link=\"https:\/\/www.detroitnews.com\/story\/sports\/nfl\/lions\/2026\/01\/12\/lions-set-to-interview-mike-mcdaniel-for-vacant-oc-job\/88151477007\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">report from The Detroit News<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>McDaniel is also interviewing for the Bucs\u2019 offensive coordinator job Friday, <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/gregauman\/status\/2011550186334798306\" rel=\"nofollow\">according to a report from Greg Auman<\/a>. So, he\u2019s making the interview rounds with multiple teams.<\/p>\n<p>In good news, Auman states, \u201cHe would consider a great OC opportunity better than a not-great head coaching vacancy.\u201d That points to McDaniel being more than open to coming to Detroit, too. So, all is not lost.<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/author\/aericksonsports\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Anne Erickson<\/a> is an award-winning reporter for Heavy Sports covering the NFL, NBA and college football. Anne Erickson has years of experience covering the NFL and additional sports, and her work has been published via ESPN, Fox Sports and more. She has interviewed some of the biggest names in sports, including Detroit Lions quarterback Jared Goff. Erickson also hosts several podcasts and is a Detroit-based radio host. <a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/author\/aericksonsports\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">More about Anne Erickson<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\tMore Heavy on Lions\n\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\t\tLoading more stories\n\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty The Detroit Lions just got bad news on their ideal coach candidate, as they search for a&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":683417,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2071],"tags":[146,113,2506,7,147,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-683416","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-detroit-lions","8":"tag-detroit","9":"tag-detroit-lions","10":"tag-detroitlions","11":"tag-football","12":"tag-lions","13":"tag-nfl"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115908576125257396","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/683416","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=683416"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/683416\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/683417"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=683416"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=683416"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=683416"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}