A man of many ideas: Detroit Lions new OC John Morton feels like a kid in candy store
Indianapolis — When people were asked about new Detroit Lions offensive coordinator John Morton at the NFL's scouting combine on Tuesday, one word kept coming up: Ideas.
"He's super passionate and he works his tail off," Denver Broncos coach Sean Payton said. "He's great with film study and ideas."
Asked what Morton brought to Detroit during a one-year pitstop as a senior offensive assistant in 2022, the word came up again.
"There were so many things that during the game plan …the ideas that he had in the pass game going into weeks, getting ready for opponents, was big for us," coach Dan Campbell said. "A lot of things we used, man. He's a guy who — he does not lack ideas, ever."
Even the self-aware Morton recognizes his ability to process and present information is a strength, something cultivated early in his coaching career.
"People that hire me, it's because I do research," Morton said. "What's going to work for this player? It's a lot of ideas. I just throw everything at them. That's the way it was in the beginning of my coaching career when I first started with (Jon) Gruden. He said, 'Give me ideas.' Whether he puts it in or not, I just keep bringing them. Some of them stick, some of them don't."
This is the core of what the Lions are getting in Morton, who returns to Detroit after working the past two seasons on Payton's staff in Denver as the Broncos passing game coordinator.
Whatever ideas Morton is bringing to the table, they must be gold because respected coaches can’t get enough of him. Gruden hired Morton twice. So did Jim Harbaugh. For Payton, it was three times, including twice as he was getting a program off the ground. Now Morton returns for a second stint in Detroit, where he played a background but key role in the design and implementation of Ben Johnson's offensive scheme, which has helped the team finish in the top five in scoring each of the past three seasons.
"He was one of the pivotal pieces of helping us put this together, this offense version for (quarterback Jared) Goff with Goff," Campbell said.
Morton initially joined the Lions after the 2022 combine. The team didn't have a specific plan for his addition and asked Morton where he felt he could be most effective. The former receiver, who had extensive experience coaching the position, thought he could have a bigger impact working with Detroit's quarterbacks.
"That was an area that I needed to go to to learn a little bit more, as far as technique and things like that, and the process of how the quarterback is thinking," Morton said. "I got to spend the two or three years I was with Vegas (with the QBs). I got to learn a lot about the quarterback and I wanted to stay in there because, I thought, to take me to the next level as an offensive coordinator and play-caller, I needed to know that position inside and out."
Morton's rapport with Goff will be the foundation of Detroit's offense in 2025 and beyond. There is no plan to overhaul what has been working; the foundation of Johnson's scheme will remain in place. Excessive alterations would only disrupt what's been a well-oiled machine.
"We want them to play fast, right?" Morton said.
Morton compared the situation to when he started in New Orleans under Payton, and the team recruited Drew Brees to be the team's quarterback. During that process, they identified plays he did well with the Chargers. They even renamed the designs in the Saints' playbook, so the quarterback would have added comfort coming into his new surroundings.
Without having to worry about an overhaul, Morton can focus on his favorite part of the job: Film study and game planning. He loves the puzzle, tirelessly studying tape and tendencies to identify weaknesses and mismatches.
Remember, this isn't Morton's first time in the coordinator chair. The previous stint came in 2017, with the New York Jets. In hindsight, he admits he wasn't ready for the job.
That said, he also wasn't set up for success. Morton wasn't able to hire the staff he wanted, and he certainly didn't inherit the type of talent he'll take over in Detroit. This group includes an established quarterback, an All-Pro receiver, an elite backfield tandem, a rising star at tight end and an offensive line anchored by two studs.
"I'm like a kid in the candy store," Morton said. "I mean, it's Christmas all over again."
As for the surrounding staff, Morton bonded with holdovers Hank Fraley and Mark Brunnel in 2022, and he's brought over some of his guys, including best friend David Shaw, who will serve as Detroit's passing game coordinator.
"He's an extension of me, basically," Morton said. "He knows it all being a (former) head coach, and I think he's pretty successful at it. And I told him, I said, we started this thing together, which we did. I started my coaching career with him. We just shared a room and we're going to finish this thing together, so hopefully we get to do that."
If there's going to be a significant adjustment, it will be adapting to Campbell's aggressiveness. The Lions love to push the envelope on fourth down, and Morton knows he has to improve in this area.
"It's a different mindset for me coming here, going for it on fourth," Morton said. "I already know a certain part of that field, that's going to happen. And Dan practices it a lot. And I'm going to need that practice to get up to par."
Where Morton is fully comfortable is the seat he now sits. This is the job he's always wanted. At 55 years old, he doesn't dream of continuing to climb the coaching ladder.
"I know who I am," Morton said. "I really don't have the ambition to be a head coach. I really don't."
Getting to live out this dream not far from where he grew up makes it that much better. As a high school student at Auburn Hill's Avondale, he remembers driving by the Lions' former home, the Pontiac Silverdome, almost daily. He'd attend open practices there, as well as the team's training camp practices at Oakland University in the late 1980s.
"It means the world," Morton said. "I just had my family over for dinner. They're just in awe. It's a dream, right? Not only am I an OC, but I'm in my hometown. I don't think that happens too much. So I think it's really cool.
"I don't see it as pressure," Morton continued. "I know what the people have been starving for. I mean, everybody is starving for a Super Bowl, but this town, I've seen the ups and the downs, from the very beginning from going to my first game at the Silverdome. ...I know what it takes and it's my job to help us get there."
It's superficial, but I can't get over the fact that Morton ran a 4.39 at his Combine. Somehow it adds to his coaching profile in a kind of Billy Beane fashion, as a guy who had unusual athletic ability but ultimately needed to find a different path.
If he dials it a tiny bit back on the 4th downs and trick plays because the defense can be counted on to get the ball right back on occasion, it would be a good thing.