Lions set to hire former assistant, Michigan native John Morton as offensive coordinator

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Allen Park — Dan Campbell said he wouldn't rush to replace his coordinators if they got hired away as he expected. Still, a week after the Detroit Lions coach made those comments, he's backfilled both positions.

The Lions are closing in on formalizing a deal with the Denver Broncos pass game coordinator John Morton, bringing back the veteran assistant who was on staff in 2022.

Morton, 55, is a Michigan native who played wide receiver for Avondale High School in Auburn Hills and collegiately at Western Michigan. His four-year professional career took him to Canada and Europe before he accepted a job in the Raiders pro personnel department in 1998.

Morton moved into a coaching role a year later, starting a career that's spanned more than two decades and seen him work under some of the game's top coaches.

With the Raiders, he worked his way up from a low-level quality control position to leading the team's tight ends in 2004. From there, he had brief stints at the University of San Diego and the New Orleans Saints.

Morton worked as Jim Harbaugh's passing game coordinator and wide receivers coach at San Diego. During that one season, the team went 11-1 and averaged 42.6 points per game. Also on that staff was first-year graduate assistant Tanner Engstrand, who now serves as Detroit's pass game coordinator. Additionally, Lions assistant offensive line coach Steve Oliver was a senior offensive lineman for the Toros.

The following year, Morton took a job on Sean Payton's staff in New Orleans. Working with the first-year head coach and newly signed quarterback Drew Brees, the Saints went from 3-13 to 10-6. After ranking 20th in scoring the previous season, the team scored the most points in the league during Morton's one year on staff.

Morton parlayed those two seasons of success into a job on Pete Carroll's staff at USC. After two seasons as Carroll's passing game coordinator, Morton got the bump to offensive coordinator. He retained the job when Lane Kiffin took over for Carroll, although Morton ceded play-calling duties to Kiffin for the 2010 season.

During his four years with the Trojans, the team averaged at least 30 points three times. But after having play-calling duties revoked, Morton resigned and took another job with Harbaugh, who was then coaching the San Francisco 49ers.

For the next six seasons, Morton would coach the position he played, wide receiver, first with Harbaugh in San Francisco, then back with Payton in New Orleans. During that career stretch, Morton worked with many top talents, including Michael Crabtree, Mario Manningham, Braylon Edwards, Randy Moss, Anquan Boldin, Brandin Cooks, Michael Thomas and Marques Colston.

Morton briefly overlapped with Campbell on New Orleans' staff in 2016.

In 2017, Morton earned his first NFL coordinating job with the New York Jets. The stint lasted just one year and there were reports of philosophical disagreements with coach Todd Bowles over play-calling strategy.

Regardless, it would have been difficult for anyone to succeed with the offense Morton inherited. The unit had finished 28th in scoring the year before and was led by Josh McCown at quarterback, Bilal Powell and running back, while the team's top pass-catchers were Jermaine Kearse and Robbie Chosen.

Despite that lackluster personnel, Morton squeezed the best year of McCown's career out of the quarterback. He finished with a respectable 94.5 passer rating, and the Jets averaged more points per game than the previous season.

After being fired by Bowles, Morton started a second stint with another former employer, joining Jon Gruden's Raiders as a senior assistant. In three seasons with the team, they improved from 28th to 10th in scoring.

That led to a brief one-year stint in Detroit in 2022, Ben Johnson's first as coordinator. He, quarterback Jared Goff and Campbell were all complimentary of Morton's impact behind the scenes.

"John Morton, man, Johnny's a superstar now and there's a number of things that he did for us last year that are things that we've kept," Campbell said after Morton departed for a job in Denver. "And I really feel like that helped Tanner (Engstrand) as well. And he took a lot of that, and he learned from that, and he's grown from that. So, he's in a good spot. He's an asset for us."

In Denver, Morton linked up with Payton for a third time. As the pass game coordinator for the Broncos, Morton led the team to a top-10 finish in passer rating in 2023 before helping Bo Nix exceed expectations as a rookie for the AFC Wild Card qualifier.

In Detroit, Morton will inherit an offense that set franchise records for yards, points and touchdowns in 2024, led the league in scoring last season, and has finished top-five in that category the past three years.

Campbell said last week he would emphasize finding an offensive coordinator who would provide continuity for Goff. The coach intended to weigh the quarterback's opinions before making a hire.

"The system was kind of built from the ground up, and it was to help him and for him to be a part of," Campbell said about the quarterback. "So, yeah, that's huge, he'll have a lot of input. What he says is going to have a — says a lot to me, I should say. Now, is it going to be the ultimate decision? No, it's not, but what he says is going to mean a lot to me."

Morton fills Detroit’s offensive coordinator vacancy days after the team promoted linebacker coach Kelvin Sheppard to serve as the team’s defensive coordinator.