John Morton’s time as Detroit Lions offensive coordinator is one-and-done. According to several reports, Morton has been fired as the team’s offensive coordinator after a very up-and-down 2025 season.
UPDATE: The Lions have confirmed the news.
While the Lions finished the season as the fifth-highest scoring offense, it doesn’t take a ton of research to realize the problems ran deeper than that statistic suggested. In particular, the run defense completely collapsed after one of the best years in franchise history:
- 2024:
- 0.021 EPA/rush (5th)
- 44.8% success rate (4th)
- 2025:
- -0.075 EPA/rush (22nd)
- 39.1% success rate (25th)
Morton was hired last year to replace Ben Johnson, who left to become the Chicago Bears’ new head coach. It was a logical choice at the time, because Morton had been previously with the team in 2022 to help assist Johnson in installing the offense.
But Morton’s history as a play-caller was checkered. In his one year as Jets offensive coordinator, he was highly criticized and produced the 24th-highest scoring offense—albeit with far less talent than he had in Detroit. The struggles continued with the Lions, and halfway through the season, Morton was relieved of his play-calling duties in Detroit. At the time, Lions coach Dan Campbell said he still valued Morton for his help in game-planning.
“Johnny’s an asset for me,” Campbell said at the time. “He gives me critical information as it pertains to some of the tendencies going into the game, tendencies during the game, pass game, things to look for, things to go to. And either I take them or I don’t.”
Now the Lions will go looking for his replacement. At this point, it isn’t clear if the new offensive coordinator hire will call plays or not, as Campbell was noncommittal this week when asked if he’ll retain those duties in 2026.
