Who is John Morton? 4 things you should know about the new Lions offensive coordinator

The Detroit Lions hired John Morton as their new offensive coordinator.

Morton, who spent the previous two seasons as the Denver Broncos’ passing game coordinator, joins Detroit with more than two decades of coaching experience. He began as an assistant coach for the Oakland Raiders in 1998 and has worked with NFL and NCAA teams since then.

Here are four things you should know about Morton:

Familiar faces

Taking command of Detroit’s offence and attempting to extend the recent run of excellent play is no easy task. From 2022-24, the Lions were a top-five team in terms of points scored and yards accrued under former offensive coordinator Ben Johnson, who recently joined the Chicago Bears as head coach. Because of the success, particularly from quarterback Jared Goff, many expected Lions head coach Dan Campbell to go for continuity and hire from within, hoping to keep much of the system intact. Simply put: don’t fix what isn’t broken.

Morton is an outsider because he wasn’t on the staff last season, but Campbell is familiar with him. Before joining the Broncos, Morton was a senior offensive consultant for the Lions in 2022; Campbell credited Morton in 2023, stating that there were “a number of things that (Morton) did for us last year that are things that we’ve kept.”

Campbell and Morton previously worked together with the New Orleans Saints in 2016, where Campbell coached tight ends and Morton worked with wide receivers.

A Michigan native.

Morton is a Michigan native who attended Avondale High School in Auburn Hills, where he was an all-league receiver, before going on to play football at Western Michigan. He went undrafted in 1993 and had brief stints with the Raiders, Green Bay Packers, and Jacksonville Jaguars, but never played in an NFL game. In the 1990s, Morton also played for the Canadian Football League’s Toronto Argonauts and the World League’s Frankfurt Galaxy.

Morton, 55, played two seasons at Western Michigan, totalling 1,278 yards on 78 receptions.

Around the block.

Morton joined the Raiders in 1998 as an offensive assistant and remained with the team until 2004, when he was promoted to tight ends coach. He left Oakland in 2005 for San Diego and the Saints in 2006, each staying for only one year. Morton then moved to Southern California, where he served as the wide receivers coach and passing game coordinator beginning in 2007.

Morton was promoted to offensive coordinator for the Trojans by then-head coach Pete Carroll in 2009, where he held the position for the first time. Lane Kiffin retained him the following season. In Morton’s 26 games as coach, USC’s offence averaged more than 400 yards per game.

After leaving USC, Morton worked for the San Francisco 49ers (2011-14), Saints (2015-16), New York Jets (2017), and Raiders (2019-21) before joining Campbell’s staff for one season. Morton was New York’s offensive coordinator during his tenure; the Jets, led by quarterback Josh McCown, finished 28th in yards (305.3) and 24th in points (18.6) in 2017.

Notable names.

Morton has worked with some well-known coaches throughout his career, including Carroll, Kiffin, Todd Bowles, Bill Callahan, Jim Harbaugh, Jon Gruden, and Sean Payton. According to the Los Angeles Times, Morton gained play-calling experience as the passing game coordinator under Harbaugh’s coaching at San Diego.

Campbell has previously expressed his appreciation for Payton. Morton’s recent stops—under Campbell in 2022 and Payton from 2023-24—show that both coaches value his presence.

Originally published on January 29, 2025, 2:48 PM EST.