Lions Add a New Defensive Assistant, Hint at Six Coaching Staff Exits…….

Dan Campbell and the Detroit Lions will be seeing significant changes to their coaching staff, especially with regard to defense.

Terrell Williams, Deshea Townsend, and Jim O’Neil are the three new defensive assistants that the Lions revealed on February 21.

O’Neil had not been known to be heating to Detroit, but Williams and Townsend had.

O’Neil is going to aid with defense.

Additionally, Justin Rogers of The Detroit News revealed that on February 21, the Lions took six coaches off of their website. Defense

quality control coach Wayne Blair, defensive backs coach Brian Duker, defensive line coach John Scott, senior defensive assistant

John Fox, senior offensive assistant Jim Hostler, and defensive backs coach Dré Bly were among those let go.

Of the coaches, only Duker has supposedly been hired by another team. On February 10, Tom Pelissero of NFL Network revealed that

Duker was joining the Miami Dolphins.

Jim O’Neil joins the Lions’ coaching staff in place of Dan Campbell

Fans in Detroit who kept up with offseason news already knew that Williams and Townsend had “unofficially” joined the staff. On

February 21, those hires were formally announced.

Williams will coordinate the run game for the Lions and coach the defensive line. He’s played in the NFL for over ten years. He was the

Tennessee Titans’ defensive line coach and assistant head coach during the previous campaign.

Townsend, who was the defensive passing game coordinator and cornerbacks coach for the Jacksonville Jaguars, is joining the Lions

staff. With the Lions, he will hold the same two titles.

Townsend has ten seasons of NFL coaching experience. With the Pittsburgh Steelers, he was a cornerback who won two Super Bowls.

O’Neil has also been a coach in the league for more than ten years. But most recently, from 2021 to 2022, he was Northwestern’s

defensive coordinator. His most recent NFL position was with the Oakland/Las Vegas Raiders from 2019 to 20 as the defensive backs

coach.

Six Coaches Seem to Be Leaving the Lions

The Lions appear to be parting ways with six assistants from the 2023 coaching staff in addition to the additions.

Fox and Bly are the two most prominent departures. From 2003 to 2006, Bly was a cornerback with the Lions for four seasons. The

only two Pro Bowls in his career came in 2003 and 2004 when he was selected.

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