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Dan Campbell undecided on calling Lions plays on offense in 2026
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- Dan Campbell undecided on calling Lions plays on offense in 2026
Dan Campbell's first order of business this offseason is figuring out what to do with his coaching staff, and that starts with deciding who will call plays on offense for the Detroit Lions in 2026.
Campbell said in his end-of-season news conference Monday, Jan. 5, that he has not decided yet whether he will continue calling plays after taking over those duties midway through this season.
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"I don't know exactly where I'm at with that yet," Campbell said. "I mean, I guess one of the good things if I did do that, you don't have to worry about somebody else leaving. You don't have to worry about your play-caller leaving. So that would be one of the perks of it."
Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell holds his offensive play-call sheet during the first half against the Pittsburgh Steelers at Ford Field in Detroit on Sunday, Dec. 21, 2025.
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The Lions have had three offensive coordinators in Campbell's five seasons as head coach and Campbell has stripped two of those coordinators of play-calling duties before the end of their first year.
In 2021, he hired Anthony Lynn as his first offensive coordinator, demoted him as play-caller midway through the season and took over play-calling before installing Ben Johnson as OC in 2022.
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Johnson called plays for three seasons before he was hired as Chicago Bears head coach last January, and the Lions had one of the best, most explosive offenses in the NFL under his command.
John Morton replaced Johnson as coordinator this season, but handled play-calling for just eight games before Campbell once again took control of the offense.
The Lions had a season-high 546 yards of offense and beat the Washington Commanders, 44-22 , in Campbell's first game as play-caller, but lost five of their final eight games and missed the playoffs.
Though the Lions fared better statistically with Morton calling plays than Campbell – they went 5-3 and averaged 29.9 points and 125.1 yards rushing per game under Morton, and were 4-5 while scoring 26.9 points per game and averaging 115.6 yards on the ground under Campbell – center Graham Glasgow said he felt the change was for the positive.
Detroit Lions running back Jahmyr Gibbs (0) runs for a touchdown against Washington Commanders safety Quan Martin (20) during the second half at Northwest Stadium in Landover, Md. on Sunday, November 9, 2025.
"Overall I think that it's just more effort for him and it sucks that he had to kind of deal with that, but I feel like for what we had here, he was probably the best person for the job," Glasgow said.
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Morton, a senior offensive assistant with the Lions in 2022 who spent two years with the Denver Broncos before returning to Detroit last winter, said last week he hopes to stay on staff next season in whatever capacity.
Campbell said he had not made any staff decisions as of Monday afternoon but called that his top priority this offseason.
"I need to make sure that I feel good about where the guys are at, the positions they're in, or do we tweak a couple things, move a couple of guys," he said. "Do we stay pat? Those are the things I got to sort through. That's the first for me, that's what I got to get through, and just I got to do some digging here."
The Lions will be in the market for at least one new assistant this winter after tight ends coach Tyler Roehl left to become offensive coordinator at Iowa State , but Campbell may not want to overhaul his staff for a second straight year after losing eight assistants and hiring 10 new coaches last offseason.
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As for play-calling on offense, Campbell said he's "open to anything" without putting a timetable on his decision.
"I'm going to think through all of that, and there again, I think I really want to do what I feel is best for the team, and that included,' he said. "If I believe that's what's best for us, and I feel good about it, then I will [call plays again]. If I just feel like, 'Ahh, I don't …' Then I won't do it. I won't do it."
Dave Birkett covers the Lions for the Detroit Free Press. Contact him at dbirkett@freepress.com . Follow him on Bluesky , X and Instagram at @davebirkett.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Who will call plays for Detroit Lions in 2026? Dan Campbell unsure
