The Buccaneers interviewed a pair of offensive coordinator candidates on Saturday and they also worked on filling their special teams coordinator role.
The team announced that they completed an interview with Lions assistant special teams coach Jett Modkins. The interview was conducted virtually.
Modkins has worked with Lions special teams coordinator Dave Fipp since the 2021 season. The Lions rank fifth in kickoff return average and fourth in punt return average over that period. They also have three punt return touchdowns over the last five years.
The Bucs fired special teams coordinator Thomas McGaughey earlier this week as part of a number of changes to head coach Todd Bowles’ staff.
Lions Clips
The Buccaneers announced a pair of interviews with offensive coordinator candidates on Saturday.
Lions passing game coordinator David Shaw and Cardinals quarterbacks coach Israel Woolfork both met with the team. The Bucs fired Josh Grizzard after his first year in the role.
Shaw joined Dan Campbell’s staff in Detroit in 2025. He spent 2024 as a personnel executive with the Broncos and was the head coach at Stanford from 2011 through the 2022 season.
Woolfork just finished his third season as the quarterbacks coach in Arizona. He has also been a coaching fellow with the Browns and worked in the collegiate ranks.
The Buccaneers also interviewed former Titans head coach Brian Callahan this week and they are expected to interview Falcons offensive coordinator Zac Robinson.
Browns defensive end Myles Garrett set the single-season sack record during the 2025 season and he also became one of three unanimous choices for the Associated Press All-Pro team.
All 50 voters selected Garrett as one of their choices at edge rusher in this year’s voting. Those voters also unanimously selected Rams wide receiver Puka Nacua and Seahawks wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba for this year’s first team.
Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford got the nod over Drake Maye at quarterback, which opens up the possibility of a split with MVP for the second straight season. Stafford got 31 votes while the Patriots quarterback got 18 with Bills quarterback Josh Allen getting the other one.
Stafford joins kicker Gary Anderson as the only players to be named a first-team All-Pro for the first time in their 17th season or later.
The full All-Pro teams appear below:
First team
Offense
Quarterback — Matthew Stafford, Los Angeles Rams
Running Back — Bijan Robinson, Atlanta
Fullback — Kyle Juszczyk, San Francisco
Wide Receivers — Puka Nacua, Los Angeles Rams; Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Seattle; Ja’Marr Chase, Cincinnati
All Purpose — Christian McCaffrey, San Francisco
Tight End — Trey McBride, Arizona
Left Tackle — Garrett Bolles, Denver
Left Guard — Joe Thuney, Chicago
Center — Creed Humphrey, Kansas City
Right Guard — Quinn Meinerz, Denver
Right Tackle — Penei Sewell, Detroit
Defense
Edge Rushers — Myles Garrett, Cleveland; Will Anderson Jr., Houston; Micah Parsons, Green Bay
Interior Linemen — Jeffery Simmons, Tennessee; Zach Allen, Denver
Linebackers — Jack Campbell, Detroit; Jordyn Brooks, Miami
Cornerbacks — Derek Stingley Jr., Houston; Quinyon Mitchell, Philadelphia
Slot cornerback — Cooper DeJean, Philadelphia
Safeties — Kyle Hamilton, Baltimore; Kevin Byard, Chicago
Special Teams
Placekicker — Will Reichard, Minnesota
Punter — Jordan Stout, Baltimore
Kick Returner — Ray Davis, Buffalo
Punt Returner — Chimera Dike, Tennessee
Special Teamer — Devon Key, Denver
Long Snapper — Ross Matiscik, Jacksonville
Second team
Offense
Quarterback — Drake Maye, New England
Running Back — James Cook, Buffalo
Fullback — Patrick Ricard, Baltimore
Wide Receivers — George Pickens, Dallas; Amon-Ra St. Brown, Detroit; Chris Olave, New Orleans
All Purpose — Bijan Robinson, Atlanta
Tight End — Kyle Pitts, Atlanta
Left Tackle — Trent Williams, San Francisco
Left Guard — Quenton Nelson, Indianapolis
Center — Aaron Brewer, Miami
Right Guard — Chris Lindstrom, Atlanta
Right Tackle — Darnell Wright, Chicago
Defense
Edge Rushers — Brian Burns, New York Giants; Danielle Hunter, Houston; Aidan Hutchinson, Detroit
Interior Linemen — Leonard Williams, Seattle; Cameron Heyward, Pittsburgh
Linebackers — Devin Lloyd, Jacksonville; Ernest Jones IV, Seattle
Cornerbacks — Patrick Surtain II, Denver; Devon Witherspoon, Seattle
Slot cornerback — Derwin James, Los Angeles Chargers
Safeties — Jessie Bates III, Atlanta; Talanoa Hufanga, Denver; Xavier McKinney, Green Bay (Hufanga and McKinney were tied for the second-team spot)
Special teams
Placekicker — Brandon Aubrey, Dallas
Punter — Michael Dickson, Seattle
Kick Returner — Kavontae Turpin, Dallas
Punt Returner — Marcus Jones, New England
Special Teamer — Del’Shawn Phillips, Los Angeles Chargers
Long Snapper — Andrew DePaola, Minnesota
The Lions will be speaking to an external candidate for their offensive coordinator vacancy.
Per Mike Garafolo of NFL Media, Detroit will interview Seahawks offensive passing game coordinator Jake Peetz for the role.
Peetz, 40, joined Seattle’s staff in 2024 after spending two seasons with the Rams. He worked under offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb in 2024 before sticking around to work under Klint Kubiak in 2025.
Peetz has been an offensive assistant at both the college and pro level throughout his career, spending time with Jacksonville, Washington, the Raiders, and Carolina. He was also an offensive analyst for Alabama in 2018 and LSU’s offensive coordinator and QBs coach in 2021.
Detroit fired John Morton earlier this week after he was hired to replace Ben Johnson as OC last year. Head coach Dan Campbell took over offensive play-calling duties midway through last season but said earlier this week that he hasn’t decided if he’ll keep them for 2026.
The Lions are in search of a new offensive coordinator.
Detroit fired John Morton earlier this week after one season, during which head coach Dan Campbell took over offensive play-calling in the middle of the year.
Reportedly, the club has already expressed interest in former Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel for the job. During his Thursday press conference, General Manager Brad Holmes told reporters that Detroit is “looking at everything” when it comes to candidates, while also noting that the team has “a lot” of priorities for the person who fills the role.
"[T]here has to be leadership, there has to be detail-oriented, there’s got to be command of the room,” Holmes said, via transcript from the team. “You just have to be able to know that there’s somebody that’s going to be able to dot every ‘i,’ cross every ‘T’ and make sure that nothing is compromised from a detail standpoint, from a standards standpoint from the start of the game-planning period all the way ‘till the end of the week. And so, we’re just looking for that type of person, whether the person has previous experience calling plays or not.
“I’ve been around previous coaches that have not done it and did it and had a lot of success with it. So, I do think a lot of it is just you’ve got to just get in front of them, hear them out, spend some time with them and kind of hear their ideas, hear their philosophy, do a lot of vetting — as much vetting as you can — and just make the decision. But I think when you go through the process of getting in front of them, when you know, you know.”
Morton had previously worked in the organization under Holmes and Campbell in 2022 as a senior offensive assistant, which was part of why the Lions brought him back a year ago. But given the way things work in the coaching cycle, Detroit swiftly made the decision to move on and now can work to get someone else in the position.
"[I]n this business and these chairs, you have to make some really tough decisions,” Holmes said. “And look, Johnny did a lot of good things this time around, the first time around for us. So, appreciate all of his efforts and everything that he put into it. But look, there is a time where you just have to just make a decision, especially when candidates are becoming available.
“You have to just make the tough decision to move forward and move on. So, we didn’t have a pre-determined date in mind or anything like that. It’s just kind of after some discussions, just felt that it’s time to just move on and start fresh.”
Lions running back David Montgomery was phased out of the offense in favor of Jahmyr Gibbs in 2025, and Montgomery may be out of Detroit entirely in 2026.
General Manager Brad Holmes said moving Montgomery to a team that would use him more is a possibility.
“Those are conversations that we’re going to have to have because got a lot of respect for that player,” Holmes said, via the Detroit Free Press. “He deserves to be in a situation where his skill set can be utilized. And so yeah, would love it for it to be here, but if it can’t be here, then you would have to just see what you can work out the best for him.”
Holmes said he’d still like to find a way to keep Montgomery, who has two years left on his contract and is due $6 million in 2026.
“I hope it doesn’t, because we love David Montgomery. He’s a good football player and wish we would have been able to get more utilization from him,” Holmes said.
The 28-year-old Montgomery had a career-low 158 carries for a career-low 716 yards in 2025. He did not start any games, while Gibbs started all 17. If the Lions can find a a team that views Montgomery as a starter, it would make sense for all sides for the Lions to trade him.
The Falcons announced Thursday night that they have completed interviews with Brandt Tilis and Mike Disner for their newly created position of president of football operations.
Tilis is the Panthers’ executive vice president, and Disner is the Lions COO.
The team is expected to offer the job to former Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan.
Disner joined the Lions in 2019 after six seasons as the Cardinals’ director of football administration. He began his career in Detroit as the Lions’ vice president of football administration, with oversight of the team’s salary cap and player contract negotiations.
The Lions promoted him to Chief Operating Officer in May 2022.
He has spent 19 seasons in the NFL, starting as an intern for the Patriots for two summers in 2005-06 before a promotion to scouting assistant in 2007.
The Panthers hired Tilis in January 2024 to work with General Manager Dan Morgan on cap and salary negotiations.
He previously spent 14 seasons working in Kansas City, including the final three as vice president of football operations. Tilis also worked as director of football administration (2017-20) and director of salary cap and football operations analytics (2014-16) after originally joining the Chiefs in 2010 as a salary cap/contract analyst.
It likely won’t take Mike McDaniel long to find a new job.
An obvious offensive coordinator candidate for any team that needs one, McDaniel has already fielded some interest.
According to Ian Rapoport of NFL Media, the Lions have reached out to McDaniel about potentially becoming the club’s OC.
Detroit fired offensive coordinator John Morton earlier this week after the club missed the postseason. Head coach Dan Campbell took over offensive play-calling midway through the season, but the Lions were not as cohesive of an offensive unit throughout the year as they had been with now-Bears head coach Ben Johnson calling the plays.
Washington is another team with an offensive coordinator vacancy that is likely to reach out to McDaniel, given that McDaniel coached under Dan Quinn when he was head coach of the Falcons.
But there could be another role for McDaniel — head coach. Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com reported earlier on Thursday that the Browns have interest in speaking with McDaniel about their vacancy.
Either way, it appears McDaniel will have some choices after he was fired by Miami on Thursday.
Cleveland’s defense has been one of the league’s best units since Jim Schwartz came aboard as defensive coordinator in 2023.
After firing Kevin Stefanski, the Browns may double down on their defense as an area of strength.
Per Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com, the Browns are interviewing Schwartz for their head coaching vacancy on Thursday.
The club will also interview offensive coordinator Tommy Rees on the same day.
Schwartz, 59, was Detroit’s head coach from 2009-2013, amassing a 29-51 record. The Lions made the postseason in 2011 after going 10-6, falling in the wild card round.
Since then, Schwartz has served as defensive coordinator for Buffalo, Philadelphia, and Cleveland — winning Super Bowl LII with the Eagles to cap the 2017 season.
“Jim’s an outstanding football coach,” Browns General Manager Andrew Berry said in his Monday press conference. “We have a lot of respect for him, a lot of appreciation for him, and he has certainly earned the right for consideration. But that’s something that we still have to discuss and obviously discuss with him.”
Cleveland has also requested interviews with Ravens offensive coordinator Todd Monken, Seahawks defensive coordinator Aden Durde, and Bengals offensive coordinator Dan Pitcher.
A former Lions quarterback is in the mix to be the team’s next offensive coordinator.
Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reports that Commanders quarterbacks coach David Blough is the first identified candidate for the job. There’s no word on the timing of Blough’s interview with the team.
Blough began the season as Washington’s assistant quarterbacks coach and took on the main responsibilities after Tavita Pritchard left to become the head coach of Stanford. Blough joined Washington in 2024 after wrapping up his playing days in 2023.
Blough’s last stint with a team was on Detroit’s practice squad that year. He was also with the Lions from 2019 to 2021 and appeared in seven games. Five of those appearances were starts during his rookie season and he also made two starts for the Cardinals in 2022.
