Following their 45-31 defeat to the Washington Commanders in the divisional round, the Detroit Lions’ season has ended. This results in the likely departures of offensive and defensive coordinators Ben Johnson and Aaron Glenn, both of whom have been top candidates for head coaching positions this cycle.

Lions head coach Dan Campbell is prepared for the loss of both coordinators and is confident in the internal candidates he already has on staff in Detroit. However, Campbell emphasized that he is not opposed to looking outside the organization for replacements either.

“We’ve got people on staff that I believe are more than capable of excelling in either of those roles,” Campbell said. “But that doesn’t mean I won’t consider outside options. I want to find something as close to what we’ve been as possible, ensuring we maintain our identity… If you’re not comfortable with that, this job isn’t for you.”

According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, top internal candidates to replace Johnson and Glenn include assistant head coach/running backs coach Scottie Montgomery, passing game coordinator Tanner Engstrand, and linebackers coach Kelvin Sheppard.

The Lions are likely to have new leadership on both sides of the ball when the 2025-26 season begins, but as Campbell mentioned, he hopes the structure will remain as similar as possible to the current one in Detroit.

Although their season ended earlier than they hoped, the 2024-25 campaign was a strong one for the Lions. The NFC North champions secured the No. 1 seed in the conference with a 15-2 regular-season record.

Lions head coach Dan Campbell feels the team did not perform at its best against the Commanders.

“We just didn’t play well, and as I said, we didn’t complement each other. Ultimately, I didn’t have them ready,” Campbell said. “It’s tough to reflect on.”

Lions quarterback Jared Goff threw three interceptions in the loss to the Commanders, a performance he is still struggling to come to terms with.

“I’m still processing this. It’s going to be a tough few nights ahead. It’s hard. I wish I could give you a better answer now,” Goff said. “It’s disappointing. We had everything we wanted: home field advantage, the fans were amazing, and we just let it slip away.”

The Lions will now shift their focus to the offseason and work on improvements before next season.