Category: Lions News

Lions announce finalized coaching, strength and conditioning staffs for 2020

After a few months of reported coaching hires, the Detroit Lions have announced a finalized coaching, strength and conditioning staffs list for the 2020 season.

After a few months of reported coaching hires, the Detroit Lions have announced a finalized coaching, strength and conditioning staffs list for the 2020 season.

Let’s take a closer look at the Lions 2020 staff and the umbrella each coach falls under.

Matt Patricia – Head Coach

David Corrao – Director of Football Research
Evan Rothstein – Head Coach Assistant/Research & Analysis

Darrell Bevell – Offensive Coordinator

Sean Ryan – Quarterbacks
Kyle Caskey – Running Backs
Robert Prince – Wide Receivers
Ben Johnson – Tight Ends (Promoted from offensive quality control)
Hank Fraley – Offensive Line (Promoted from assistant OL coach)
Billy Yates – Assistant Offensive Line (Promoted from WCF Minority Coaching Assistantship)
Leon Washington – WCF Minority Coaching Assistantship/Offense

Three internal changes on the offensive side of the ball, beginning with Johnson being promoted to tight ends coach. He had previously coached tight ends while with the Miami Dolphins in 2015. Fraley gets a bump from assistant OL coach to full-time OL coach, and his old spot was filled by Yates, who is moving back to the offensive side of the ball after spending time on defense last season.

Cory Undlin – Defensive Coordinator

Undlin (New hire, what the Lions are getting)
Bo Davis – Defensive Line
Tyrone McKenzie – Linebackers (New hire, what the Lions are getting)
Steve Gregory – Defensive Backs (Promoted from defensive assistant)
Stephen Thomas – Defensive Quality Control
Tony Carter – Defensive Assistant (New hire)
Ty Warren – WCF Minority Coaching Assistantship (New hire)

Major changes on the defensive side of the ball starting at the top with the hire of former Eagles defensive backs coach Undlin. McKenzie left the Titans to join the Lions and after two very successful seasons in Tennessee, with most called this a major victory for the Lions. Gregory, a former NFL safety, has been waiting in the wings for this promotion since he was hired by Patricia two years ago. Carter is a new hire and found his greatest success in the NFL playing corner under Undlin in Denver. Warren, a former first-round pick of the Patriots, spent six years with Patricia in New England.

Brayden Coombs – Special Teams Coordinator

Coombs (New hire, what the Lions are getting)
Marquice Williams – Assistant Special Teams

Coombs was universally regarded as an up and comer in the coaching industry and an applauded hire by the Lions.

Josh Schuler – Head Strength & Conditioning

Schuler (Promoted from assistant S&C)
Morris Henry – Assistant Strength & Conditioning (New hire)
Tom Kanavy – Assistant Strength & Conditioning (New hire)

Schuler has been with the Lions since 2016 — as am assistant strength and conditioning coach and was promoted to head strength and conditioning coach. Henry spent the last four seasons on the Auburn strength and conditioning program,

Kanavy was most recently the director of sports performance at Tennessee Orthopaedic Alliance, but has loads of previous NFL strength and conditioning program experience, spending 1995-2005 with the Eagles, 2006-13 with the Vikings and 2015-18 with the Titans. During his time in the league, Kanavy was the Head Strength and Conditioning coach during his entire time with the Vikings and the 2018 season with the Titans.

Lions have several options at punter to replace free agent Sam Martin

Lions have several options at punter to replace free agent Sam Martin

Sam Martin has been a reliably above-average punter for most of his seven NFL seasons, all with the Detroit Lions. But Martin is a pending free agent and in all likelihood will not be back for an eighth year in Detroit.

The Lions will have several options to replace Martin, who ranks 10th all-time in average yards per punt at 46.0. In fact, the solution might already be in Detroit.

Earlier this offseason the Lions signed two free agent punters to reserve/future contracts. Jack Fox and Matt Wile deserve to compete for the job, and both are familiar with the team already. Fox and Wile both had stints on the team’s practice squad in 2019.

Fox gets a leg up (no pun intended) because, like Martin, he’s capable of also being the kickoff specialist. That’s important because placekicker Matt Prater does not handle kickoff duties all that well.

In free agency, veterans Britton Colquitt, Matt Bosher and Lac Edwards are all on the market with Martin. Edwards led the NFL in both punt attempts and yards in 2019 while booming kicks at a 45.9-yard average for the New York Jets. Colquitt, 35, spent last season with the Minnesota Vikings and has earned his reputation for being the best coffin-corner punter in the NFL over his long career.

It’s unlikely the Lions will draft a punter, though that was also said back in 2013 when then-GM Martin Mayhew tabbed Martin in the sixth round. Some of the top-rated punters in the 2020 NFL Draft include Joseph Charlton of South Carolina, Texas A&M’s Braden Mann and Arryn Siposs from Auburn, whom the Lions saw in person at the Tigers pro day last week.

Detroit casinos expected to begin sports wagering on March 11

Detroit-area casinos are expected to begin accepting in-person sports wagers on March 11

Beginning next week, Michigan residents can start legally betting on things like the Detroit Lions season win total, NFL MVP and Lions games in person.

The three Detroit-area casinos are anticipated to begin accepting on-site wagering on professional and collegiate sporting events on March 11th. It’s the first big step towards fully legalized sports gambling in Michigan.

According to the Michigan Gaming Control Board, the Detroit casinos — MGM, Greektown and Motor City — will all begin to take in-person, on-site sports wagering bets beginning next week. The board is expected to approve the final stipulations on Tuesday and the casinos already have the infrastructure to start accepting sports wagers right away.

Other casinos around Michigan are expected to closely follow suit. Sports wagering in general was approved in 2019 but the state and the casinos have been working on ironing out the finer details of legalized betting on sports get worked out.

Matthew Stafford’s back is fully healed, per Kelly Stafford

Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford’s back is fully healed, according to an Instagram post from his wife Kelly Stafford.

Matthew Stafford’s back is fully healed, according to an Instagram post from his wife Kelly Stafford.

Stafford broke bones in his back during a Week 8 game against the Oakland Raiders. It was initially reported as a six-week injury, and despite a ‘maniacal‘ approach to get back on the field, once the Detroit Lions were eliminated from the Playoffs, they played it safe and placed him on injured reserve.

Now, over 16 weeks removed from the injury, both the Lions general manager Bob Quinn and the Stafford family believe he will be “full go” for offseason workouts.

Quinn made his proclamation at the 2020 NFL Combine, while Kelly took to social media to subtly let fans know that her husband, soon-to-be father of four, and quarterback for your Lions, has a fully healed back.

“At the beginning of jan (January),” Kelly wrote, “after strong antibiotics, our girls started to gain their personalities & weight back. Matthew had gotten word that his back had completely healed and because of symptoms I was having, I got an MRI on my brain that showed no residual from surgery & everything looked normal.”

You can read the entire Instagram post below.

View this post on Instagram

This game was a few weeks after I told Matthew I was expecting, well really before he found out. The day I found out I was pregnant, was the same day Matthew found out he had broken his back. With that news, I decided I would keep the pregnancy to myself because for so long we had been so worried about my brain and my recovery, I didn’t want him to have to think about me continuing to recover while growing a baby.. I wanted him to have a clear mind so that he could have a quick, successful recovery himself. That lasted 3 days. Matthew is sometimes too smart for his own good. While I was so focused on him, he was focused on me, with the littlest of things clueing him into what was going on. He asked if I was, I said yes, and we hugged it out. The next month & a half was hard and exhausting. Our 3 little ones were extremely sick for weeks, at least one of them throwing up a day.. everyone telling us it was a virus so they fought like the little warriors they are, only for it to turn into pneumonia. Poor things were not themselves for too long. I had zero energy. This pregnancy had been my toughest yet.. messing more so with my head & my balance, making me sick & constantly worried something else was wrong. Then there was my incredible husband trying to keep it together while dealing with his own health issue… & all of this with the holidays were quickly approaching.. & we all know how busy & hectic the holidays are. We made it through, completing all the holiday traditions we had made thus far as a family.. but we were very ready for these tables to turn. They did. At the beginning of jan, after strong antibiotics, our girls started to gain their personalities & weight back. Matthew had gotten word that his back had completely healed and because of symptoms I was having, I got an MRI on my brain that showed no residual from surgery & everything looked normal. We finally felt like we had caught a break. The past 15 months have really taken a toll on me and my family. Next month will mark a year from my brain surgery. It is a year that has helped my family grow in numbers and in strength, but it is a year that I never want to revisit. #StaffordStrong

A post shared by Kelly Stafford (@kbstafford89) on

Matthew and Kelly Stafford reveal they’re expecting another baby

Congrats to Matthew and Kelly on their growing family

There has been a ton of speculation about the fate of Matthew Stafford and his Detroit Lions future lately. Both Stafford and the Lions have done their best to squash the rumors of discontent and possible trade. So it makes us here at Lions Wire very happy to report on something factual regarding Stafford.

He and his wife Kelly have announced they are expecting their fourth child.

Kelly posted the big reveal to her Instagram page on Sunday. She’s sporting a visible bump as the Stafford’s and two of their three daughters pose at a Disney park.

It’s great to see Kelly fully recovered from her brain tumor surgery last year. Congrats to the growing Stafford family!

Matt Patricia calls speculation over trading Matthew Stafford, ‘Comical’

Detroit Lions coach Matt Patricia was on NFL Network’s Good Morning Football this morning and didn’t mix words when addressing Matthew Stafford trade rumors.

You may have thought the Matthew Stafford trade talks were put to bed when Detroit Lions general manager Bob Quinn emphatically rejected the notion immediately after the rumor began circulation. But you would’ve been wrong.

Maybe you thought the talks would end after Quinn once again doubled down on his denial, in a pre-NFL Combine interview. But you would’ve been wrong.

Surely the talks would be over once at the NFL Combine, when Quinn, for a third time, in a private meeting with Lions reporters — a group that included Lions Wire’s own Jeff Risdon — once again debunked the rumor. But again, you would’ve been wrong.

This morning, Lions coach Matt Patricia was on NFL Network’s “Good Morning Football” and when Peter Schrager asked him for his thoughts on the subject, like Quinn, Patricia didn’t mix words when addressing Stafford trade rumors.

“It’s comical,” Patricia said. “To be honest with ya. Not interested in doing any of that. There’s no conversation of that whatsoever.”

This echo’s Quinn’s stance from the very first denial.

“It’s one of those things that, for me, I kinda laugh at,” Patricia continued. “Because it’s not even a conversation. Honestly, Matt Stafford, I love the guy. He is one of the reasons I came to Detroit.”

Maybe now this exhausting story will have reached its final conclusion. But let’s be realistic, it probably won’t be over until after the NFL Draft.

You can watch the portion of Patricia’s segment on this topic in the video below:

Matt Patricia wants to give Lions’ fans ‘what they deserve’, a winning team

Detroit Lions coach Matt Patricia was on NFL Networks Good Morning Football and was asked if he had a message he wanted to give to the fans. His answer was simple, give them what the deserve, a winning football team.

Detroit Lions head coach was a guest of Peter Schrager’s on NFL Network’s “Good Morning Football” at the NFL Combine and was asked what message he had for Lions fans about the upcoming 2020 season.

“Our fans are amazing, Patricia said. “The passion in which they love this team, every single year. The encouragement we’ve gotten as an organization, to go out and try to get everything done the right way.”

“I was at Ford Field last week for a Garth Brooks concert,” Patricia continued. “The energy of that building, as soon as I walk into that place, right away I’m like, man we’ve gotta win, we’ve gotta get this going for the fans. They’ve got to feel this energy and this excitement.”

Patricia concluded his message to Lions fans by saying, “that’s really all I want. I want to win. I want to try and build a team the right way, to where we can do that week-in-week-out, and just give the fans what they deserve.”

Since taking over the Lions from Jim Caldwell, the team has seemed to have regressed, as they have a lowly 9-19-1 record in the two seasons under Patricia. With a lot of the right pieces already in place on offense, and holding the coveted third overall pick in the draft, the Lions may be able to fill the holes on defense and right the ship heading into the third season under Patricia.

Report: Danny Amendola’s 1-year contract indicates slight raise from Lions

NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero has reported the 1-year contract details between veteran wide receiver and the Detroit Lions.

NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero has reported the 1-year contract details between veteran wide receiver and the Detroit Lions.

Despite rumors that Amendola was contemplating playing elsewhere in 2020, Amendola re-signed in Detroit earlier this week and it has given the Lions plenty of options moving forward.

To entice Amendola to return, the Lions gave him a slight raise from his 2019 contract — $4.25 million guaranteed, and just under $4.5 million earned after incentives — which was well deserved after he accomplished the second-best statistical season if his career.

The details of his 2020 contract that were reported by Pelissero include:

  • 1 year, $5 million deal, with $4.5 million guaranteed
  • A bump in pay up to $5.5 million if he re-produces last years results
  • Max incentives could potentially earn him as much as $6 million

That salary makes Amendola currently the 10th highest paid Lions’ player heading into free agency and the draft. The salary cap implications start with a $5 million cap hit and depending on how the bonuses are structured, could make that number slightly higher.

The Lions salary cap now stands roughly at $48.8 million, good for 16th most in the NFL at this time.

Believe Bob Quinn when he says he’s not trading Matthew Stafford

Quinn once again slammed the door shut on any Stafford trade rumors at the combine

Lions general manager Bob Quinn feels like a broken record. When it comes to the pesky — and baseless — rumors of the Lions trying to trade franchise quarterback Matthew Stafford, Quinn has to keep reiterating the same answer.

It’s 100 percent fabricated and false.

Quinn met with reporters at the 2020 NFL Scouting Combine and once again debunked the notion that Detroit is even entertaining the concept of trading away Stafford. His words struck a familiar chorus.

“In terms of the whole rumor on Stafford, I think I’ve texted a lot of people here that it’s like 100% false,” Quinn said Tuesday in Indianapolis. “If we need to add a third exclamation point, we will. So I don’t know where that came from.”

The conviction to Quinn’s tone is akin to the classic TV public service announcement from the 1980s with the cracked eggs in a frying pan and a sternly glaring man admonishing “this is your brain on drugs, any questions,” and it’s not a question. It would be such a monumental backtracking to trade Stafford now that it would completely destroy any credibility Quinn has with other players, agents or owner Martha Ford.

Believe Quinn’s words. Matthew Stafford is going nowhere except under center for the Detroit Lions in 2020.

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Bob Quinn: Matthew Stafford will be “full-go” for offseason workouts

Detroit Lions general manager Bob Quinn spoke to the media at the 2020 NFL Combine and confirmed Matthew Stafford is healthy and will be available for offseason workouts, which are just over two months away. 

Detroit Lions general manager Bob Quinn spoke to the media at the 2020 NFL Combine and confirmed Matthew Stafford is healthy and will be available for offseason workouts, which are just over two months away.

Quinn said he spoke to Stafford within the last few weeks and that Stafford is “feeling really good, training full, and he’ll be full-go for offseason program”.

As the press conference continued, Quinn was asked questions about selecting players with the No. 3 overall pick, how he contemplates knowing when it’s time to move on from a player, and when those topics merged, Quinn expressed his confidence in Stafford’s talent.

The one thing about Matthew (Stafford) is his number one trait is still the same as when I came here four-and-a-half years ago. He still has that great arm strength. He’s a competitor. He’s tough. He’s sneaky athletic. I think he’s improved his athleticism a little bit over his career. He does a great job taking care of his body.

So, you take all those things into consideration, just like any other player, are they ascending, or are they declining? I think it’s different for every position in terms of how old they are. In my opinion, when you’re a quarterback your prime is your late twenties into your early thirties. That’s your prime, because you take your first part of your career and you’re working on all those other things.

As we saw, how did Matthew play last year when he was out there? I think everyone would agree he played really good. So that’s what we’re expecting when he comes back.

Stafford, who just turned 32 years old less than two weeks ago, falls within Quinn’s definition of “prime” for a quarterback, which is why it’s also not surprising that he has been so insistent that Stafford will not be traded.