Tag: Anthony Lynn

Ex-Lions coordinator Anthony Lynn will join the 49ers as an assistant head coach

Lynn didn’t need long to find another job after being let go by the Lions after just one season

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It didn’t take long for Anthony Lynn to find a job after being dismissed by the Detroit Lions. The Lions’ offensive coordinator for 2021 is joining the San Francisco 49ers as an assistant head coach, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

It’s a nice landing for Lynn, who simply did not mesh well with head coach Dan Campbell or quarterback Jared Goff in his one season in Detroit. Lynn was hired as the offensive coordinator but the team struggled badly under his watch. After the bye week, Campbell took over as the offensive play-caller, leaving Lynn as a glorified run game coach. The package of Campbell and TE coach Ben Johnson, who took on many of the other OC roles and is the leading candidate to replace Lynn in Detroit, led the Lions to much better results and three wins in the final six games.

Lynn previously served as the head coach of the Chargers. He’s a well-respected football lifer as a former NFL running back and a coach for various teams over the last 20 years.

Interestingly, in Schefter’s tweet reporting the news, he mentioned that Lynn had multiple offers from both other NFL teams and college programs.

Report: 49ers to add former Chargers HC Anthony Lynn as assistant head coach

The #49ers are adding former Chargers head coach Anthony Lynn as an assistant head coach per Adam Schefter.

The 49ers are making a significant addition to their coaching staff with former Chargers head coach Anthony Lynn set to join as an assistant head coach according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

Lynn, 53, spent last season in Detroit as their offensive coordinator, but prior to that we was the Los Angeles Chargers head coach from 2017 through the 2021 season. He went 33-32 while leading the Chargers to the playoffs once where they won their wild-card game and lost in the divisional playoffs.

Before getting into coaching Lynn was a running back for eight seasons with the Giants, Broncos and 49ers. He got his first coaching job as a special teams assistant with the Broncos from 2000-02. Then he was the running backs coach for the Jaguars, Cowboys, Browns, Jets and Bills. With the Jets he also became the assistant head coach, a position he also held with Buffalo. His first taste of head coaching came in 2016 with the Bills when he was the interim coach after Rex Ryan was let go. He was also their offensive coordinator.

It makes sense the 49ers would add Lynn to their coaching staff considering his experience and success designing run games. If San Francisco is going to lose offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel, they’ll need a replacement to help bolster the offensive staff. McDaniel is one of the candidates for the Miami Dolphins head coach opening.

 

Top candidates to replace Anthony Lynn as the Lions offensive coordinator

Top candidates to replace Anthony Lynn as the Detroit Lions offensive coordinator

There will be a new offensive coordinator in Detroit in 2022. With Anthony Lynn officially out after one season, a 2021 campaign where head coach Dan Campbell took over for Lynn midseason, the Lions have an opening for someone to run the offense.

In the same press conference, Campbell acknowledged he has not made a decision on whether he will continue to call the plays as the head coach. That could complicate the competition to take over for Lynn, a coach who just didn’t fit with Campbell and the rest of the staff.

Here are some of the top candidates to take over as the Lions offensive coordinator.

Lions officially part ways with OC Anthony Lynn

Lions head coach Dan Campbell announces the team has parted ways with offensive coordinator Anthony Lynn

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The Sunday morning reports about the fate of Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Anthony Lynn proved true. In his Monday press conference, head coach Dan Campbell revealed the team fired Lynn, a day after the Lions scored their most points of the season in a Week 18 win over the Green Bay Packers.

Lynn’s departure has been widely expected for some time. Head coach Dan Campbell took over playcalling duties and led to Campbell referring to himself as the coordinator recently. Tight ends coach Ben Johnson took over more of a schematic role as well, marginalizing Lynn to working on the run game.

“It just wasn’t a fit,” Campbell said matter-of-factly about Lynn. “You want it to be, but I think we just never found our groove or our rhythm. … Sometimes, it just doesn’t work out the way you want.”

Lynn, 53, spent the previous four seasons as the head coach of the Los Angeles Chargers, producing a 33-31 record. He is a former NFL running back and has over 10 years of experience coaching RBs around the league.

 

Report: Lions will part ways with offensive coordinator Anthony Lynn

Lynn’s departure from the Lions has been widely presumed for weeks in Detroit

It’s not really news to anyone who has followed the Detroit Lions for the last few weeks, but now the broader NFL world is picking it up. Per a report from NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport, offensive coordinator Anthony Lynn will not be back with the Lions in 2022.

Lynn has been marginalized in the Lions coaching staff for several weeks, with head coach Dan Campbell acknowledging he took over playcalling duties several weeks ago. Campbell has even referred to himself as the offensive coordinator in a recent press conference.

As Rapoport notes, Lynn was just not a good fit with Campbell and the Lions. Detroit’s passing offense notably perked up following the in-season change. Lynn remained with the team and assisted with the run game, befitting his status as a former NFL running back and RBs coach.

Lynn joined the Lions as the offensive coordinator last January, one of the last coaching hires for the team. He previously was the head coach for the Los Angeles Chargers. His expected departure figures to be the most prominent staffing change the Lions will have this offseason.

 

Lions OC Anthony Lynn has a great John Madden story

Lions OC Anthony Lynn has a great John Madden story from his time as the Chargers head coach

The entire NFL is mourning the loss of legendary coach, broadcaster and video game pioneer John Madden this week. Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Anthony Lynn reflected on a great interaction he had with Madden from Lynn’s time as the head coach of the then-San Diego Chargers.

From Lynn’s press conference on Thursday,

“I did know Coach Madden a little bit. I guess one of the stories with him is he called me about five years ago, and my phone rang. I answered my phone and I said, ‘Hello,’ and he goes, ‘This is John Madden.’ I say, ‘Yeah, this is Barack Obama, who the hell is this?’ He said, ‘No, this is John Madden.’ I was like, ‘Come on man, who is this? I don’t have time for this nonsense.’ And he goes, ‘Coach, this is John Madden, and I’m calling to ask you if you’d like to be on the Competition Committee.’

I was like, ‘Oh, (expletive).’ After apologizing several times, we had a good 30-minute conversation and I’ve got to tell you, he had so much wisdom. When he talked, I listened. That 30-minute conversation, the first conversation I ever had with him, I learned a lot.”

When asked why he was surprised at the call, Lynn offered this candid response,

“I didn’t know John Madden had my phone number. It just kind of caught me off guard a little bit.”

Lynn accepted Madden’s offer, by the way.

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Dan Campbell: ‘I’m finishing the season as the OC’ and feeling better about calling plays

Lions head coach Dan Campbell will remain the offensive coordinator for the rest of the season and is feeling better about calling plays

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It did not equate into a victory in Atlanta, but the Detroit Lions offense once again showed more vitality and cohesion in the Week 16 loss than it had earlier in the season. It’s a continuation of the theme for Detroit’s offense, which has played markedly better since head coach Dan Campbell took over the playcalling and more input on the scheme from offensive coordinator Anthony Lynn.

On Sunday, despite starting backup QB Tim Boyle and missing top weapons T.J. Hockenson and D’Andre Swift, the Lions offense outperformed the Falcons in every category except the red zone. That’s not a coincidence with Campbell calling the shots.

 

The rookie head coach is feeling more confident and positive about how he’s handling the in-game play calls and decisions. It was a focus of Campbell’s postgame press conference.

“Definitely, I feel like every week I’ve gotten a lot more comfortable,” Campbell stated. “And there’s a number of challenges that you go through as a head coach and a play-caller together that you get over. Even that little wrinkle today where you lose a couple of guys, you’re out of these personnel groups, to have to adjust and adapt and do it on the run. Man, you memory-bank all this you learn and grow from it. I do, I feel like I’m getting get a lot more comfortable.”

Don’t expect any change in the final two weeks. As for the long-term, it’s still up in the air. But Campbell made it clear Lynn won’t be retaking the role.

“Look, I’m not even worried about that right now. But we’ll cover that whenever the time (comes) — I just know I’m finishing the season as the OC.”

That certainly doesn’t bode well for Lynn’s future with the team. Based on how the offense has perked up under Campbell’s control despite myriad injuries, that’s not a bad thing either.

Lions become a meme on third-and-long

The Lions average less than 2 air yards on passes on 3rd-and-10 or more, leading to a meme-worthy graph

By now the Lions offense and its anemic approach to third-down passing is well-chronicled. This is an offense that had 19 straight third-down pass attempts intended to targets short of the required yardage to pick up the conversion, after all.

But how do they stack up against the rest of the NFL? Is it really that bad, or are other teams also having the same sort of limp offerings on third down?

A data scientist, Dr. Brad Congelio, brings us the answer. Using play data from nflfastr, Congelio measured the average passing target distance for every offense on third down and at least 10 yards to go for the conversion.

The graphic below highlights just how far behind the rest of the NFL the Lions offense is in those situations. Not only do they have the lowest passing success rate (2 for 24, per NFLGSIS), the distance of the average target is the lowest in the league. The Lions aren’t even averaging half the target distance of the 31st-ranked team in that metric, the Houston Texans.

A result that far off the axis of NFL normalcy doesn’t happen by accident. Detroit isn’t well-equipped to convert those situations between offensive coordinator Anthony Lynn, quarterback Jared Goff, and an underwhelming receiving corps. Alas, the data shows they’re not even trying.

Lynn’s offense deserves the “do something” meme Congelio inserted into the graphic.

Anthony Lynn excited to have LT Taylor Decker back in the Lions lineup

Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Anthony Lynn excited to have LT Taylor Decker back in the lineup

Taylor Decker passed through his first two practices since being activated from the Detroit Lions injured reserve list. After being a full participant in the two practice sessions during the week leading into Sunday’s matchup in Pittsburgh with the Steelers, the Lions will finally have their starting left tackle in place.

Lions offensive coordinator Anthony Lynn fielded a barrage of questions about Decker during his media session this week. One thing is clear from Lynn’s answers: he’s very excited to have No. 68 back in the lineup.

“It would be awesome,” Lynn said about getting Decker into the lineup vs. the Steelers. “I think he’s one of the best left tackles in the game if you ask me based on what I’ve seen so far. And to have him back on the field, that would help a lot.”

Lynn doesn’t seem too concerned about rust. Decker hasn’t played since taking the first 22 snaps in the Lions’ preseason opener back in August. He badly injured his left index finger in practice leading up to Week 1 and had six pins surgically inserted to repair the finger.

“I do believe he’ll hold up in protection, gives you a little more confidence to throw the ball down the field a little bit, but Decker is just as good in the run game. He is a big game, powerful man. So, with him and Jonah (LG Jackson) on the left side, if he can go this week, that would be great.”

Putting Decker back at left tackle kicks rookie Penei Sewell to the right side. Sewell has played pretty well in place of Decker, and moving him to the right against Pittsburgh is a best-case scenario. The Steelers roll with top pass rusher T.J. Watt almost exclusively attacking the right tackle, and Sewell should provide a major upgrade over Matt Nelson, who returns to his designated spot as the top reserve tackle.

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Dan Campbell right to get more involved in the Lions offense

Detroit head coach Dan Campbell is right to get more involved in the Lions offensive game planning

The Detroit Lions offense has been an ongoing struggle for most of the first eight weeks of the 2021 season. It reached a new low in the 44-6 drubbing by the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 8.

Head coach Dan Campbell knows he has to do something to shake up the team after the lifeless, poorly executed loss in front of the exasperated home fans. And the former NFL tight end appears ready to assert himself more into the offensive game planning.

“Certainly I think I can help more with offense,” Campbell said in a radio appearance on 97.1 The Ticket this week. “I think I need to be a little more just involved in helping with it.”

There is growing anxiousness with offensive coordinator Anthony Lynn and his slow-burn style of offense. The combination of Lynn, archly conservative Jared Goff at quarterback and an underwhelming core of wide receivers has led the Lions offense to being too easy to defend and lacking explosive plays. That was painfully obvious in the way the Eagles deployed their defense in Sunday’s blistering rebuke of all things Detroit offense.

“I think I’m trying to be so involved with everything, that maybe I need to be a little more involved with offense,” Campbell said later in the interview.

It’s a good sign that Campbell wants to be more hands-on with his offense. He’s the man ultimately held responsible for the product on the field, and right now the Lions offense just isn’t working. There are limitations to what can be accomplished with the talent on hand, no doubt. But the game film from prior weeks shows there are more opportunities down the field and in route designs.

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The attention to detail on the route-running is one specific area where Campbell can exert his influence. It’s either not a focus of Lynn’s as a coordinator or his methods aren’t working. The spacing and timing intricacies are not being done well by the receivers, notably from rookie Amon-Ra St. Brown and KhaDarel Hodge in the last couple of weeks.

It’s too early to call for Lynn’s job, but the pressure needs to be turned up on the ineffective offense. If this is Campbell’s way of making that happen, it needs to work quickly coming out of the bye week.