Naturally, the Detroit Lions lost to the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Championship Game, narrowly missing out on a trip to Super Bowl LVIII. However, the future is bright as the Lions have leaned into their “unfinished business” and almost all of the coaching staff is returning, albeit unexpectedly not without attempts to malign one assistant for sticking.
Naturally, everyone in the NFL came to Las Vegas for Sunday’s big game. Here are a few Lions news tidbits for your Super Bowl Sunday in light of that.
The Lions indeed lose an assistant coach
This news was announced on Saturday, just as it appeared as though the Lions would win the division again the next season with their whole coaching staff still in place—passing game coordinator Tanner Engstrand was not hired to fill the final offensive coordinator position.
Duker comes to the Lions on Dan Campbell’s inaugural staff in 2021 as a defensive assistant. After Aubrey Pleasant was sacked midseason in 2022, he was elevated to the position of safeties coach and took charge of the whole secondary. Before the current season began, he was named defensive backs coach.
With Duker’s departure, the hire of Deshea Townsend last week makes more sense, and it might not have the impact on Dre’ Bly, the cornerbacks coach, that was first thought.
