The Detroit Lions were stunningly bounced from the NFL playoffs, and now their staff purge has begun. Offensive coordinator Ben Johnson is already off to Chicago to be the next head coach of the Bears, and now defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn could be on the way out as well.
Ever since the Lions fell to the Washington Commanders 45-31 in the Divisional Round, Glenn has been linked to the New York Jets opening. If he does end up taking that position, which is looking more and more likely, he could already have the first member of his staff. Current Lions linebackers coach Kelvin Sheppard could be the defensive coordinator under Glenn, according to NFL insider Jordan Schultz.
“If Aaron Glenn lands a head coaching job, keep an eye on Lions LBs coach Kelvin Sheppard as a hot name for landing a defensive coordinator role,” Schultz reported on X, formerly Twitter.
The Lions suffered through a bunch of injuries on the defensive side of the ball this season, but Glenn, Sheppard and the rest of the defensive staff still put together sound game plans and a solid unit from week to week. Their plan against the Minnesota Vikings in Week 18, when they completely shut down a very good offense with the NFC North title and the No. 1 seed on the line, is a perfect example of what Glenn and company can do.
On a more micro level, Sheppard’s linebackers took a big step forward this season and were a large part of why the Lions played so well defensively. Alex Anzalone, Malcolm Rodriguez and Jack Campbell formed one of the best linebacking cores in the NFL before Anzalone and Rodriguez went down with injuries.
If the two of them do end up in New York, Glenn and Sheppard can do some serious damage with a very young and talented Jets defense. New York will have Sauce Gardner in the back end and Quinnen Williams up front, giving them two game-changing players to build a scheme around on that side of the ball. Linebacker Quincy Williams is also under contract next season and has emerged as a very good linebacker, so Glenn and company will have a lot of talent to work with on all three levels of the defense if that ends ups being the landing spot.
Troy Finnegan is an Associate Editor at ClutchPoints. He graduated from the University of Colorado Boulder in 2023 with a degree in journalism and minors in communications and sports media, as well as a critical sports studies certificate. He has had a passion for sports his entire life, and enjoys covering and writing about all sports.
