DETROIT — The year began with optimism. Confidence in their process. A belief that their way of doing things would yield similar results and successes seen in years past.

It ended with a need for a look in the mirror, after a season that fell short of expectations.

“I’m gonna be looking at a lot,” Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell said on Christmas, after the team lost to the Minnesota Vikings and was eliminated from playoff contention. “I’m gonna be looking at a lot of things, because I do not like being home for the playoffs, and I know our guys don’t either.”

That feeling will loom this offseason, after a fourth-place finish in the NFC North, on the heels of back-to-back division titles. It begs the question: How did they get here?

The Lions were comfortable with their process. And why wouldn’t they be? That 15-2 record told them they weren’t far off. That all of their goals were in front of them. That better health might change the outcome. That their young core would guide them back to the playoffs — this time, with a longer run in sight.

It didn’t materialize. They’ll now spend the weeks to come evaluating where things went wrong.

We will, too.

Any time a franchise loses a coordinator to a head-coaching job, a wait-and-see approach is warranted. Losing both offensive and defensive coordinators the way the Lions did merited that.

Perhaps more than we thought.

Ben Johnson was the NFL’s hottest name three offseasons in a row. He orchestrated one of the NFL’s best offenses from 2022 through 2024. His creativity and ability to show one look, then come back with a different look out of the same formation, at the perfect time, earned him a reputation as one of the league’s best offensive minds during his three-year run as Lions OC. He could’ve left at any point during that span. However, that level of loyalty is lost on the masses when you choose to coach a division rival like Johnson did in the Chicago Bears.

Former defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn interviewed for head-coaching jobs as early as the 2022 offseason. A coach who arrived with Campbell from New Orleans, Glenn was his right-hand man. They’re both Texas A&M Aggies. They both learned from Bill Parcells. They possess the sort of leadership qualities and command of a room that can’t be taught. Because of this, Campbell often scoffed at any calls for Glenn’s job as the defense was finding its way, backing him at every turn. In many ways, Glenn was an extension of Campbell.

Campbell, in some ways, predicted the future back in July.

“That’s already a narrative,” Campbell said on the first day of training camp, when asked about the loss of his coordinators and the conversation it might create. “I’m not going to change that — none of us will. A loss, it’s coming. We don’t do well on offense, it’s coming. Something happens defensively, it’s coming. That narrative is coming. It’s written, it’s done, I have no control over that. If you’re asking me personally, yeah, I don’t think it’s what it’s played out to be.”

Offensively, you could argue that losses along the offensive line were more impactful than losing Johnson. The Lions have an offensive-minded coach in Campbell, whose influences are all over this offense. They were loaded with skill talent and had the benefit of continuity, having signed their offensive core to extensions. It’s why the Lions still finished fourth in scoring (28.3 points per game) and fifth in yards per game (373.2), despite Johnson’s exit.

However, Johnson was viewed as one of the league’s best play callers for a reason. The Lions were held below 20 points just once in 2024. It happened five times this past season. Johnson’s game plans were sound and his attention to detail was top-notch. He had innovative and creative ideas, as well as a deep understanding of how to exploit defenses based on the tape he studied. It always felt like he had the right call for the right situation when the Lions needed it — something Bears fans have learned this season. The Lions ranked first in offensive success rate on third and fourth down a year ago. They fell to 22nd in 2025.

John Morton, the man Campbell hired to replace Johnson, struggled to get the ball in the hands of key playmakers, lacked accountability for the offense’s shortcomings, was stripped of play-calling responsibilities in Week 10 and fired two days after the season finale.

“After some discussions, just felt that it’s time to just move on and start fresh,” GM Brad Holmes said last week.

As for Glenn, the job he did keeping a Lions defense littered with injuries together earned him several interview requests before landing with the New York Jets. By the end of the 2024 season, three of Glenn’s starting defensive linemen, two of his starting linebackers and his top cornerback had spent time on injured reserve. The Lions still finished first in third-down conversion rate and opponent passer rating, third in defensive rushing success rate and seventh in red zone efficiency, defensive success rate and points per game allowed.

Those injuries caught up with the team in the playoffs, but Glenn’s ability to withstand those losses and coach practice-squad players off the street was an underrated aspect of the job he did.

New defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard, Detroit’s linebackers coach for four seasons, was promoted to continue what Glenn built. A heavy man-coverage scheme and a defense that deploys three linebackers more than just about any in the league — the Lions ran it back. But Sheppard faced similar challenges as his predecessor: He lost his entire starting secondary and two of his four starting defensive linemen to IR in 2025. The defense was humming when healthy, but unlike Glenn, when injuries piled up, Sheppard struggled to find answers and keep the ship afloat.

It was a learning year for Sheppard — a young DC who showed promise, despite leading a defense that ranked 22nd in scoring. However, after five years, it’s fair to wonder if the defensive scheme Campbell wants to run needs an overhaul, if it depends so heavily on health to be executed at a high level.

The Lions (9-8) didn’t crumble without their coordinators. But their absences were felt. That’s worth acknowledging.

Last offseason, the fork in the road led to two paths, as far as personnel decisions went: complacency and urgency.

The Lions, in many ways, chose complacency.

It’s understandable, given the circumstances. Last offseason, Holmes often pointed to the growing number of extensions on the horizon. The Lions re-signed Amon-Ra St. Brown, Penei Sewell, Jared Goff, Taylor Decker, David Montgomery and Alim McNeill in 2024. They added Derrick Barnes, Kerby Joseph, Jameson Williams and Aidan Hutchinson to that list in 2025. More could come in 2026.

To keep the core in place, fresh off a 15-2 season, the Lions opted for a conservative free-agency period.

“You have financial responsibilities,” Holmes said in April. “You have a mortgage or your kid’s college fund, your 529, you have insurance you have to pay. You know you have to pay those things. But that might require that you can’t take the vacation you really want right now this summer. So, that’s kind of where we are right now.”

As a result, most of their free-agent additions addressed depth after an injury-plagued 2024 season. Their big splash was signing CB D.J. Reed to a three-year, $48 million contract — a one-for-one move to replace Carlton Davis III. It’s hard to say the Lions upgraded a roster with needs in free agency last year. And given Detroit’s draft approach — to take the best player on their board, even over positions of need — it left the team vulnerable.

The edge rusher discourse dominated talk radio and local headlines last offseason. The Lions hoped that their pass-rush needs could be answered by the return of Hutchinson, and another year of Marcus Davenport — who had missed all but two games the previous season. Hutchinson did his part, recording 13.5 sacks and 100 pressures in his first season back from a broken leg. Davenport’s return, though, went about as expected.

He missed nine games with a shoulder injury and accounted for just seven total pressures when he did play. Elsewhere, second-round picks Levi Onwuzurike (2021) and Josh Paschal (2022) did not register a snap in 2025 due to injury. The Lions ranked 30th out of 32 teams in average time to pressure — the third-slowest in the league. Opposing quarterbacks had the third-most time to throw on average. If not for a Herculean year from journeyman Al-Quadin Muhammad — signed to a one-year, $1.4 million deal this offseason to be a reserve — that sort of unabashed faith in players like Davenport would’ve been malpractice. The Lions were often dismissive when the subject was brought up.

Expect a repeat of this discourse, with the Lions failing to meaningfully address the edge position in the draft and Muhammad (11 sacks in 2025) set to hit free agency. But don’t expect a hometown discount.

“I will go where I’m being valued at,” Muhammad said on cleanout day. “I work my tail off. I took a discount, in my opinion, this season. … If they value me here, I’ll be here.”

That over-reliance on their own talent felt like a theme this year. The Lions didn’t have many position battles heading into 2025. In past years, players had to fight for their jobs. The Lions benched team captain Tracy Walker to make room for rookie DB Brian Branch three seasons ago, because Branch was the better player. They moved on from beloved running back Jamaal Williams and former second-rounder D’Andre Swift, in an effort to upgrade the position. In 2025, jobs were handed out like syllabi on the first day of school.

It speaks to the lack of competition — something Campbell wants more of in 2026 — and further illustrates a note of complacency in their offseason approach.

“I’m not saying we weren’t hungry, but let’s get that hunger back,” Campbell said Monday. “… We need competition in a lot of areas because that brings out the best in players.”

Perhaps the most glaring on-field issue for the Lions this season was the regression of a once-elite offensive line. The team let former Pro Bowl right guard Kevin Zeitler — one of the most consistent players at his position — walk in free agency. Months later, All-Pro center Frank Ragnow announced his decision to retire, drastically lowering the ceiling of this offense.

The Lions allowed the second-fastest average time to pressure in 2025, per Next Gen Stats. That quick interior pressure threw off the timing of an offense that requires it. Goff, one of the NFL’s least mobile quarterbacks, was sacked a career-high 38 times. In addition to pass protection, the Lions struggled to run between the tackles vs. defensive lines with a pulse. Detroit’s offensive rushing success rate of 37.4 percent ranked 26th out of 32 teams in 2025, after ranking seventh from 2022-24. In wins, the Lions ranked eighth in offensive rushing success rate. In losses, they ranked 31st. No other team saw such variance.

Offensive line play is important in Detroit. In many ways, it represents the culture.

“It’s everything,” Campbell said last month. “It’s everything.”

When asked about Ragnow’s decision, Holmes said Ragnow didn’t officially inform the team until late May. It put the team in a difficult position, but the Lions had opportunities to plan ahead for an exit that seemed inevitable, and didn’t. They could’ve drafted a center years ago and prepped him for an eventual takeover, the way the Eagles did with Jason Kelce and Cam Jurgens or the Colts did with Ryan Kelly and Tanor Bortolini.

Instead, the Lions were forced to rely on veteran Graham Glasgow at center. The 2025 season was one of Glasgow’s worst after being thrust into a position he didn’t sign up to play. His Lions tenure could now end unceremoniously, simply for being a good sport about a bad situation. When asked if he plans to play in 2026, either in Detroit or elsewhere, Glasgow said, “We’ll see.”

The Lions could be facing a situation similar to the one involving Ragnow this offseason, as Decker contemplates retirement.

At guard, the Lions trotted out a pair of inexperienced starters in Christian Mahogany and Tate Ratledge. Mahogany, a second-year, sixth-round pick starting at left guard, allowed the fourth-most pressures per game among guards (minimum 10 games played) when active. Ratledge, a 2025 second-rounder, was the first Day 1 or 2 draft pick along the offensive line since Sewell in 2021. It was needed. However, the Lions have flirted with the idea of moving him to center. Going into the 2026 season with Ratledge — a player who’s never snapped a ball in a collegiate or NFL game — as the starting center without a hedge would present yet another risk.

“I’m obviously more comfortable at right guard,” Ratledge said last week, “but whatever they need from me.”

To recap: Glasgow’s future is in doubt, Mahogany hasn’t proven to be a legitimate NFL starter, there’s no guarantee Ratledge will be ready for a transition to center and the Lions might need a new left tackle. Sewell can only do so much. It could be an uphill battle sorting this all out in one offseason.

Some of the roster holes the Lions faced in 2025 will be questions again in 2026. Others have since been added. Because of some of the wheeling and dealing done during draft weekend, the Lions are limited in capital. It’s fair to ask if trading a pair of 2026 third-round picks for a No. 3 receiver in Isaac TeSlaa was the best use of resources for a team amid a competitive window — especially if it limits what you can do at the trade deadline and beyond.

“You have to always be at peace with that when you actually decide to part ways with that,” Holmes said. “Even when you’re in April in the draft and you’re about to part ways with that type of compensation, you have to know that it’s gone and you’re not going to have a third-round pick at the trade deadline. You just have to understand that.”

The Lions were at peace with a lot in 2025. Their words suggest that won’t be the case in 2026.

“Brad and I will have a lot of decisions to make,” Campbell said weeks ago. “A lot of things to look at. The whats, the whys, the — how do we improve? Because we need to improve.”

This could be an offseason of change. The search for a new OC has already begun, with the Lions casting a wide net of external voices. A defensive scheme change should at least be discussed. The offensive line needs to be prioritized in ways the Lions said they would, but haven’t. There needs to be a greater sense of urgency and less reliance on internal talent — something to keep in mind as free agency approaches.

The nucleus of a 15-win team still exists. The Lions earned the benefit of the doubt to run it back a year ago.

It’s on them to earn it back.