Arthur Smith has emerged as a candidate to be the next offensive coordinator of the Lions.
The Lions have requested an interview with Smith, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reports.
Smith spent the last two seasons as offensive coordinator of the Steelers, but he is not a candidate to replace Mike Tomlin as the head coach in Pittsburgh. He has been mentioned as a candidate for other head-coaching vacancies, but if he doesn’t get any of those jobs, the coordinator position in Detroit could be the next-best option for him.
The 43-year-old Smith was head coach of the Falcons from 2021 to 2023. He previously spent 10 seasons as an assistant coach for the Titans, serving as their offensive coordinator for the last two seasons.
Lions Clips
The Lions will interview former Falcons offensive coordinator Zac Robinson for their vacant offensive coordinator job on Thursday, Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reports.
Robinson also interviewed with the Buccaneers for their offensive coordinator job.
Robinson spent five seasons with the Rams, rising from assistant quarterbacks coach to passing game coordinator/quarterbacks coach under Sean McVay. Robinson was the assistant quarterbacks coach with the Rams in 2019 when Jared Goff was the starting quarterback.
Robinson moved to assistant wide receivers coach in 2020 in Goff’s final season in Los Angeles. Goff became the Lions’ starting quarterback in 2021.
The Lions also have Giants interim head coach Mike Kafka, former Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel and Seahawks passing game coordinator Jake Peetz as candidates. The Commanders promoted David Blough to offensive coordinator after the Lions had strong interest in him.
The Dolphins have requested to interview Lions defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard for their vacant head coaching job, Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reports.
It is Sheppard’s first head coaching interview.
He became the Lions’ defensive coordinator a year ago — his first time as a coordinator — when Aaron Glenn left to become the Jets’ head coach.
Sheppard was the Lions’ outside linebackers coach (2021) and linebackers coach (2022-24) before becoming the team’s coordinator.
The Dolphins have completed interviews with Seahawks offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak and have requested to interview Packers defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley, 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh and Rams defensive coordinator Chris Shula.
They are seeking to replace Mike McDaniel.
Mike McDaniel’s dance card is filling up this week.
Tom Pelissero of NFL Media reports that McDaniel is set to interview with the Falcons and Ravens this week about their head coaching vacancies. This comes after word on Sunday that he will interview with the Browns and last week’s word that he’ll meet with the Titans.
McDaniel spent the last four seasons as the Dolphins’ head coach and was on Kyle Shanahan’s staff with the 49ers before going to Miami. He moved to the 49ers with Shanahan after working on the Falcons’ staff in 2015 and 2016, which was the same time that new Falcons president of football Matt Ryan was the team’s quarterback.
McDaniel is also drawing interest from the Lions for their offensive coordinator vacancy and other teams looking for a change at that spot could also throw their hat in the ring for McDaniel’s services.
The Buccaneers interviewed a pair of offensive coordinator candidates on Saturday and they also worked on filling their special teams coordinator role.
The team announced that they completed an interview with Lions assistant special teams coach Jett Modkins. The interview was conducted virtually.
Modkins has worked with Lions special teams coordinator Dave Fipp since the 2021 season. The Lions rank fifth in kickoff return average and fourth in punt return average over that period. They also have three punt return touchdowns over the last five years.
The Bucs fired special teams coordinator Thomas McGaughey earlier this week as part of a number of changes to head coach Todd Bowles’ staff.
The Buccaneers announced a pair of interviews with offensive coordinator candidates on Saturday.
Lions passing game coordinator David Shaw and Cardinals quarterbacks coach Israel Woolfork both met with the team. The Bucs fired Josh Grizzard after his first year in the role.
Shaw joined Dan Campbell’s staff in Detroit in 2025. He spent 2024 as a personnel executive with the Broncos and was the head coach at Stanford from 2011 through the 2022 season.
Woolfork just finished his third season as the quarterbacks coach in Arizona. He has also been a coaching fellow with the Browns and worked in the collegiate ranks.
The Buccaneers also interviewed former Titans head coach Brian Callahan this week and they are expected to interview Falcons offensive coordinator Zac Robinson.
Browns defensive end Myles Garrett set the single-season sack record during the 2025 season and he also became one of three unanimous choices for the Associated Press All-Pro team.
All 50 voters selected Garrett as one of their choices at edge rusher in this year’s voting. Those voters also unanimously selected Rams wide receiver Puka Nacua and Seahawks wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba for this year’s first team.
Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford got the nod over Drake Maye at quarterback, which opens up the possibility of a split with MVP for the second straight season. Stafford got 31 votes while the Patriots quarterback got 18 with Bills quarterback Josh Allen getting the other one.
Stafford joins kicker Gary Anderson as the only players to be named a first-team All-Pro for the first time in their 17th season or later.
The full All-Pro teams appear below:
First team
Offense
Quarterback — Matthew Stafford, Los Angeles Rams
Running Back — Bijan Robinson, Atlanta
Fullback — Kyle Juszczyk, San Francisco
Wide Receivers — Puka Nacua, Los Angeles Rams; Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Seattle; Ja’Marr Chase, Cincinnati
All Purpose — Christian McCaffrey, San Francisco
Tight End — Trey McBride, Arizona
Left Tackle — Garrett Bolles, Denver
Left Guard — Joe Thuney, Chicago
Center — Creed Humphrey, Kansas City
Right Guard — Quinn Meinerz, Denver
Right Tackle — Penei Sewell, Detroit
Defense
Edge Rushers — Myles Garrett, Cleveland; Will Anderson Jr., Houston; Micah Parsons, Green Bay
Interior Linemen — Jeffery Simmons, Tennessee; Zach Allen, Denver
Linebackers — Jack Campbell, Detroit; Jordyn Brooks, Miami
Cornerbacks — Derek Stingley Jr., Houston; Quinyon Mitchell, Philadelphia
Slot cornerback — Cooper DeJean, Philadelphia
Safeties — Kyle Hamilton, Baltimore; Kevin Byard, Chicago
Special Teams
Placekicker — Will Reichard, Minnesota
Punter — Jordan Stout, Baltimore
Kick Returner — Ray Davis, Buffalo
Punt Returner — Chimera Dike, Tennessee
Special Teamer — Devon Key, Denver
Long Snapper — Ross Matiscik, Jacksonville
Second team
Offense
Quarterback — Drake Maye, New England
Running Back — James Cook, Buffalo
Fullback — Patrick Ricard, Baltimore
Wide Receivers — George Pickens, Dallas; Amon-Ra St. Brown, Detroit; Chris Olave, New Orleans
All Purpose — Bijan Robinson, Atlanta
Tight End — Kyle Pitts, Atlanta
Left Tackle — Trent Williams, San Francisco
Left Guard — Quenton Nelson, Indianapolis
Center — Aaron Brewer, Miami
Right Guard — Chris Lindstrom, Atlanta
Right Tackle — Darnell Wright, Chicago
Defense
Edge Rushers — Brian Burns, New York Giants; Danielle Hunter, Houston; Aidan Hutchinson, Detroit
Interior Linemen — Leonard Williams, Seattle; Cameron Heyward, Pittsburgh
Linebackers — Devin Lloyd, Jacksonville; Ernest Jones IV, Seattle
Cornerbacks — Patrick Surtain II, Denver; Devon Witherspoon, Seattle
Slot cornerback — Derwin James, Los Angeles Chargers
Safeties — Jessie Bates III, Atlanta; Talanoa Hufanga, Denver; Xavier McKinney, Green Bay (Hufanga and McKinney were tied for the second-team spot)
Special teams
Placekicker — Brandon Aubrey, Dallas
Punter — Michael Dickson, Seattle
Kick Returner — Kavontae Turpin, Dallas
Punt Returner — Marcus Jones, New England
Special Teamer — Del’Shawn Phillips, Los Angeles Chargers
Long Snapper — Andrew DePaola, Minnesota
The Lions will be speaking to an external candidate for their offensive coordinator vacancy.
Per Mike Garafolo of NFL Media, Detroit will interview Seahawks offensive passing game coordinator Jake Peetz for the role.
Peetz, 40, joined Seattle’s staff in 2024 after spending two seasons with the Rams. He worked under offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb in 2024 before sticking around to work under Klint Kubiak in 2025.
Peetz has been an offensive assistant at both the college and pro level throughout his career, spending time with Jacksonville, Washington, the Raiders, and Carolina. He was also an offensive analyst for Alabama in 2018 and LSU’s offensive coordinator and QBs coach in 2021.
Detroit fired John Morton earlier this week after he was hired to replace Ben Johnson as OC last year. Head coach Dan Campbell took over offensive play-calling duties midway through last season but said earlier this week that he hasn’t decided if he’ll keep them for 2026.
The Lions are in search of a new offensive coordinator.
Detroit fired John Morton earlier this week after one season, during which head coach Dan Campbell took over offensive play-calling in the middle of the year.
Reportedly, the club has already expressed interest in former Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel for the job. During his Thursday press conference, General Manager Brad Holmes told reporters that Detroit is “looking at everything” when it comes to candidates, while also noting that the team has “a lot” of priorities for the person who fills the role.
"[T]here has to be leadership, there has to be detail-oriented, there’s got to be command of the room,” Holmes said, via transcript from the team. “You just have to be able to know that there’s somebody that’s going to be able to dot every ‘i,’ cross every ‘T’ and make sure that nothing is compromised from a detail standpoint, from a standards standpoint from the start of the game-planning period all the way ‘till the end of the week. And so, we’re just looking for that type of person, whether the person has previous experience calling plays or not.
“I’ve been around previous coaches that have not done it and did it and had a lot of success with it. So, I do think a lot of it is just you’ve got to just get in front of them, hear them out, spend some time with them and kind of hear their ideas, hear their philosophy, do a lot of vetting — as much vetting as you can — and just make the decision. But I think when you go through the process of getting in front of them, when you know, you know.”
Morton had previously worked in the organization under Holmes and Campbell in 2022 as a senior offensive assistant, which was part of why the Lions brought him back a year ago. But given the way things work in the coaching cycle, Detroit swiftly made the decision to move on and now can work to get someone else in the position.
"[I]n this business and these chairs, you have to make some really tough decisions,” Holmes said. “And look, Johnny did a lot of good things this time around, the first time around for us. So, appreciate all of his efforts and everything that he put into it. But look, there is a time where you just have to just make a decision, especially when candidates are becoming available.
“You have to just make the tough decision to move forward and move on. So, we didn’t have a pre-determined date in mind or anything like that. It’s just kind of after some discussions, just felt that it’s time to just move on and start fresh.”
Lions running back David Montgomery was phased out of the offense in favor of Jahmyr Gibbs in 2025, and Montgomery may be out of Detroit entirely in 2026.
General Manager Brad Holmes said moving Montgomery to a team that would use him more is a possibility.
“Those are conversations that we’re going to have to have because got a lot of respect for that player,” Holmes said, via the Detroit Free Press. “He deserves to be in a situation where his skill set can be utilized. And so yeah, would love it for it to be here, but if it can’t be here, then you would have to just see what you can work out the best for him.”
Holmes said he’d still like to find a way to keep Montgomery, who has two years left on his contract and is due $6 million in 2026.
“I hope it doesn’t, because we love David Montgomery. He’s a good football player and wish we would have been able to get more utilization from him,” Holmes said.
The 28-year-old Montgomery had a career-low 158 carries for a career-low 716 yards in 2025. He did not start any games, while Gibbs started all 17. If the Lions can find a a team that views Montgomery as a starter, it would make sense for all sides for the Lions to trade him.
