The Detroit Lions went through a huge change in their coaching levels this offseason, despite avoiding losing one of their coordinators to a head coaching position. Running backs, tight ends, the defensive line, and cornerbacks will all have new coaches in 2023, in addition to new senior assistants on either side of the ball.
The majority of these coaches were first made accessible to the media by the Lions on Wednesday, giving us a rare look at how the city of Detroit is currently perceived.
Jim Hostler, a new senior offensive assistant, comes to mind. He has been a coach in the NFL since 2000, and after leaving the Washington Commanders late in the summer, he was given the opportunity to lead the Detroit job and was excited by the potential of joining a hot, young team to join a promotion and upcoming offensive coordinator in Ben Johnson.
He had no direct connection to anyone on the Lions team, but the opportunity to work with one of football’s youngest and brightest attacking minds was a huge draw.
“For me (my connections) had to get a lot younger,” Hostler explained. “I was in Washington with a younger coach, Scottie (Turner). I knew his father, so there was a connection there, but here I didn’t know (someone). I was really lucky to get this job. You can imagine the reputation that (Johnson has), the reputation that the head coach has. There were many people interested in this job. I’m really blessed, happy I got it. I am really looking forward to learning and being a part of it.”
Defensive line coach John Scott had a similar experience. It wasn’t easy for him to leave Happy Valley after a successful three-year run at Penn State, but the opportunity to join a burgeoning NFL team proved too tempting.
“I’ve been to some great college places and helped guys develop to get into this league, but ultimately I always knew I wanted to come back and work in the NFL,” Scott said. “What a great opportunity to work here at this organization with a young group as they have graduated where they are going so I jumped at this opportunity straight away.
