The Detroit Lions this week hired John Morton to be their new offensive coordinator.

Morton, who had been serving as the passing game coordinator with the Denver Broncos for the last two seasons, comes to Detroit with more than two decades of coaching experience. He got his start as an assistant with the then-Oakland Raiders in 1998 and has held various roles with NFL and NCAA teams along the way.

Here are four things to know about Morton:

Familiar face

Taking command of Detroit’s offense and attempting to continue the recent stretch of elite play is no easy task. With former offensive coordinator Ben Johnson, who left earlier this month to become the head coach of the Chicago Bears, the Lions were a top-five team in both points scored and yards accrued from 2022-24. Because of the success, particularly from quarterback Jared Goff, many suspected Lions head coach Dan Campbell would opt for continuity and hire from within, hoping to keep much of the system in place. In simplest terms: Don’t fix what isn’t broken.Morton is an outsider in the sense he wasn’t on the staff last season, but Campbell has familiarity with him. Before Morton was with the Broncos, he was a senior offensive consultant for the Lions in 2022; Campbell gave Morton credit in 2023, citing how there were “a number of things that (Morton) did for us last year that are things that we’ve kept.”

Campbell and Morton were also together with the New Orleans Saints in 2016, when Campbell coached tight ends and Morton worked with the wide receivers.

A Michigan native

Morton, 55, is a Michigan native who went to Avondale High School in Auburn Hills, where he was an all-league receiver, and later went on to play football at Western Michigan. He was undrafted in 1993 and had brief stints with the Raiders, Green Bay Packers and Jacksonville Jaguars, but he never appeared in an NFL game. Morton also spent time in the 1990s with the Canadian Football League’s Toronto Argonauts and the Frankfurt Galaxy of the World League. He played at Western Michigan for two seasons, logging 1,278 yards on 78 catches.

Around the block

Beginning as an offensive assistant with the Raiders in 1998, Morton stayed with the organization until 2004, working himself up to tight ends coach. He left Oakland to go to San Diego in 2005 and the Saints in 2006, spending just one year at each stop. Morton then went to Southern California, starting in 2007 as the team’s wide receivers coach and passing game coordinator.

Morton was elevated by then-head coach Pete Carroll to offensive coordinator with the Trojans in 2009, holding the title for the first time in his career. He was later retained by Lane Kiffin the following season. USC’s offense averaged over 400 yards per game in the 26 contests Morton was in charge.

Following his USC tenure, Morton had stints with the San Francisco 49ers (2011-14), Saints (2015-16), New York Jets (2017) and Raiders (2019-21) before Campbell brought him on staff for one season. Morton was New York’s offensive coordinator during his time there; the Jets ranked 28th in yards (305.3) and 24th in points (18.6) in 2017.

Notable names

Morton has worked around some big-time coaches during his career, including Carroll, Kiffin, Todd Bowles, Bill Callahan, Jim Harbaugh, Jon Gruden and Sean Payton. Harbaugh was the head coach at San Diego when Morton came through, and Morton was able to get some play-calling experience as the passing game coordinator, per a story from the Los Angeles Times.

Campbell has previously discussed his appreciation for Payton. When taking a look at Morton’s recent stops — under Campbell in 2022 and Payton from 2023-24 — it’s clear both coaches value his presence.