John Fox was one of the last announced hires to the Lions coaching staff before they released their official coaching staff sheet for the 2023 season. John Fox isn’t exactly a young buck in the NFL these days. He is 68 years old which means he can add a lot of experience to the defensive side of the ball which will be very much needed with the young defensive core the Lions have built.
John Fox has been the head coach of three teams including the Panthers, Broncos, and Bears. He led both the Broncos and Panthers to superbowl appearances winning one with Peyton Manning and the Broncos. John Fox is now set to continue his coaching career with the Lions as a senior defensive assistant which is about the same role Fox had last year in the Indianapolis Colts organization.
During the combine and scouting process following the days to the announcement of John Fox’s hiring, head coach Dan Campbell made many accounts about how much respect he has for Fox. Campbell talked about how much he loves the fire that Fox has left in him and thinks he would be a valued asset to add to the Lions coaching staff.
John Fox during his coaching career has put up a very solid stat line during the regular season of 133-123. The assuming position that Campbell hired Fox for is obviously as the Senior Defensive Assistant. But much like last year with the hire of John Morton, Cambell is most likely looking for Fox to cover for Aaron Glenn’s blind spots as the defensive coordinator.
Campbell knows that with the young and promising core of defensive players that the Lions are building around he needs a staff that he can trust. Since the start of the offseason the Lions have made deals with multiple new coaches that Campbell has had prior connections to and can trust them to help build the young core. Staff additions like John Fox and Dre’ Bly are the two big names that Campbell had hired in this offseason and both have prior connections with Campbell. When Campbell was drafted in the 1999 draft to the New York Giants John Fox happened to be the defensive coordinator at that time. When Campbell was a player for the Detroit Lions he was a teammate with Dre’ Bly who is now the Lions cornerbacks coach.
All the moves that the Lions are making as an organization are all pointing towards a promising and fun 2023 season. The Lions are hoping that this will be the team to lead the Detroit Lions to their first playoff appearance since the 2016 season.
