Lions may have a fight to keep ideal Aaron Glenn replacement in Detroit

The Detroit Lions' season ended much earlier than anyone in the NFL world had anticipated, as they lost 45-31 to the Washington Commanders in the Divisional Round. With the season over, that meant the coaching purge in Detroit would officially begin. On Monday, two days after their loss, offensive coordinator Ben Johnson accepted the head coaching gig for the Chicago Bears.

The next domino expected to fall is defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn. Glenn has interviewed for nearly every head coaching opening this offseason, and he is expected to take one of them. As of Tuesday, Glenn was meeting with the New York Jets at their facility, and the expectation is that he will be taking the job.

Now, Lions head coach Dan Campbell has the unenviable task of replacing Johnson and Glenn this offseason, with the possibility of even more assistants. The Lions could potentially lose another name.

According to FOX Sports NFL insider Jordan Schultz, LIons linebacker coach Kelvin Sheppard is "a hot name for landing a defensive coordinator role." Schultz continues, saying Sheaprd has "a sterlin reputation inside the Detroit building and across the league as a whole."

Lions LB Kelvin Sheppard expected to land a DC job

It's entirely possible that Sheppard could be a candidate to replace Glenn as Lions defensive coordinator, but it's obvious that he could receive some interest elsewhere.

Sheppard had previously played eight years in the NFL as a linebacker for the Buffalo Bills, Indianapolis Colts, Miami Dolphins, New York Giants, Chicago Bears, and Lions. After his playing career ended, Sheppard went to his alma mater, LSU, to serve as a director of player development.

In 2021, Sheppard made the transition to coaching, initially as an outside linebackers coach on Dan Campbell's coaching staff. But since 2022, Sheppard was the inside linebackers coach.

Given how the Lions went from one of the worst teams in football to one of the best in a handful of years with Campbell at the helm, all of his coaches are popular candidates across the league. Hence why Johnson is now the head coach of the Bears while Glenn is on the verge of landing a gig of his own. But there are other assistants that could leave Detroit.

Lions defensive line coach Terrell Williams is a candidate for the New England Patriots defensive coordinator job under new head coach Mike Vrabel. Offensive line coach Hank Fraley is interviewing for the Seattle Seahawks' offensive coordinator job for the second time.

Now, Sheppard could be on the verge of landing a defensive coordinator gig soon. It remains to be seen if that will be in Detroit, where he is a candidate, or on another team.