Allen Park — For the third time since 2010 and the second time in three years, the Detroit Lions will serve as one of the coaching staffs at the 2022 Senior Bowl.
The annual college all-star game, hosted in Mobile, Ala., offers an excellent chance to get a close-up look at top senior prospects in a new environment leading up to the draft.
“We are excited to begin our 2022 offseason by coaching the Senior Bowl and getting a first-hand look at some of the top collegiate players as they prepare for the next level,” Lions coach Dan Campbell said in a statement. “My staff and I welcome this unique opportunity.”
Unlike previous years, the Senior Bowl is assigning new roles for head coaches at the event. Campbell will serve in more an advisory capacity, while promoting select assistants from his staff into leadership roles for the week.
The Senior Bowl believes this change will offer position coaches and coordinators developmental opportunities in a setting that showcases their skills in front of peers from all 32 clubs.
For the Lions, that directly benefits staff members such as running backs coach and assistant head coach Duce Staley, who came to Detroit to develop his resume for head coaching opportunities, as well as defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn, who is one of nine coaches who has been requested to interview for the coaching vacancy in Denver.
Coaching opposite the Lions will be the New York Jets, led by Dearborn native Robert Saleh, who interviewed with the Lions last season before landing in New York.
“Dan Campbell and Robert Saleh’s staffs will bring great intensity to our game week and our players will undoubtedly get better during their time in Mobile,” Senior Bowl executive director Jim Nagy said in a statement. “Our leadership is committed to using our game’s unique platform inspire change and we are excited about opportunities the new staffing model will create.”
The Reese’s Senior Bowl is coming off a record-breaking year, when 106 attendees were selected in the draft. Over the past three years, 88.4% of the players from the game wound up making an active 53-man NFL roster at some point during their rookie season.
Among the players who have accepted invites this season include several potential first-rounders such as Auburn cornerback Roger McCreary, Penn State receiver Jahan Dotson, Utah linebacker Devin Lloyd and Penn State safety Jaquan Brisker.
The game is also scheduled to be loaded with quarterback talent, led by Pittsburgh’s Kenny Pickett, North Carolina’s Sam Howell and Liberty’s Malik Willis.
jdrogers@detroitnews.com
Twitter: @Justin_Rogers