This was the easiest possible call that you could make when the Detroit Lions season ended in January. You knew that Aaron Glenn was going to leave and there was absolutely nobody that could be better to take his spot than Kelvin Shepperd.
You knew Sheppard was ready for this in 2022 when he took control of the Lions linebackers’ room on Hard Knocks. From there the depth of you knowing it was right just got even deeper as time went on. In 2024 you could just see him on the sideline with the attention of the entire defense and it was just easy to see he was ready.
Still, it wasn’t until we sat down with him at the 2025 NFL Combine that my thoughts went from “he’s ready for this” to “he’s going to be really good at this.”
It all stemmed from Sheppard telling us about something he would have the linebacker room do at the end of every week.
“At the end of the week with my linebackers, I do this little exercise where we just pull games up and we call up the games, and I actually make them make the calls. Then after a couple weeks, I explained to them why I was doing it, and I said, because it’s what I had been doing. Because I said I had to think like Aaron Glenn, and I believe linebackers on the field, I’m like, Why don’t y’all think like him? You guys should know what he’s about to call. Ford Field’s gotten to a point you might not be able to hear the microphone. Well, you should be able to look at the personnel, look at the down and distance, and be able to make a call. You know, that’s not far fetched from the realm of what AG would have called.”
The idea here is all about anticipation and preparedness. There will come situations when it’s loud or the Lions have to defend against a no-huddle offense and if players are able to just look at each other and read the situation to the point where they’re fully simpatico with each other and the coach on the sideline, that’s invaluable.
Sheppard is looking to get this defense to be on the same wavelength at all times and anticipate what each other is going to do.
“It’s the way we’re going to do everything this year is giving to others, thinking about your teammate in everything that you do, and how it affects him and his family and their livelihood.”