Detroit Free Press

Aidan Hutchinson said being passed over for the first pick in last year’s NFL draft “will stick with me forever.” Now, the Detroit Lions defensive end has another sleight to use for motivation. Hutchinson, the second pick of last year’s draft, finished second in NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year voting announced Thursday, behind New

Ben Johnson withdrew his name from head coaching consideration last month because he had “unfinished business” as Detroit Lions offensive coordinator – business that might now include winning assistant coach of the year. Former San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator DeMeco Ryans was named NFL Assistant Coach of the Year, The Associated Press announced just before

Apple Podcasts | Spotify • Hosts: Shawn Windsor (@shawnwindsor) and Carlos Monarrez (@cmonarrez) • Producer: Andrew Hammond • Editor: Robin Chan • Executive producers: Anjanette Delgado, Kirkland Crawford • Guest: Dave Birkett, Free Press Lions beat writer • Email: swindsor@freepress.com On this episode: This week, Free Press Lions beat writer Dave Birkett joins the guys to once again ponder over “the quarterback discussion” and what the Detroit Lions should

It’s been a month since the Detroit Lions played their last football game, winning at Lambeau Field to keep the Green Bay Packers out of the playoffs and start what could be a changing of the guard in the NFC North. Aaron Rodgers is headed for a four-day darkness retreat to evaluate his future, and

The Detroit Lions showed significant improvement in their secondary after a midseason coaching change last year, and the man who took over as the primary defensive backs coach is being rewarded. The Lions announced the previously reported hire of Scottie Montgomery as running backs coach Wednesday and shuffled the roles of several other assistants on

Like most humans, I’m curious. Like most Americans, I’m especially curious about who’s going to win the Super Bowl. Like most Americans who are curious about who’s going to win the Super Bowl, I’m actually a lot more curious about how to make great guacamole for my Super Bowl party. But no matter how strong

It happened once, twice, a dozen times Monday. As a crowd of reporters gathered around Darius Slay at Super Bowl LVII media night pelting him with questions, one reporter vying for the Philadelphia Eagles cornerback’s attention shouted, Hey, Darius. “It’s Slay,” Slay corrected him. Darius … “It’s Slay. You know it’s Slay.” Darius! “Slay, Slay,

The Detroit Lions have a new running backs coach — and a new potential in-house replacement for offensive coordinator Ben Johnson, should they need one a year from now. The Lions are hiring Scottie Montgomery as their new running backs coach and assistant head coach, NFL Network reported Monday. Montgomery spent the past two seasons

The Kansas City Chiefs are quarterbacked by Patrick Mahomes. They are coached by Andy Reid. Over the last five seasons, this has been the best QB-head coach combo in the NFL. So, there is that. Without them, the Chiefs wouldn’t be playing in the Super Bowl. Meanwhile, Philadelphia is led — on the field —

MOBILE, Ala. — One of the benefits of coaching in the Senior Bowl is getting hands-on experience with some of the top prospects in the upcoming NFL draft. Dan Campbell’s entire staff coached the game last season, when the Detroit Lions spent two Day 2 picks on Senior Bowl standouts, defensive lineman Josh Paschal and

Today is Feb. 3, 2023. It’s a perfectly innocuous date, at least until you shorten it to just the digits: 2/3/23. That’s 23-23, or as ESPN (and its ACC Network) has dubbed it: “Michael Jordan Day.” It’s all fine and good, we guess — there are worse ideas than a day devoted to Jordan’s greatest moments

MOBILE, Ala. – A year after metro Detroit produced two of the top four picks in the NFL draft — and the two favorites for Defensive Rookie of the Year — in Sauce Gardner (Detroit King) and Aidan Hutchinson (Dearborn Divine Child, Michigan), the region has emerged as the hot spot for one of the

Dre Bly spent four of the best years of his life in Detroit. He signed a big free agent contract with the Detroit Lions in 2003, made the only two Pro Bowls of his career as a player, and celebrated the birth of two of his children while in town. Bly could not help the

Apple Podcasts | Spotify • Hosts: Shawn Windsor (@shawnwindsor) and Carlos Monarrez (@cmonarrez) • Producer: Andrew Hammond • Editor: Robin Chan • Executive producers: Anjanette Delgado, Kirkland Crawford • Guest: Helene St. James, Free Press Red Wings beat writer • Email: swindsor@freepress.com On this episode: This week, the guys welcome back Free Press Red Wings beat writer Helene St. James to discuss the problematic power play performance and scoring

MOBILE, Ala. — As a freshman at Louisiana, O’Cyrus Torrence would spend hours in his offensive line coach’s office watching tape. Then-Louisiana assistant Rob Sale was trying to get Torrence up to speed on the finer points of offensive line play, and as he talked through terminology with his massive recruit — the 6-foot-5, 337-pound

Hello, Tom Brady? It’s me, retirement. Let me start by saying: “You again?” Most people retire once. Oh, not everyone. Sinatra didn’t. Streisand. Garth Brooks. Lots of athletes; Michael Jordan, George Foreman, Brett Favre. Sometimes, it works out. Most of the time, it doesn’t. Yours didn’t. You came back for one more year in the

Detroit Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn is still in the mix to become the next head coach of the Indianapolis Colts. Glenn will interview with the Colts a second time on Thursday, CBS Sports reported, becoming the eighth known candidate to get a second interview for the job. In his second season with the Lions,

MOBILE, Ala. — Duce Staley, whose intense coaching style and straightforward approach with players made him a hit on “Hard Knocks,” is leaving the Detroit Lions to join Frank Reich’s staff with the Carolina Panthers. Staley spent the past two seasons as the Lions’ assistant head coach/running backs coach, and helped the Lions post two

Sitting on the couch, eating my morning yogurt, watching ESPN’s “Get Up.” And the news popped across the TV. Tom Brady is retiring. No, seriously this time. And they aired his short, homemade retirement video. “I know the process was a pretty big deal last time, so when I woke up this morning, I figured

MOBILE, Ala. — Aubrey Miller Jr. did not get to watch many Detroit Lions games this season, but the Jackson State linebacker kept close tabs on the team — and his good friend, James Houston — through social media. Houston had eight sacks in seven games after opening the season on the Lions practice squad.