Report: Lions expected to retain offensive coordinator Jim Bob Cooter

While Detroit Lions fans patiently wait for Matt Patricia to be officially named the next head coach of the franchise, the fate a few assistants remained to be determined. Detroit has already ousted nearly their entire defensive staff—which is to be expected when a team hires a defensive-minded coach—and a few on the offensive side of the ball, too.

However, the fate of offensive coordinator Jim Bob Cooter had yet to be officially determined. Since nothing had been announced, it was assumed Cooter would stick around for 2018, and now it appears that assumption is correct. According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the Lions are expected to retain Cooter.

This move will certainly comes as welcome news to Matthew Stafford, who threw his support behind bringing back Cooter in January after head coach Jim Caldwell was fired. On Thursday, Golden Tate, too, said he’d like to have Cooter back. “Yeah, I like Jim Bob. I mean, I’ve gotten 90+ catches the last four years and 1,000 yards, so yeah [I want him back],” Tate told NFL Network.

Cooter, who was promoted from Lions quarterback coach in 2015, has been instrumental in improving Matthew Stafford’s game. And with the Lions dismissing their most recent quarterbacks coach Brian Callahan, Stafford will at least have Cooter around in 2018.