Lions hire Darrell Bevell as offensive coordinator

After much speculation, the Detroit Lions announced the hiring of Darrell Bevell as the team’s new offensive coordinator on Wednesday afternoon. Bevell joins the Lions after a year gap; he spent the seven seasons prior in Seattle where he served in the same position.

Though there were not many clues about who might replace Jim Bob Cooter as the head of the offense, Bevell was not a name commonly tossed into the discussion. Many postulated that the Lions would choose someone with ties to head coach Matt Patricia, either from his time at Syracuse or with the Patriots, but Bevell looks to be a new flavor.

Bevell comes to Detroit with a Super Bowl ring, won with the 2013 Seahawks when they defeated the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XLVIII. Interestingly, he was directly matched up against Patricia in the following Super Bowl, where he and head coach Pete Carroll infamously chose to throw the ball from the 1-yard line with less than a minute remaining.

Under Bevell, Seattle was not afraid to run the ball, which may have been what led the Lions to him. Detroit has been in the process of revamping their running game and has committed significant draft capital to the offensive line and running back. It makes sense to hire a coordinator who will maximize these resources.

In 2017, Bevell’s last regular season with the Seattle offense, the Seahawks ranked 15th in total yards and 11th in points scored.

Current terms of the contract have yet to be released. This post will be updated as more information is made available.