John Morton compared it to a starter getting moved to the bench, or an NFL reporter getting assigned to high school football.
"What are you going to do? You’re going to keep fighting, right? That’s what we do. That’s what the Lions do. This organization’s been awesome, and they live off grit, adversity and fighting through it. That’s me," Morton said Thursday in his first public comments since Dan Campbell stripped him of play-calling duties before the Lions' Week 10 win over the Commanders.
Campbell took over as play-caller, wanting to help his offense find more of a flow despite ranking second in the NFL it scoring at the time of the change. It immediately worked. Morton said that "I fully support" Campbell's decision and that the first thing he said to Campbell after getting the news early last week was, "Alright, let’s go. What do we have to do?" to prepare for the Commanders.
"That’s the way I’ve always been in this business," Morton said. "I’ve been cut six times, I’ve been fired. Man, you just march on, because it’s always about the team. It always is. It ain't about me, goals, this and that. No, the ultimate goal is to win the Super Bowl. So I didn’t even blink twice, because I know my role here. The only thing that’s changed is that he’s calling it on game day. Everything else is still the same."
With Campbell calling the plays and consulting via the headset with Morton on the passing attack and offensive line coach/run-game coordinator Hank Fraley on the rushing attack between plays, the Lions posted season highs in total yards and rushing yards in their rout of the Commanders. Morton's role in game-planning will remain the same throughout the week.
"I like where we’re at," he said. "I’m going to help him as much as I can, just like I did last week during the game. Getting the feel of how he does things, how they’ve done it here, that’s good, I need to see that. But I'll tell you what, the collaboration that we have, we always have great communication."
Morton spent most of his coaching career working toward this opportunity, to not only call plays but to do it for his hometown team. The 56-year-old Auburn Hills native, who had a brief NFL playing career as a wide receiver, only had one other chance to call plays in the NFL, in 2017 with the Jets. He was fired after one season as offensive coordinator. Now he's been demoted in Detroit.
But he came to the podium Thursday with an upbeat tone, eager to keep preparing for Sunday's game against the Eagles.
"Why mope around so players can see that?" he said. "What good does that do? To me, that’s the way I’ve been taught, just growing up and the coaches that I’ve been around, you always be positive. You do whatever it takes to win the game and to prepare the team. And that’s what I’m still doing, because then it’s about me if I just mope around and players see that. I’ll never do that. Never."
Morton and Campbell have a relationship that goes back 10 years to when they were both offensive coaches under Sean Payton with the Saints. They worked together again in 2022 when Campbell hired Morton as an offensive assistant in Detroit to help the Lions build their offense around Jared Goff. Morton will retain a key role in putting together the plan each week for the passing game, which is what Campbell calls his "bread and butter."
"We always talk," said Morton. He’s always asking me questions. I’m really heavily in the passing game, obviously, and then I help him in the run game, and I have questions. Just that communication every single day, along with Jared, man, it’s just been awesome. Like I said, man, I don’t blink. Let’s just go on, we’re moving on. How do we beat Philadelphia? What’s the best way of doing it? And we just keep marching forward, man."
Morton said he gleaned this selfless approach to his job from his dad, who worked for GM for 30-plus years on the assembly line and "didn’t want to elevate. ... All he knew was the grease." And from the many great coaches he's learned from in his career, from Payton to John Gruden with the Raiders to Pete Carroll at USC to Campbell here in Detroit.
"The players feed off of you, just like we all feed off Dan," Morton said. "The way Dan makes this team work, the way they look at him, man, it really is awesome, man. He’s got it. He’s got it. The players feed off of that, and it’s really cool to see that."
Morton noted that "there was a good flow last week" to the offense, from the first play of the game. First downs came easy, albeit against a depleted defense: "I talk about CFL football. For a second it wasn’t even that, it might have been Tecmo," Morton said. "You can feel it. It’s just first down, second down, first down, second down, first down, second down. And we've had those moments this year, but everything was just clicking last week."
Campbell will continue to call plays for the time being, and likely for the rest of this season. But the job could be Morton's again in the future, once he grows more accustomed to how Campbell wants the offense to look on game days. That was the connection that existed between Campbell and his former play-caller Ben Johnson, but it took them time to build it.
"I have a role, I know what it is. And if he wants me to be ready again, I’ll be ready," said Morton. "I’ve always approached the game like I’m calling it. I’ve always prepared like a coordinator. I think that’s helped me, and I continue to do the same stuff."
In the meantime, Morton is keen on serving Campbell and the team, with one goal in mind.
"The only way you’re going to win a Super Bowl is if you win it as a team," he said. That’s it. It’s not about individuals, it’s about us together."