ALLEN PARK — Scottie Montgomery did such a strong job coaching the Lions’ running backs the past two years that it caught some off guard when word got out he was shifting over to lead the wide receivers room.
But if you ask Montgomery, coaching receivers — and quarterbacks — are roles he’s actually more experienced with than running backs.
And the move? It’s one he was hoping for.
Montgomery spoke with reporters Tuesday for the first time this offseason, addressing his new role on Dan Campbell’s staff. The fiery assistant said coaching a group that includes Amon-Ra St. Brown, Jameson Williams, Tim Patrick and others will bring new challenges, but it’s a space where he feels most at ease.
“Yeah, so it was something that had been talked about between the two of us very quickly. It wasn’t something that we had waited on,” Montgomery shared. “So we talked about it, kind of pondered it both for us. There’s a lot of things kind of going on at the time. So there was an eagerness for me to get back to the passing game, but there was also this eagerness in me that I was fighting that I wanted to be with (Jahmyr Gibbs) and David (Montgomery) the rest of the time that I was here. So it was just -- it was one of those situations I thought that it was time.
“That room was developed, that room had kind of grown and there was opportunities for other people. And then, you know, I also wanted to get back to hone the skills of the passing game and how that works, even though I was already thrown into it, it’s just a little bit different when you’re in a wideout room. Closer connection, whether it be quarterback, receiver, you’re just in the passing game a lot more.”
Montgomery’s reassignment is part of Detroit’s offseason coaching overhaul. He steps in to fill the vacancy left by Antwaan Randle El, who departed to join Ben Johnson’s staff in Chicago — taking on the same receivers role with the added title of assistant head coach.
Replacing Montgomery in the running backs room is Tashard Choice, a former NFL player and Texas running backs coach.
So far, Montgomery hasn’t seen a drastic difference between coaching the backs and receivers — largely because of his familiarity with both position groups. For him, the biggest adjustment has simply been working with new faces.
“I think that there is more of an adjustment because there’s so many young guys when they come into the room now. I think that adjustment is crazy,” Montgomery said. “David goes at the young guys really, really quickly. Saint, he leads and he teaches, so that dynamic is a little bit different. But overall, I don’t know if I’ve found that out yet. Ask me in five or six weeks, I might have a better answer there.”
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