ALLEN PARK — The starkest change to a Detroit Lions team that held the best record in the NFL in 2024 comes with the coaching staff.
There are 14 coaches either new to the organization, in a new role or coaching a position group for the first time.
Through all this reworking of the coaching staff, veteran quarterback Jared Goff is prepared to step up as a leader to ease the transition.
“Keep putting more on me is what I try to tell them,” Goff told reporters Friday after organized team activities (OTAs). “Load me up with whatever it takes. I feel like I’m at the point in my career where I can handle quite a bit above the ears and take on a lot of that role and they’ve given it to me.”
Goff is entering Year 10 in the NFL and his fifth with the Lions, at this point he’s got a good grasp of what head coach Dan Campbell is expecting from him.
That doesn’t stop the four-time Pro Bowler from growing his game, personally, during the offseason and making minor adjustments to elevate how he performs.
But it also means he can be a steady presence as the [Lions introduce offensive coordinator John Morton](https://www.mlive.com/lions/2025/01/detroit-lions-officially-name-john-morton-kelvin-sheppard-new-coordinators.html), who takes over for Ben Johnson.
There’s already some familiarity for Goff and Morton, with the former Denver Broncos pass game coordinator previously serving as an offensive assistant with the Lions in 2022.
Detroit hasn’t indicated a major upheaval of what the team’s succeeded doing offensively the past few years, but the pair will still go through a feeling-out process as Morton is set to take over play-calling responsibilities.
As the Lions get through [OTAs](https://www.mlive.com/lions/2025/05/detroit-lions-to-be-without-a-ton-of-players-at-ota-practice.html) and eventually into training camp, Goff is confident that he will get to showcase the ownership of the offense the Lions have come to expect from their signal caller.
“Right now in OTA No. 3, we’re still in our third install. But as time goes on I will certainly have a lot of control,” Goff said. “Something that if it helps our team be better, helps our offense score more points I’ll ask for more and keep putting more on my plate.”
The Lions return so much of their offensive production from a season ago, it’s hard to see them wanting much to change during the 2025 regular season.
If all goes well, growth is going to be measured by how late the Lions are playing into the postseason. The work of getting to that point has already started for Goff and the Lions.
“We want to take a step forward,” Goff said. “We’re trying to get better and trying to learn from our mistakes last year and find ways to get better off of them. We’ve got guys that are a year older and more mature and coming into their own.”