Tanner Engstrand, Detroit’s passing game coordinator for the previous two seasons, was hired Friday by the Jets and former Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn, who is now New York’s head coach.
Engstrand was expected to be a candidate for Detroit’s previously empty offensive coordinator position, but it was formally awarded to John Morton on Wednesday. Engstrand joined the Lions in 2020 as an offensive assistant. He was kept by head coach Dan Campbell in 2021 and promoted to tight ends coach in 2022. In 2023, he became the passing game coordinator and helped the Lions finish second in the NFL in passing yards (4,401).
In 2024, the Lions had the second-most passing yards (4,474), allowing them to average an NFL-high 33.2 points per game. Engstrand played quarterback at San Diego State in the early 2000s before becoming a graduate assistant there in 2005.
He remained at the school, eventually rising to the position of offensive coordinator, until he was hired by Michigan as an offensive analyst in 2017. Before joining the Lions, Engstrand, 42, served as offensive coordinator for the XFL’s DC Defenders in 2020.