Duce Staley will be the Lions head coach at the Senior Bowl

One of the new twists of the annual Senior Bowl is the decision to have the head coaches of the teams serving in Mobile take a more general role. Instead of Lions head coach Dan Campbell running the show for the American team, he’ll be an advisor for his Detroit staff.

Campbell selected RB coach and assistant head coach Duce Staley to be the head coach for the week for the American squad. Staley will run the practices and coach the team in the game, which takes place on Feb. 5th. In addition to promoting Staley for the week, the Lions also bumped tight ends coach Ben Johnson to offensive coordinator and DBs coach Aubrey Pleasant to defensive coordinator for the week.

Those coordinator promotions for the week are a nice audition for Johnson, who is widely expected to become the Lions new offensive coordinator after thriving in an expanded role down the stretch. Pleasant would be a logical choice to succeed DC Aaron Glenn if he winds up winning the race to be the new head coach for the New Orleans Saints.

Staley is ready to roll. From the press release,

“We as a staff are excited to hit the ground running at the Senior Bowl. This week will serve as a valuable experience for all of us to help lead our coaching staff alongside Coach Campbell as we get to know this talented group of young men. We are looking forward to a great week of football in Mobile.”