The Detroit Lions have agreed to hire Denver Broncos assistant John Morton as offensive coordinator and promote Kelvin Sheppard to defensive coordinator, according to a person familiar with the situation.

The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity Tuesday night because the agreements had not been announced.

Detroit had both coordinators depart to become head coaches. Offensive coordinator Ben Johnson was hired by the Chicago Bears and defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn left to lead the New York Jets, just days after the top-seeded Lions were stunned by sixth-seeded Washington in the divisional round of the NFC playoffs.

Johnson and Glenn are finalists for The Associated Press NFL Assistant Coach of the Year award.

AP Coach of the Year finalist Dan Campbell said he expected both coordinators to leave even before they were hired.

Campbell said quarterback Jared Goff would have some say in who was chosen as offensive coordinator, adding he didn't expect the Pro Bowler to take a step back without Johnson calling plays.

“This thing is set up for Goff to have success with our playmakers,” Campbell said last week.

Goff is familiar with Morton because he was a senior offensive assistant for the Lions in 2022.

“I want to keep our terminology in place,” Campbell said before hiring Morton. "I want to make sure that Goff is comfortable because he’s playing at a high level.”

Detroit's players know Sheppard well.

He led the team's linebackers for the past three seasons after coaching outside linebackers during the 2021 season.

Sheppard, who is from Stone Mountain, Georgia, was drafted out of LSU by the Buffalo Bills in the third round of the 2011 draft, and the linebacker had 429 tackles in his 107-game career.

Campbell gave Sheppard his start in coaching after he was LSU’s director of player development in 2020.

The Broncos hired Morton away from Detroit in 2023 and he was their passing game coordinator for two seasons. He has more than two decades of coaching experience with Denver, Detroit, Las Vegas, the New York Jets, New Orleans and San Francisco.

Morton, who is from suburban Detroit, was an All-Mid American Conference wide receiver at Western Michigan.

Ilya Sorokin's 30 saves backstop the Islanders to a 5-2 win over Avalanche

NEW YORK (AP) — Simon Holmstrom scored twice and added an assist, and Ilya Sorokin made 30 saves to lead the New York Islanders to a 5-2 win over the Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday night.

Bo Horvat, Anders Lee and Alexander Romanov also scored for New York, which has won five-in-a-row.

Mackenzie Blackwood finished with 23 saves and Artturi Lehkonen and Jack Drury scored for the Avalanche.

Tied 1-1 entering the third period, New York scored four goals. Horvat’s 18th of the season with 8:37 left was the game winner.

Lee opened the scoring with his team-leading 22nd goal of the season 4:11 into the second period by slipping a slick backhander between Blackwood’s pads. Lehkonen drew the Avalanche even with 7 minutes left in the period by swatting Nathan MacKinnon’s feed over Sorokin’s blocker while sitting in front of the New York goaltender.

Takeaways

Avalanche: If Colorado does not qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs, they might be able to look back at this contest as one of the reasons why. The Avalanche could only manage to slip two pucks past Sorokin despite having advantages in shots on goal (32-28) and attempted shots (84-50).

Islanders: Scott Perunovich made his debut with New York, who acquired the defenseman in a trade with St. Louis on Monday. Perunovich finished with one assist.

Key moment

The teams went into the first intermission in a goalless tie mostly due to the play of Sorokin. New York’s goaltender made 14 saves in the opening 20 minutes, including 11 in the second half of the first period.

Key stat

New York killed both of Colorado’s power plays.

Up next

The Islanders begin a three-game, four-day road trip Thursday against Philadelphia. The Avalanche open a two-game homestand Friday against St. Louis.