Kelvin Sheppard responds to criticism of Lions’ defensive scheme

Detroit Lions defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard will wrap up his first year as an NFL coordinator on Sunday against the Chicago Bears, and it’s fair to say the season hasn’t gone as he had hoped. The Lions went from having the seventh-best scoring defense under Aaron Glenn last year (20.1 points per game) to the 23rd-ranked defense (24.8). Most concerning, however, was the fact that Detroit really struggled down the stretch when they needed the defense the most. They allowed an average of 30.2 points per game in the final six games of the season—a stretch in which they finished 2-4.

On Thursday during his final press conference of the season, Kelvin Sheppard was asked if the team needed to make any drastic changes to his scheme in 2026. Unsurprisingly, Sheppard stood by his scheme—noting that his strategy and philosophy are already not grounded in rigid rules or play styles.

“No, I don’t see drastic change […] This league is about adaptability. And you can have a system all you want, but it’s whatever dictates that week is necessary to win the football game,” Sheppard said. “And that’s predicated on a lot of different variables. You talk about the offense that you’re facing, you’re talking about the personnel that’s at your disposal that week.

“It’s a lot of different variables and my job has been—and I believe we have done as a defensive staff—week-to-week what is it going to take to stop this offense. And more importantly, what is it going to take for us to play complementary football and win this football game. I believe we have a very versatile system here where we’re able to adapt and adjust on the run. And I believe that not only myself, but my staff and these players have done a good job.”

Of course, Sheppard isn’t oblivious to the struggles on the defensive side of the ball. What has particularly been concerning to him has been the explosive plays given up by the team’s defense all year. No team has allowed more 30+ yard plays than the Lions all season, and that will be first on Sheppard’s list of things to figure out when he has time to do a full, comprehensive self-scout this offseason.

“The first thing I’m doing is pulling the explosives because that’s been unacceptable this year,” Sheppard said. “We’re in the bottom tier of the league in that category and that is number one to playing at a high level on defense—and offense—is the explosive gains in the game and the ability to minimize them. So, that’s the number one. And then within that, what is the cause of it? And for me, I have different categories. Is it something schematically that took place where we’re getting attacked schematically? OK. Is it lack of understanding of the system?”

As for what he’s learned this year on his first year on the job, he admits that it took him a while to get a hand of the flow of the game and make in-game adjustments.

“The things that I truly learned, to be honest with you, is in the flow of a game, in having to adjust on the run. Like say you’re going to the game and, ‘This is what we’re doing.’ Well, you can’t be hard-headed. If you get in that game and that’s not working, then what? You get to have time and kind of things aren’t going the way you like, then what? And that’s kind of what I’ve learned and the ability to go articulate that to the players so they understand me. Not that we’re changing, but why we’re changing and how we need them to change as the game progresses. Kind of in-game adjustments.”

Earlier this week, Lions coach Dan Campbell said he wasn’t ready to make any definitive decisions about the 2026 coaching staff, but he did praise Sheppard for the job he’s been doing on that side of the ball.

“I like Shep. Shep has really grown this year,” Campbell said. “I think with any first-time coordinator, first-time coach, you go through a lot. You learn along the way. You make adjustments. You find things that you believe in. You throw other things to the side that don’t fit you. You find ways to adjust, and it’s just part of the process. I think Shep’s done a damn good job. There’s always going to be things that you learn from this job, but I like Shep.”