The Detroit Lions will interview former Miami Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel on Tuesday. Shortly thereafter, they were interviewing another new candidate. Former Giants offensive coordinator and interim Giants head coach Mike Kafka will interview for the Lions offensive coordinator position on Wednesday, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reports.
Kafka began working as the offensive quality control coach for the Kansas City Chiefs under Andy Reid in 2017 and quickly rose through the ranks in the NFL. He was quickly promoted to quarterbacks coach during the 2018-19 season, working with Patrick Mahomes. He was promoted again in Kansas City, adding the title of passing game coordinator to his title in 2020-21, before finally getting a chance to direct his own offense with the New York Giants in 2022-25. While the Giants’ offense has never produced a top-10 offense in that time, Kafka has built up some strong running game over the course of a few seasons, and New York had some success this year before rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart suffered multiple injuries.
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Lions fans may remember Kafka best from the Lions-Giants game in November. In that game, the Giants, with Jameis Winston at quarterback, racked up 517 yards of offense against the Detroit Pistons and nearly pulled off a big upset. Kafka also performed some successful tricks that day.
Prior to his coaching career, Kafka spent six seasons in the NFL as quarterback at Northwestern University.
Kafka is now the fourth known candidate for the Lions’ offensive coordinator job, joining McDaniel, Jake Pitts and Ty Martin.
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