So far, five Detroit Lions coaches or front office staffers have opportunities for promotions with another organization. Coordinators Aaron Glenn and Ben Johnson just completed a round of interviews, OL coach Hank Fraley is reportedly a candidate for the Seahawks offensive coordinator position, DB coach Deshea Townsend interviewed for the 49ers defensive coordinator opening, and front office fixture Chris Spielman interviewed for the Jets general manager job.
Well, add one more to the list.
The San Francisco 49ers announced on Sunday night that they finished interviewing Lions special teams assistant Jett Modkins for their vacant special teams coordinator job.
Modkins has been with the Lions in this role since 2021, working under special teams coordinator Dave Fipp for the last four years.
Modkins has a connection to the 49ers through his father, long-time NFL coach Curtis Modkins. In fact, Curtis coached for the Lions as their running backs coach from 2013-15 before getting hired by the 49ers as their offensive coordinator for a season, but he was not retained when San Francisco fired Chip Kelly after his one-and-done season.
The 49ers fired special teams coordinator Brian Schneider last week after several special teams blunders during the season. San Francisco finished the season 31st in special teams DVOA, 28th in punt average, 31st in net average, and 27th in field goal percentage.
Meanwhile, Modkins helped the Lions finish the regular season first in special teams DVOA, first in punt average, net average, and eighth in field goal percentage.
As of now, Modkins is the first and only known candidate for the 49ers job.
