Detroit Lions fans know Scottie Montgomery as the running backs coach and assistant head coach, the positions he’s held in Detroit for the last two seasons. Montgomery replaced Duce Staley in those roles after the 2022 season and has done a very strong job molding the talents of Jahmyr Gibbs, David Montgomery and Craig Reynolds into a deep, multifaceted running back room.

But Montgomery is known in other places for his work with wide receivers. In Pittsburgh, Montgomery coached up one of the best wideout corps in Steelers history.

From 2010 through the 2012 season, Montgomery was the WR coach under head coach Mike Tomlin. During those years, Montgomery got to work with some notable wideouts in Bruce Arians’ aggressive downfield aerial attack. Among the players Montgomery coached:

Hines Ward
Antonio Brown
Mike Wallace
Emmanuel Sanders
Plaxico Burress
And Antwaan Randle El, his immediate predecessor as the wideout coach in Detroit.

It’s his work with a young Brown that is most relevant for Montgomery’s new role as the Lions wide receivers coach. Brown was something of an enigmatic talent when he arrived in Pittsburgh. It didn’t happen overnight, but under Montgomery’s tutelage and encouragement, Brown emerged as one of the NFL’s biggest weapons for a handful of years.

That’s the Detroit hope for Jameson Williams, now entering the fourth season of a promising but occasionally frustrating career with the Lions. Montgomery takes over that mentorship from Randle El, now the assistant head coach in Chicago and someone with more of an intense personality. Montgomery brings the passion for sure, but he’s less fiery and more of a supportively nurturing nature. That could be the key to coaxing more consistency and diverse usage from Williams, coming off his first 1,000-yard season.

It’s a move that makes sense for Detroit. Bringing in Tashard Choice as the new RBs coach is a strong move, given his collegiate coaching work with Lions star Jahmyr Gibbs (at Georgia Tech) and recent stints with Bijan Robinson, Jaydon Blue and Jonathan Brooks at Texas.