Matt LaFleur hires former Lions assistant, UW player Aubrey Pleasant as offensive consultant

GREEN BAY – The week before they played the Green Bay Packers, the Detroit Lions parted ways with defensive passing game coordinator Aubrey Pleasant.

The week after, coach Matt LaFleur hired Pleasant.

The two men worked together with Washington in 2013 and with the Los Angeles Rams in 2017, so when Lions coach Dan Campbell fired Pleasant, LaFleur reached out to see if he would like to be an offensive consultant.

“I thought that he could bring a different perspective to our offensive staff just seeing it though the lens of a defensive coach,” LaFleur said Monday. “So, he’s going to do a lot of self-scout work for us. He and I were watching a bunch of tape together today just talking coverage and trying to figure out different rules.

“I think that’s always an important part to work from when you’re game-planning, is you always want to try to figure out how are they coaching these guys on the other side based on whatever coverage and how you best attack somebody.”

ESPN.com was the first to report that Pleasant had been hired.

Pleasant, like LaFleur, is a Michigan native. He played safety for the Wisconsin Badgers from 2005-’08.

He began his coaching career in the NFL as an intern with the Cleveland Browns in the summer of 2013, served for three years with Washington as a defensive quality control assistant after his one year with LaFleur and spent four years with the Los Angeles Rams (2017-’20) before joining Campbell in Detroit.

Popular among his players, Pleasant was fired after the Lions gave up 369 yards passing in a loss to the Miami Dolphins Oct. 30. Campbell wasn’t happy with the communication in the secondary and fired Pleasant against defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn’s wishes.

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Now he’ll be helping the Lions’ division rival.

"He’s just a guy I’ve always really respected how he works,” LaFleur said. “And I think that perspective has been helpful, not only game-planning but also to really see ourselves how a defensive coach might. Break us down and see us so we hopefully can stay as unpredictable as possible.”