Allen Park — Jim Hostler is still not totally certain what, exactly, his new role as senior offensive assistant with the Detroit Lions entails. For the moment, he’s just happy to be here.
Hostler played cornerback at Indiana University of Pennsylvania back in the 80s, coached both sides of the ball and made stops at nearly every position group until joining the staff in Detroit this offseason. In a role that encompasses a wide range of topics, Holster’s past experience has him ready to deal with any one of them, he said Wednesday at an introductory press conference in Allen Park.
“I played on defense, (worked as a grad assistant) in the secondary, and my first job was coaching the running backs,” Hostler said. “Then he brought me back to the defense, then he sent me over to coach receivers, then came back to defense, then went back over and was coaching quarterbacks and the offensive coordinator.”
It’s quite the resume. More important than the number of positions he’s held, though, is the knowledge that Hostler, 56, has for each position individually.
“There’s a lot of things you can do as a senior offensive assistant,” Hostler said. “Some of it is in the realm of coaching coaches, when you have younger coaches on your staff. Some of it is in the realm of … being advanced in the game-planning, meaning the coordinator spends the week worried about the game, and somebody else can worry about the next game.”
“Not to get into a lot of detail about it, but, that’s kind of some different things you can do. Then, just information. ‘How did you do this? How did you do that? Hey, you know, this is the way that we did it. How did you do it?’ And it’s just another perspective, an educated opinion that might be different from theirs that makes you think about other things.”
All told, Holster isn’t sure how he ended up in Detroit. He was let go by Washington, where he had the same role last season, a bit late in the process and was fortunate enough to have someone from the Lions reach out to him first, he said.
“A lot of this business is about who you know, guys helping you get jobs, their recommendations. For me, (those connections) needed to get a lot younger,” Hostler said. “I was with a younger coach in Washington, Scottie (Turner). I knew his dad, so there was a connection there, but here I didn’t know (anyone).
“I was really fortunate to get in on this job. You can imagine the reputation that (offensive coordinator Ben Johnson has), the reputation that the head coach (Dan Campbell) has. There were a lot of people who were interested in this job. I’m really blessed, fortunate that I got it.”
There will be plenty of opportunities to put his wide array of skills to work, and possibly, further his career. Hostler’s new offensive staff is on the younger side, including the 36-year-old Johnson, who after one year as the Lions’ offensive coordinator had multiple suitors for head-coaching gigs. With more than two decades of NFL coaching experience under his belt, Holster is ready to learn from one of the best in the business.
“(Johnson) understands the game. From a football standpoint, also, he understands the complexity of it and how to make it simple,” Hostler said. “This game is a very complex game, and … there are a lot of things going on, but the guys that really have a gift are the guys that can take those complex things and make them simple. And he can do that.
“Simple things show up on that tape, but they show up at the right times and in the right fashion. The way they trained. And that’s kinda the brilliance of it.”
nbianchi@detroitnews.com
Twitter: @nolanbianchi