Lions’ Amon-Ra St. Brown Explains How He Found Out His Coach Was Departing

In the end, he took two.

The two coaches who followed Johnson were former Lions wide receivers coach Antwaan Randle El and former assistant quarterbacks coach J.T. Barrett.

It turns out that one of the Lions’ key players figured out that Randle El’s departure was coming before it was publicly announced.

On the January 29 episode of the “St. Brown Podcast,” Lions wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown shared how he put the pieces together in a group chat with Randle El and his fellow receivers before the news broke.

St. Brown recalled, “I hit up the group chat, I go, ‘El, ain’t you from Chicago?’ I sent that. Next one. ‘You following Ben?’ Literally, I sent that at 6:17 p.m. Two minutes later, I get a call from him. ‘The (expletive).’ I answer.”

He continued, “He said, ‘What’s up, man.’ He goes, ‘Hey man. How’d you know? Did that get leaked?’ I said, ‘Nah, I was just messing around.’”

Randle El had been the receivers coach for the Lions throughout St. Brown’s career, and their partnership was very successful.

St. Brown quickly became a star, surpassing 1,000 yards in his second season and earning All-Pro first-team honors in the subsequent years.

On the podcast, St. Brown also expressed that he was happy for Randle El, but he made it clear that he would be motivated when the Lions face the Bears next season with so many familiar faces on the other sideline.