Dan Orlovsky shockingly claims Lions offensive coordinator fell asleep during game

Dan Orlovsky infamously running out of the back of the end zone may not have been the most embarrassing play in Detroit Lions history after all.

Orlovsky joined ESPN Radio’s Unsportsmanlike on Thursday morning, where he kicked off the interview by struggling with the headset. It prompted host Evan Cohen to jokingly ask whether Orlovsky is concerned about the prospect of having to communicate via headset if he ever pursues his coaching aspirations.

.@danorlovsky7 just shared an all-time story about a coach falling asleep while calling plays for the Detroit Lions 😂 https://t.co/mjeUMq4ydv pic.twitter.com/h63PlHDX38

— UNSPORTSMANLIKE (@UnSportsESPN) January 29, 2026

“Dude, I got some stories,” Orlovsky said with a chuckle.

During one of his tenures with the Lions, Orlovsky said he would be on the sideline as the backup quarterback, and he was tasked with relaying the play call from the coordinator in the box to the starter on the field. He’s not sure why the set it up like that, but relaying the play proved to be especially difficult when the coordinator fell asleep.

“We had a moment, honest to God, true story, zero exaggeration, where there was a change of possession, punt, commercial, we come out of the commercial, play clock is starting, I’m waiting for the play call and all I’m hearing is [mimics snoring sound]. The coach, our playcaller, our offensive coordinator, fell asleep in the middle of the game and didn’t get a call in.”

With the coordinator asleep, Orlovsky quickly gave his own play call, but said the situation was also helped by the starting quarterback being a veteran.

“But for all the people who were like, ‘Why were you guys bad in Detroit?’” Orlovsky said with a shrug.

Orlovsky honorably saved the coordinator from total embarrassment by not naming the coach. But we can at least whittle it down to a few possible candidates. During his 12-year NFL career, Orlovsky played two tenures in Detroit. From 2005-2008, Orlovsky played with four different offensive coordinators: Greg Olson, Ted Tollner, Mike Martz, and Jim Colletto. And during his second tenure from 2014-16, Orlovsky’s coordinators were Jim Bob Cooter followed by Joe Lombardi.

Orlovsky previously told the story to Dan Patrick and claimed the offensive coordinator “was old,” which should rule out anyone from his second tenure and hint at some others as the most likely candidates.