The Lions took their time in hiring a special teams coordinator, and it wasn’t to wait on a coach in the playoffs after all.

Instead, it was to hire an old friend back.

Detroit has hired John Bonamego back as special teams coordinator. It was the role he served in 2013-2014 with the team before he left to be the head coach for three years at Central Michigan. He became available again after his Chippewas fell to 1-11 this season. He was 22-29 overall coaching his alma mater.

The 55-year-old Paw Paw, Michigan, native has 16 years of NFL experience, including 12 as a lead special teams coordinator. In addition to coordinating the Lions' units, he has done so with the Jaguars, Dolphins, Saints and Packers.

He spent two years on the same Dolphins staff as Lions defensive coordinator Paul Pasqualoni, who has long been a mentor to Matt Patricia. He also shared a staff with newly hired offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell for three seasons in Green Bay. Those connections likely played a role in his return to the organization given that almost nobody is left in management from the last time he coached here.

When he was here, Bonamego’s 2013 unit finished 20th in special teams DVOA, Football Outsiders' measurement for performance against the league average, before slipping to 31st in 2014.

In 12 years as a lead special-teams coordinator, his units have finished an average of 21st in the league. He has had one top-10 finish in those 12 seasons.

The Lions have had quite some time to make this hire since firing Joe Marciano midseason. Marciano took over for Bonamego in 2015, and he had strong success up until this season, when his units were hurt heavily by penalties and had little to no return game.

Detroit had Devin Fitzsimmons take over a majority of Marciano’s duties, and the units played closer to an average group down the stretch. After the season, they interviewed Vikings special teams coordinator Mike Priefer for the job, but Priefer, the son of longtime Lions special teams coordinator Chuck Priefer, decided to join the Browns staff instead.

In Detroit, Bonamego will have a steady kicker to work with in Matt Prater, as well as a punt returner in Jamal Agnew who made the All-Pro team as a rookie before he got hurt last year. Detroit has decisions to make on long-snapper Don Muhlbach, who made the Pro Bowl despite one of his few shaky seasons; and punter Sam Martin, who had an up-and-down year and represents $2 million in potential cap savings. Bonamego worked with both of them in his first stint in Detroit.

The Lions finished 20th in special teams DVOA this year after top-10 finishes the previous two seasons, so they are looking for a bounce back from multiple parts of the third phase.