ALLEN PARK — Coach Dan Campbell choked up a bit addressing the retirement of veteran Lions center Frank Ragnow..
“Frank’s been an unbelievable teammate, football player, man of the community,’’ Campbell said at his Thursday press conference prior to the final session of OTAs.
Ragnow, 29, announced earlier this week that he has decided to retire.
“He’ll be missed, but the train rolls on. And it’s the next man up. So we will be ready to go when camp hits. We will be ready to go. We have plenty of versatility there, we like the guys we drafted, we like our free agents that we brought in, the young guys Kingsley being one of those guys among others,’’ Campbell said.
Ragnow, 29, was a first-round draft pick by the Lions in 2018 starting16 games as a rookie. In seven years he started 96 games, missing significant time in 2021.
“I’ve got all the respect for Frank Ragnow, I love him to death. Quite frankly some of this stuff about contract talk is disrespectful, that’s not what this was about,’’ Campbell said. “Love you Frank, appreciate you.’
The coach said he was aware Ragnow was contemplating his future.
“We did our best to give him his space and let him sort it out which he did,’’ Campbell said. “It was kind of one of those, you’re going to come to a decision at some point here, we’d certainly like it before the offseason is out. He did and it was time.
“Listen, whenever you know it’s your time, it is the right time because it’s not fair to him and it’s not fair to his teammates or anybody else,’’ Campbell said. “I respect the hell out of him for the decision, it’s not easy to do. But he knows himself, I’ll always respect that.’’
It was a surprising announcement in one way because Ragnow had one of his best seasons in 2024 and seemed as healthy as he had been in a long time.
“You’re like, he’s in his prime right now. But if you’re him you have to remember the amount of time and work and details spent on taking care of his body – the rehab that goes into it before he even trains – you’re talking hours and hours,’’ the coach said.
Ragnow is the second starting offensive lineman to leave this offseason. The Lions lost right guard Kevin Zeitler to free agency.
Campbell is confident in the options they have to quickly get up to speed on the line.
“That’s why Hank Fraley is the coach in that room. He’s done a helluva job developing talent. He’s going to get these guys right, whoever it is,’’ Campbell said.
Possibilities include rookies Miles Frazier and Tate Ratledge (second round pick) and Miles Frazier (fifth round). Campbell also mentioned Equakon Kingsley who joined the team as an undrafted free agent center following the 2024 draft.
Graham Glasgow, who started 16 games at left guard last season, has the flexibility to play guard or center. He started all games at center in 2018 and started at center and right guard in 2022.
“We’re going to have options, that’s why we’re excited about training camp. We’re going to find this out, we’re going to let these guys go at it,’’ Campbell said. “We just signed Trystan Colon, there’s another option. Don’t know a lot about him because he just got here. We’re going to have plenty. We still have (Kayode Awosika) here. We’ve got guys.’’
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