Now that the New Orleans Saints have been eliminated from the NFL postseason, the Detroit Lions must hire Saints assistant coach Dan Campbell as their next head coach, ESPN’s Adam Schefter said.
The two sides have yet to reach an agreement, but that is not considered an obstacle, and Campbell is the head coach that Lions plan to hire, sources said to Schefter.
Campbell replaces Matt Patricia, who was fired in November after less than three seasons with the franchise and a 13-29-1 record, while the club has been trying to zero in on NFC North for the past three years.
Campbell, 44, who was never an NFL coordinator, is seen as a motivator and someone who can put together a team instead of an X’s and O’s guru. Lions sought out people they considered unifying throughout their research, as they identified qualities they considered important to building a franchise winner who had a playoff victory in the Super Bowl era and won the title of the last division in 1993.
“I think leadership and someone who can work with the general manager,” said team president Rod Wood earlier this month. “And someone who has had experience as a head coach or you can project that experience as a coordinator into being a head coach and really dive into that kind of issue.
“Not that we didn’t do that in the search for Matt, but I think trying to do it differently, I hope we can find the right people.”
Campbell does not have much experience as a head coach, but the Lions have clearly seen enough to put him in partnership with newly hired general manager Brad Holmes. With no experience in calling plays on both sides of the ball, whom Campbell brings as coordinator will be critical to your success.
After joining the team, one of the first decisions he and Holmes will have to make is about the future of the great receiver Kenny Golladay, who is expected to become a free agent in March, and quarterback Matthew Stafford, whose contract runs through the season. 2022. Campbell may also have to make a decision about a former teammate, longtime fighter Don Muhlbach, who prior to Campbell’s signing had been the team’s last connection to the club without a win in 2008 and is the second most Detroit’s longest running in the team’s history, behind the kicker Jason Hanson.
Campbell has played 10 seasons in the NFL, including the last three years of his career with Lions.
After his playing career ended after a season on the injured reserve with Saints, Campbell started his coaching career at the Miami Dolphins as an intern in 2010 before working to become a tight end coach and then, after Joe Philbin was fired by Miami in 2015, acting coach for the last 12 games of the season.
Campbell did 5-7 with the Dolphins, but did not get the full-time job and instead went to Saints, where he spent the last five seasons under coach Sean Payton. Learning from Payton in case he got another full-time opportunity was part of the reason he went to New Orleans.
“I would say it was number 2 on the list,” Campbell told ESPN’s Mike Triplett in 2018. “Number 1 was I know Sean and I have a story with Sean. So I knew about him as a person and as a coach. So meeting with him meant the world. “
Lions interviewed at least six candidates for the position: the new Atlanta Falcons coach, Arthur Smith, the New York Jets coach, Robert Saleh, the former Cincinnati Bengals coach, Marvin Lewis, the Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator , Eric Bieniemy, the Lions interim coach, Darrell Bevell and Campbell. ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler and Dan Graziano reported that Lions also questioned Iowa State coach Matt Campbell.