After the Detroit Lions hired Dan Campbell as their next coach, the biggest concern among many was the team he would form around him. Rightly or not, Campbell’s perception was that he was not a schematic trainer and therefore needed brilliant minds to surround himself with if Lions had a chance to follow today’s NFL.
He has silenced many of those who doubt it by hiring a team full of coaches that even some national experts are praising:
I appreciate what the @Lions are doing with their front office and coaching hires. They put together a collection of old #NFL players to rebuild the program. Chris Spielman, Ray Agnew, Dan Campbell, Anthony Lynn, Duce Staley and Aaron Glenn graduated in the field for FO / coaching ❤️
– Bucky Brooks (@BuckyBrooks) January 27, 2021
Lions assembling an amazing team
– Emmanuel I think (@EmmanuelAcho) January 27, 2021
When Lions team president Rod Wood introduced Campbell to the media a few weeks ago, he said that part of the reason he was hired was because Wood was informed by Saints general manager Mickey Loomis that “coaches are going to run to Detroit and want to get your team in. ”
That seems to have been the case, in fact. But how did Campbell do that?
In two individual interviews with the local media, Campbell explained his process.
First, these were criteria, which Campbell simplified into two essential assets: a first-rate trainer and a first-rate person. It couldn’t be one or the other. It had to be both.
“I swore from top to bottom that I wouldn’t go, if I sat down in this place again, I refused, even though he is a remarkable person, which I know many, a remarkable person who trains, but he is an average trainer, I will not do that” , Campbell told Detroit News. “This is how you create average players. These would be first-rate people, first-rate coaches, across the board. “
And while there were some hires that came from Campbell’s personal history – defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn trained with him in New Orleans, special team coordinator Dave Fipp joined him in Miami – the new Lions head coach made sure he it would reach out to its own bubble.
“I refused to hire my friends who are average coaches or the guy I owe, but he is an average coach, but an exceptional human being, because that’s how you become average,” Campbell told ESPN.
It became clear that Campbell favored former NFL players on his coaching staff. Running back coach Duce Staley, offensive coordinator Anthony Lynn, Glenn and the former remaining offensive coordinator of the regime, Hank Fraley, have had long careers as a player. But this hiring trend is just a coincidence, for Campbell.
“I didn’t write ‘I’m just getting ex-players’ or ‘Find as many ex-players as I can,'” Campbell told Detroit News. “I didn’t really get into that process. Honestly, I didn’t think that way. “
Regardless of their thinking process, Lions undoubtedly got some coaches who were in high demand elsewhere. Fraley interviewed two other teams before choosing to stay in Detroit. Glenn was a coach who made an appointment as the Jets’ head coach just a few weeks before the Lions signed him. And Duce Staley was one of the most coveted coaches after asking the Eagles for permission to leave after their own coach changes. Campbell immediately attacked.
“The next thing I know, someone said, it looks like Duce can get out of there, like Chicago, so I’m like, ‘Hey, Duce. Duce, I thought you were going to stay, ‘”Campbell told ESPN. “So I went after him and he agreed. He wanted to be here. He wanted to be something special. “
The Lions technical team looks solid on paper, and the Detroit process looks much more complete than in previous seasons. We will see if that eventually translates into victories on the pitch.