Dan Campbell is going into his fourth season as head coach of the Detroit Lions, and even with the team making it to the NFC Championship last season, Campbell knows he and his staff have room for improvement.
Campbell says that when it comes to his coaching strategy, he uses training camp as an opportunity to grow as a coach and put himself and his players into the same kind of “difficult decisions” that can make or break a game.
Dan Campbell on Fabricating ‘Difficult Decisions’ During Training Camp
“You try to fabricate as many difficult decisions that you can put your team in and yourself because that’s what’s happening inevitably,” Campbell said via an August 22 feature from the Detroit Free Press. “I’ve said this before — it’s one thing to set them up, think through it (and say) here’s the possibilities.”
He added, “But then you have one of these where it’s 40 seconds left, minus-40, no timeouts, and you play it out and now all of the sudden, you’re in it. You’re not quite to that point yet until you are absolutely in it.”
The Lions use part of their daily practices to fabricate make-or-break game situations. Campbell says it’s during these moments that players and coaches have to “live it” and treat the moment like it’s a real game.
“The players need to live it,” Campbell said, specially referring to the Lions’ Saturday, August 17 preseason game against the Kansas City Chiefs, in which the team pulled off a last-minute win. “Like, (Hendon) Hooker needs to live it. I need to live it. Ben (Johnson) needs to live it. And those make you better. So, as many of those as you can fabricate, I think that makes you a much sharper, much more prepared coach.”
Campbell also discussed how having a consistent coaching staff has helped make the Lions stronger going into the new season. Of course, both Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson and defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn are back this season.
“So once you’ve done it long enough and been with these people long enough, been with these coordinators, then you flow pretty efficiently,” Campbell said.
Detroit Lions’ Coaching Staff Get Respect in the NFL
Going into the new season, PFF ranks Campbell the No. 7 best head coach in the league.
“As a head coach, Campbell has gone from the guy everyone laughed at for the comments about biting kneecaps to the guy who has turned the Detroit Lions franchise into a legitimate Super Bowl contender,” Gordon McGuinness of PPF.com writes. “He, along with offensive coordinator Ben Johnson, has helped revitalize Jared Goff’s career. The former No. 1 overall pick enjoyed the highest-graded season of his career with an 85.7 PFF grade last year. Campbell’s next step is getting the Lions to the Super Bowl, but you wouldn’t bet against them doing that sooner rather than later.”
ESPN released an NFL coaching ranking on Thursday, August 22, in which writer Ben Solak names Detroit’s coaching staff the second-best in the NFL. The Lions’ coaching staff was only behind the Kansas City Chiefs‘ staff.
