Despite leading one of the most inspiring turnarounds in recent sports memory with the Detroit Lions, head coach Dan Campbell continues to land way farther down coach rankings than he should.
Campbell, who just led the Lions to a 15-2 regular season record in 2024 despite several brutal injuries to their starting defense, has found himself below coaches like Sean Payton of the Denver Broncos, Sean McVay of the Los Angeles Rams, and Kyle Shanahan of the San Francisco 49ers in PFF's latest ranking of returning coaches in the NFL season.
Campbell lands in the ninth spot - out of ten - and just eeks out a win over Cleveland Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski. That feels pretty brutal for someone who, again, has such respect in his locker room and has helped to launch a core of young draftees into stardom with the Lions.
"Campbell’s biggest challenge this season will be coping with the losses of coordinators Ben Johnson and Aaron Glenn, but he has proven that he can lead the Lions out of any abyss," wrote Dalton Wasserman in his justification for this ranking.
It remains to be seen what, exactly, Campbell could've done more between "reviving Jared Goff's career," finding a way to "flip the switch," leading the team to win "35 of their past 44 regular-season games," which has all led to the team ranking second in their PFF grade in the league on offense and a formidable defense that is only getting healthier as we inch closer to the 2025 season.
Campbell ranked fairly low in latest coaching ranking
Maybe Campbell isn't a flashy offensive mind like Shanahan or McVay, nor has he led his team to the promised land like Nick Sirianni or Andy Reid have in recent years. But, he's obviously come in with a goal in mind and executed it to the highest level possible - he wanted to instill a brand new, hard nosed, gritty, and loving culture in Detroit, and it's obvious that's happened.
Despite this ranking, it's clearly possible for him to leap frog over...any one of the coaches above him. If the defense, led by a healthy Aidan Hutchinson, Kerby Joseph, and Brian Branch, can help carry an already-elite offense through the postseason once and for all, Campbell will be able to showcase exactly why Detroit has dominated the NFC North the last few seasons.
