With an 11-1 record and a 10-game winning streak, the Detroit Lions are No. 1 in any NFL power rankings you'll see heading into Week 14. Head coach Dan Campbell is among the favorites for Coach of the Year, even if it feels like he won't win simply because the Lions have met expectations this season.
We never go long without hearing some sort of interesting story about Campbell directly from a Lions' player. At 6-foot-5 and 250 (?) pounds, he looks the part of a former player and if he wants to look or be intimidating he surely can.
Last month, kicker Jakes Bates revealed what seems to be a regular thing during practice regarding simulating a stressful situation that could happen in a game.
"There’s been a couple things he’s done," Bates said. "He’ll get super close and just stare at me. He’s a big dude, obviously, he's got his hands on his knees, staring at me."
That is quite a mental picture.
Power rankings writer creates weirdly appropriate label for Dan Campbell
Connor Orr of Sports Illustrated has the Lions at No. 1 in his NFL power rankings heading into Week 14. Using the recent situation with Jahmyr Gibbs' social media post as the starting point, he dedicated his paragraph to a vibe he feels Campbell carries.
"I feel like Dan Campbell is both the absolute best and worst coach to have when you accidentally post your team’s offensive code words on social media. On one hand, he’s saying that it doesn’t matter which is cool and it takes the heat off your back. On the other hand, you have one of the league’s most mysteriously scary coaches in the NFL. Center Frank Ragnow once told me that what’s weird about Campbell is that he’s always at the facility, he’s always jacked and no one has ever seen him work out. You don’t want that guy mad at you."
-Connor Orr, SI.com
As Orr noted, he put the situation with Gibbs' social media post to bed quickly. But he also clearly was not happy when he was told about it by a reporter, and behind the scenes it's a fair bet he bluntly told Gibbs so before the two ending up joking about it.
Campbell is unique among his NFL head coaching brethren, rarely engaging in "coach speak" outside of being understandably vague about injuries at times. "Mysteriously scary" now sneaks into the vernacular to describe the Lions' head coach, and it strangely rings true somehow.
