After leading the Lions to the divisional round of the playoffs, Dan Campbell is the talk of Detroit, but he recalls a time when some doubters had their doubts about him because of his poor start. And it makes him appreciate the folks who supported what he was doing even more.
On Friday, Campbell stated that in 2021, during his first season as coach, when Brad Holmes was the team’s general manager and Jared Goff had just taken over as the starting quarterback for the Lions from Matthew Stafford, a lot of people had said things like, “I’m not a very good coach, he’s not a very good quarterback, and Brad’s not a very good evaluator of talent.”
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Even though the Lions didn’t win their first game under Campbell’s leadership until his 12th game, he claimed to have learned a lot about Goff and a few other key players because they never gave up on what he was attempting to do.
“I know that during the time when all of that was coming to light, that’s about as bad as it gets, and he never got flustered by it,” Campbell remarked of Gof
You can’t listen to all that.” That is very remarkable. When everything is going well, you’re winning games, and men are smitten with you and want to be involved, it’s simple. When you’re 0-10-1, you learn about the players, coaches, and other individuals inside the club. Because of this, you have the clearest understanding of those individuals’ personalities, motivations, and willingness to help those around them. That’s a much more optimistic perspective than when things are going very well and you’ve won twelve games. When things are at their worst, I know precisely who [Goff] is, and I’ll pick that man above anybody else.
After leading the Lions to 21 victories in his first 24 games as head coach, Campbell is now 21-7. It’s been an incredible journey, and he is grateful to others in the building who shared his belief.
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