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“It doesn’t even faze him,” Detroit linebacker Alex Anzalone said. “We were like, ‘What in the world?’ He just kept going like nothing happened.”
When Detroit hired Campbell after the 2020 season, he inherited a team in disarray and a franchise ensconced in failure. The Lions had gone 14-33-1 in their previous three seasons. Their franchise quarterback, Matthew Stafford, had demanded a trade. They had cycled through eight head coaches (plus three interims) over three decades since their last playoff victory.
In the face of every challenge, Campbell just kept going. On Sunday night, Detroit will host a playoff game for the first time since January 1994 — against the Los Angeles Rams and Stafford. With General Manager Brad Holmes’s savvy personnel moves providing a foundation, Campbell has led the Lions to their first division title since 1993, nine years before the formation of the NFC North.
As he transformed the Lions from perennial cannon fodder to ascendant Super Bowl aspirant, Campbell has become one of the NFL’s main characters: the hulking, goateed, overcaffeinated former tight end who extolled biting kneecaps at his introductory news conference and leads the league in emotional postgame locker room speeches.
The men who play for Campbell do not deny the truth in his reputation. But they also absorb the substance beneath his persona. Campbell’s defining trait may be that he cannot help being his genuine self at all times. “What you see when he’s interacting with the media, people are like, ‘Oh, he said this — ha ha, so funny,’ ” Lions left tackle Taylor Decker said. “But that’s genuinely how he is. That’s how he talks. That’s how he acts.”
Campbell has turned around the Lions with overlooked football intellect, unwavering authenticity and profound belief in himself. His 10 years of NFL playing experience allow him to relate to players. His consistency allows him to maintain authority.
“He creates that feeling that he’s a teammate of yours,” defensive lineman John Cominsky said. “You know he’s the coach, but he’s like that fiery teammate. He makes everybody buy in because everybody wants to kill for that guy and play for that guy and get wins for that guy.”