The Detroit Lions were one of the standout teams last season in the NFL; however, a tough loss at Ford Field against the Commanders marked the end of their Super Bowl dream. For this reason, head coach Dan Campbell made a thoughtful reflection looking ahead to what’s to come.
Although a defeat can bring great disappointment to a team, especially when it takes away the chance to reach a final, the Lions’ head coach prefers to use the experience as a lesson and avoid repeating certain mistakes in the upcoming season.
“You go right into it. You don’t have time to really digest all those things of the last game,” Campbell said to the press. “But what I do know is you got to be careful. If you come out of it, and you say, man, ‘What’s wrong? What’s wrong with us?’ We did it right. We had 15 wins in a season. We played bad at the wrong time, so (we’ll be) careful tweaking things. You know, what you got is good enough. We’ve just got to play better in that moment, but it also means we can’t stay the same.”
Detroit was one of the standout teams last season, winning the NFC North and coming very close to reaching the Super Bowl. With some changes to their roster, they hope to repeat and even improve on their results this upcoming season.
Head coach Dan Campbell of the Detroit Lions looks on during the first quarter against the Washington Commanders in the NFC Divisional Playoff at Ford Field on January 18, 2025 in Detroit, Michigan.
Campbell’s experience as an interim coach
Dan Campbell’s relevance in the league didn’t come overnight. It all began back in 2015, when he was named interim head coach of the Miami Dolphins, marking his first steps in this position in the NFL.
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“I guess I’m just a whisperer,” Campbell said. “Things worked out that it just kind of — look, I would have never been in this position had I not become an interim head coach. I don’t think I’m sitting here had that not happened. You get 12 games in-season of experience. That was critical to me. That was one of those weird, odd-ball situations. It was actually unfortunate because people were losing their jobs. I think you make the most of it, and people take notice, and then it goes from there.“
The following year, the Lions HC joined the New Orleans Saints, who were then led by the experienced coach Sean Payton. It was there that he honed his skills, shaping himself into one of the best motivators in the NFL today.
“When you’re in that, you go to the interim (spot), you don’t know what you don’t know,” Campbell said. “And then when you’re exposed to it, you know what questions to ask. You know what to look for. So when I go with Sean, that’s all I’m looking for.”
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