Dan Campbell to Detroit Lions, Brandon Staley to Los Angeles Chargers, more

Seven NFL teams have fired their head coaches in this cycle – three during the 2020 season and four after the regular season – and now the first appointments of 2021 have been confirmed.

The Jacksonville Jaguars took advantage of former college coach Urban Meyer, who was announced as the new coach. The New York Jets have announced that they have reached an agreement to appoint former San Francisco 49ers defense coordinator Robert Saleh. The Atlanta Falcons have reached an agreement with former Tennessee Titans offensive coordinator Arthur Smith. The Los Angeles Chargers have hired former Los Angeles Rams defense coordinator Brandon Staley. And the Detroit Lions named Dan Campbell, former assistant to the New Orleans Saints, as their coach.

How did the Lions, Chargers, Falcons, Jaguars and Jets fare with their rent? We asked ESPN national NFL writers Dan Graziano and Jeremy Fowler to discuss each step and give their points, with the most recent top point.

Jump to a team:
Lions | Chargers
Valke | Jaguars | Jets

Background: Assistant Head Coach and Coach for New Orleans Saints (2016-2020); tighthead coach for Miami Dolphins (2011-15)

Graziano: Campbell had some experience with head coaching when he was the Dolphins’ interim coach for the last 12 games of the 2015 season after the dismissal of Joe Philbin, and he got the mistake. He has since been on Sean Payton’s staff in New Orleans and is eager to get another chance for the big job. Campbell, a former NFL team who played for the Giants, Cowboys and Lions for ten years, has a fiery personality and high energy as a coach – anyone who remembers his news conferences when he had the job in Miami knows this. al. Five years of apprenticeship under Payton could only have helped, I would think. Definitely an excessive hire from the Lions, but how can you argue with a team in their situation to try something non-traditional?