After the Detroit Lions appointed Dan Campbell as their next head coach, the staff he would build around him was the biggest concern among many. Campbell’s opinion was reasonable or not that he was not a schematic coach, and therefore needed brilliant thoughts to surround him with if the Lions had a chance to keep up with today’s NFL.
He has silenced many of the doubters by appointing a staff full of coaches who even praise some national experts:
I appreciate what the @Lions do with their front office and coaching rent. They have a collection of former # NFL players to rebuild the program. Chris Spielman, Ray Agnew, Dan Campbell, Anthony Lynn, Duce Staley & Aaron Glenn study from field to FO / coaching ❤️
– Bucky Brooks (@BuckyBrooks) 27 January 2021
Lions gathering a hell of a staff
– Emmanuel Acho (@EmmanuelAcho) 27 January 2021
When Lions president Rod Wood introduced Campbell to the media a few weeks ago, he said part of the reason he was appointed was because Mickey Loomis, Saints’ general manager, told Wood that ‘coaches to Detroit are going to run his staff. ”
That, in fact, seems to be the case. But how did Campbell do it?
In several one-on-one interviews with local media, Campbell explained his process.
First, it was about criteria, which simplified Campbell to two essential assets: a first-class coach and a first-class person. It cannot be one or the other. It had to be both.
“I swore up and down that I would not go. “When I get back in this seat, I refused, even though he’s an excellent person, of whom I know a lot, an excellent person who coaches, but he’s an average coach. News said. ‘This is how you create average players. These would be top-level people who were top coaches across the board. ”
And while there were some jobs that stemmed from Campbell’s personal history – defense coordinator Aaron Glenn, who coached him in New Orleans, Dave Fipp, the special teams’ coordinator, overlapped in Miami – the new Lions head coach made sure he went outside to reach out for his own bubble.
“I refused to hire my friends who are average coaches or the man I owe, but an average coach but an excellent person, because that’s how you become average,” Campbell told ESPN.
It turned out that Campbell favored former NFL players in his coaching staff. Running coach Duce Staley, offensive coordinator Anthony Lynn, Glenn and former offensive coordinator Hank Fraley have all had long careers. But this trend in renting is coincidental, according to Campbell.
“I did not write ‘I only get ex-players’ or’ Find as many (as many) ex-players as you can ”, Campbell told Detroit News. “I really did not go into the process. I honestly did not think so. ”
Regardless of his thought process, the Lions have undoubtedly scored some coaches who have been very popular elsewhere. Fraley interviewed two other teams before choosing to stay in Detroit. Glenn was a coach who had a head coaching conversation with the Jets just a few weeks before the Lions hired him. And Duce Staley was one of the most popular coaches out there after asking the Eagles for permission to leave after changing their own coaching. Campbell jumps right away.
” Another thing I know, someone said, seems like Duce can get out of there, like Chicago, so I’m ‘Hey, Duce. “Duce, I thought you were staying,” Campbell told ESPN. “I followed him and he was all on board. He wanted to be here. He wanted to be something special. ”
The Lions’ coaching staff looks solid on paper, and Detroit’s process looks much more thorough than previous seasons. We’ll see if it can finally be translated as winning on the field.