Now that the New Orleans Saints have been eliminated from the NFL post-season, the Detroit Lions are expected to appoint Saints assistant head coach / coach Dan Campbell as their next head coach, sources told Adam Schefter, ESPN.
The two parties have yet to work out an agreement, but it is not seen as an obstacle, and Campbell is the head coach the Lions plan to appoint, sources told Schefter.
Campbell replaces Matt Patricia, who was sacked in November after less than three seasons with the franchise and a 13-29-1 record as the club has been trying to finish last in the NFC North for the past three years.
The 44-year-old Campbell, who has never been an NFL coordinator, is considered a motivator and someone who can bring a team together instead of an X-and-O guru. During their search, the Lions looked for people they considered associates because they identified traits that they considered important in building a winner out of a franchise that achieved one playoff winner in the Super Bowl era and their last title in 1993.
“I think leadership and someone who can work with the general manager,” team president Rod Wood said earlier this month. ‘And someone who has experience as a head coach, or you can project the experience as a coordinator to be a head coach, and to really dive into such types of questions.
“Not that we did not do it in search of Matt, but I think I’m trying it differently, hopefully we’ll find the right people.”
Campbell does not have much experience as head coach, but the Lions have seen clearly enough to link him to Brad Holmes, who was recently appointed general manager. Without experience, the game calls on either side of the ball, bringing in Campbell as coordinators will be the key to his success.
After the staff members, the first decisions he and Holmes will have to make are about the future of star receiver Kenny Golladay, who is expected to be a free agent in March, and quarterback Matthew Stafford, whose contract lasts through the 2022 season . . Campbell may also have to make a decision about one former team-mate, long-snapper Don Muhlbach, who before Campbell’s appointment was the team’s last connection to the unbeaten club in 2008 and is Detroit’s second longest player in team history, behind the kicks Jason Hanson. .
Campbell has played ten seasons in the NFL, including the final three years of his career for the Lions.
After ending his playing career after a season on an injured reserve at the Saints, Campbell began his coaching career with the Miami Dolphins as a coach in 2010 before moving on to coach the finish line, and after Joe Philbin through Miami was fired. 2015, interim coach for the last 12 games of that season.
Campbell scored 5-7 with the Dolphins, but did not earn the full-time job and instead ended up with the Saints, where he has spent the past five seasons under coach Sean Payton. Learning under Payton in case he gets a full-time opportunity again was part of the reason he went to New Orleans.
“I would tell you it was number 2 on the list,” Campbell told ESPN’s 2018 Mike Triplett. ‘Nr. 1 was that I know Sean and that I have a history with Sean. That’s why I only knew about him as a person and as a coach. To reunite with him, therefore, meant the world. ‘
The Lions have interviewed at least six candidates for the position: the new coach of the Atlanta Falcons, Arthur Smith, the new New York Jets coach, Robert Saleh, the former Cincinnati Bengals coach, Marvin Lewis, the attack coordinator of Kansas City Chiefs, Eric Bieniemy, the Lions’ interim head coach, Darrell Bevell and Campbell. ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler and Dan Graziano reported that the Lions also inquired with Iowa State coach Matt Campbell.