After 32 years in a playoff drought, the Lions have finally made it past the wild-card round. The team and the fanbase are more pumped than ever. At the heart of it stands HC Dan Campbell, delivering the first playoff win since 1991 to Detroit. The utter respect and reverence his players hold for him is proof of just how instrumental he has been in guiding the boys till here.
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Aidan Hutchinson, star DE, sat down for an exclusive interview with NFL on NBC’s Mike Tirico and had a simple answer to Tirico’s question about Dan Campbell. What makes him a great head coach? “He gets it.” Hutchinson believes that it’s Campbell’s ability to be able to relate to the players that help him connect with them. He said,
“I think Dan has this reliability with the players that not many coaches have and you know I’ve played around a lot of coaches that were former players but I feel like Dan, Dan gets it. He gets it and just to have him in every team meeting just talking to us, giving us what he thinks, his advice and information is just so valuable to all of us.”
Campbell’s relatability is not new news. When he stormed the presser after the Lions’ loss to the Cowboys in December and explained his frustration with a “I don’t like to lose, Ok?” surely his players related to him. He almost nabbed the HC position in Miami after just six seasons as TE Coach. Former executive VP of football operations Mike Tannenbaum for the phins, credited this to his relatability, saying,
“He has unbelievable relatability. He has a unique ability to talk to an owner, and then the backup corner at the same time.”
“And he’s been nothing but great ever since we got here. I mean, even when we were one and six last year, he hasn’t changed you know and that’s what I appreciate the most about him.”
The Lions HC might’ve been cool when they were one and six, but doubters were one and plenty. Doubters in Campbell’s abilities, doubters of Goff’s abilities. And Campbell wants nothing to do with them.
Too Late to Jump on the Dan Campbell Train?
Motor City Dan Campbell is beyond proud of his team. The team, just making it to the playoffs, had 66000 fans fill up Ford Field on Sunday against the Rams. While Cambell is happy to see the charged atmosphere in Detroit, he’s not willing to let the bandwagoners get in on the fun. He told MMQB:
“Our fans took it to another level today, and it helped us win! To those fans who have kept the faith, you deserve this! To the doubters, stay off our train—it’s too late for you!”
