The annual coaches’ photo is here for everyone to analyze and scrutinize, maybe even judge. There was much to discuss this time around. Like how they sat Jim Harbaugh right next to his new-old rival, Pete Carroll. But Rob Gronkowski and Julian Edelman chose to focus on Dan Campbell.
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Campbell — the NFL coaching roster’s musclehead — is a fit man. He never stopped working out and even at nearly 50, looks like he could crush a watermelon with his bare hands. The Detroit Lions head coach had once revealed his workout routine: “I have a little gym at home where I work out. But I also do intense power workouts in the shower. It’s freeing.”
Campbell added that he avoids working out at the team’s facility to prevent his players from teasing him. Nevertheless, seeing the photo, Gronk and Edelman were mighty impressed. While Edelman found him “jacked”, Gronkowski took things a step further.
“He looks like a linebacker, kind of like a defensive end and linebacker combined,” Gronk said on the Dudes on Dudes podcast.
Campbell, who spent 10 years in the NFL as a tight end, was 6-foot-5, 265 lbs during his playing days. He has maintained his physique.
Going by the way he looks, his fitness routine has possibly remained as intense after his retirement. For these reasons, Campbell is the only coach who would scare Edelman “in a potential fight” against Mike Vrabel.
Vrabel suited up for three teams — New England Patriots, Kansas City Chiefs, and Pittsburgh Steelers — across 14 seasons. Listed at 6-foot-4, 261 lbs., he was a key cog in the Pats’ first three Super Bowl victories (2001, 2003-04).
While Campbell and Vrabel may be standouts among NFL coaches when it comes to fitness levels, most of those in charge of the teams now are fit in their own right.
Gronkowski misses “fat coaches”
Over time, the NFL has become an offensive-oriented product. And slowly but surely, this has trickled into the league’s coaching ranks. Bill Belichick’s gruff nature and Mike Tomlin’s motivational leadership have mostly fallen out of favor.
In their place, offensive scheme artists — the likes of Sean McVay, Kyle Shanahan, and Kevin O’Connell — have taken over.
While offense is the name of the game, fit, athletic coaches are also in style. That was one of Gronkowski’s initial takeaways from the coaches’ photo. And it’s a trend he wished didn’t exist.
“You want to know what’s a disappointment? These coaches are starting to get in shape now, man. They’re looking like they’ve been working out with the players,” said Gronkowski.
“Actually looking like they go and lift some weights… we need coaches to get fat again… when they’re fat and overweight, that means they’re the best out there,” he added.
For a long time, Andy Reid fit this bill. He has slimmed down in recent years. With his weight loss came three Super Bowl victories.
That track record could be somewhat attributed to Patrick Mahomes, but it also contradicts Gronk’s theory. Regardless, he has a supporter in the “Make Coaches Fat Again” movement: Barstool Sports’ Dan ‘Big Cat’ Katz.
Big Cat was one of the first internet personalities to provide an in-depth analysis of the league’s coaches’ picture. His March 30 blog on the topic was his 12th such post. And in his writing, he lamented the NFL’s dissipation of heftier coaches.
“My only issue is that this is the direction the league is going… I don’t want the whole league to become a hot guy club,” wrote Big Cat.
There don’t seem to be many prospective up-and-coming coaches in the mold Gronkowski and Katz desire. Unless some relatively unknown candidates make waves, we could soon see a world without a bulky head coach.
