With the New Orleans Saints eliminated from the NFL postseason, the Detroit Lions are expected to hire Saints assistant head coach / tight-end coach Dan Campbell as their next head coach, sources told ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
The two sides have yet to work out a deal, but it’s not considered an obstacle, and Campbell is the head coach the Lions want to hire, sources told Schefter.
Campbell replaces Matt Patricia, who was fired in November after less than three seasons with the franchise and a record of 13-29-1, as the club tries to reset from last place in the NFC North in the past three years.
Campbell, 44, who has never been a coordinator in the NFL, is seen as a motivator and someone who can bring a team together rather than an X-and-O’s guru. The Lions were looking for people they considered unifying in their search as they identified qualities they considered important to build a winner from a franchise that took one playoff win in the Super Bowl era and its final division title. claimed in 1993.
“I think leadership and someone who can work with the general manager,” said team chairman Rod Wood earlier this month. “And someone who has had experience as a head coach or you can turn that experience as a coordinator into a head coach, and really dive into those kinds of questions.
“Not that we didn’t do that when looking for Matt, but I think we’re trying to do it differently, hopefully we’ll find the right people.”
Campbell doesn’t have much experience as a head coach, but the Lions clearly saw enough to pair him up with recently hired general manager Brad Holmes. Having no experience calling plays on either side of the ball, which Campbell brings in as coordinators, will be paramount to his success.
One of the first decisions he and Holmes will have to make after deploying staff concerns the future of star-wide receiver Kenny Golladay, who will become a free agent in March, and quarterback Matthew Stafford, whose contract runs through the 2022 season. . Campbell may also need to make a decision on a former teammate, Don Muhlbach, who was the team’s last connection to the 2008 winless club before Campbell’s appointment and is the second-longest regular player in Detroit team history, after kicker Jason Hanson. .
Campbell played 10 seasons in the NFL, including the last three years of his career for the Lions.
After his playing career ended after a season in the injured reserve with the Saints, Campbell began his coaching career with the Miami Dolphins as a coaching trainee in 2010 before working his way up to coach and then, after Joe Philbin was fired by Miami in 2015, interim coach for the last 12 games of that season.
Campbell went 5-7 with the Dolphins but didn’t earn the full-time job and instead ended up with the Saints, where he spent the past five seasons under coach Sean Payton. Learning under Payton in case he got another full-time chance was part of the reason he went to New Orleans.
“I would tell you that was No. 2 on the list,” Campbell told ESPN’s Mike Triplett in 2018. “No. 1 was that I know Sean and I have a history with Sean. So I just knew him as a person and as a coach. So to be reunited with him, that meant all.”
The Lions interviewed at least six candidates for the job: new Atlanta Falcons coach Arthur Smith, new New York Jets coach Robert Saleh, former Cincinnati Bengals coach Marvin Lewis, Kansas City Chiefs attack coordinator Eric Bieniemy, Lions interim head coach Darrell Bevell and Campbell. ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler and Dan Graziano reported that the Lions also made inquiries with Iowa State coach Matt Campbell.