LIONS DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR KELVIN SHEPPARD TRAINING CAMP DAY 4 QUOTE SHEET
July 24, 2025
Opening Statement: “I kind of want to open up today by saying – like, I want to give credit to the players. I know we’re early in training camp right now, but I wanted this to get out there, I’m not sure if anybody was going to ask me this, but these guys have bought in 110 percent to the culture that we as a defensive staff have brought here this spring. We talk about relentless effort, finishing on the ball, trying to force more negative plays, turnovers and things like that, and these guys have been all in. I know we’re only three practices in, but I think the effort, the finish, have been absolutely outstanding.”
On where he is at with his secondary and linebacker groups: “I believe that’s the strength of not only the defense, but that’s one of the deepest spots on the team. We talk about our secondary and the corner position, that’s going to be a luxury to us this season as far as moving people around, being able to create different matchups that we want to dictate, not what the offense is trying to dictate. And these guys are growing, (Lions CB) Terrion Arnold took a huge leap, in my opinion, this offseason. He progressed during his rookie year, but he’s come in, not only this offseason but this training camp, looking like a different guy. His body’s more developed, but also from the neck up, the mental aspect of the game. He’s seeing it faster. He’s feeling the routes faster. So that’s a guy I’ve already seen the leap in. I’ve been anxiously looking forward to (Lions CB Ennis) Rakestraw getting back out there, because he’s a guy in the spring that you saw taking that next step as well. But with guys like (Lions CB) D.J. Reed, (Lions CB) Amik Roberston leading that crew, showing him how to work, showing him how it’s done, I think we’re headed in the right direction.”
On Lions LB Jack Campbell taking ownership of the defense: “I think you look back last year, late last year, when (Lions LB) Alex (Anzalone) ran into the forearm issue, and the injury that he sustained at the backend of the year, I think you started to see it there. Jack’s a big physical presence in the huddle and on the field, and guys feel him. I think he started to take over that level of accountability this spring with Alex being out of the way with his family or what-not, dealing with his deal. I think you saw Jack step forward. I’ve had the honor of coaching Jack since he was drafted. Jack’s a player, out of everybody, he’s never had any other voice in his head. He knows what I’m thinking, we’re in lock-step with one another, and we spend a lot of time together, quite frankly. I wanted to open up that healthy kind of door communication, let him know this is system, because you to have to give ownership to the players out here, just like coaches on the coaching staff have to give ownership to their coaches. So guys feel like we’re all in this together, and when you’re just barking, preaching, do this, do that at someone, that stuff gets old after a while. You have to give people a pedestal to go out and make it their own, and he’s done that and he’s taking accountability.”
On his philosophy on blitzing and being aggressive on defense: “It’s very important. We’re going to be aggressive. I think guys who have been around here since I came know I’m an aggressive guy. My mentality is to get after you, play-in and play-out. But also, you have to be calculated. There has to be a ‘why’ behind it. But more importantly, the players have to understand the ‘why’ behind. Why I’m asking them to do certain things. You have to make it all look the same. Pre-snap looks versus post-snap reads and things like that. Like I said, these guys are bought in so the more they can handle, the more we’ll do.”
On the reality of stepping into his role as defensive coordinator: “I want to give credit to (Lions Head Coach) Dan Campbell and (former Lions Defensive Coordinator) Aaron Glenn, because it’s exactly what I thought it would be. I’m humbly saying that. I don’t feel overwhelmed, I got asked by somebody close to me yesterday, ‘Do you feel overwhelmed? Do you feel discomfort?’ I’ve never felt that, and that’s a blessing to be able to say that in my first year, in my first six months of doing this. I credit my staff for that. When you look down the row of my staff, I see everybody from guys who’ve been around me 20 years and was my roommate in college. That’s (Lions Defensive Assistant) August Mangin, (Lions Defensive Quality Control) Caleb Collins I coached with at LSU and worked close with, to guys who’ve coached me. (Lions Senior Defensive Assistant/Outside Linebackers Coach) Dave Corrao, (Lions Run Game Coordinator/Defensive Line Coach) Kacy Rodgers, to guys I’ve watched while I was playing, (Lions Defensive Assistant/Safeties Coach) Jim O’Neil, (Lions Passing Game Coordinator/Defensive Backs Coach) Deshea Townsend. So it’s not like it’s a rookie staff by any means. Two guys on my staff are former coordinators, and it’s an open floor. I told the players the other day in the defensive unit meeting, this isn’t my stuff I’m saying. This is our stuff. I’m not ever going to stand up here and say I’m some genius guru and I invented football. I have allowed my staff to have ownership in their respective positions. I allow input from everyone, from top to bottom. If there’s a why behind it, it’s going in. These guys know that, so I think that allows them to work harder. The trust is there, there’s no looking over your shoulder. I don’t have to go in position rooms and wonder what’s being said. I know it’s one voice. When you have that level of comfortability within your staff, I’m able to do more of my coordinator stuff versus looking over people’s shoulders. So, I just want to give a lot of credit to my staff.”
On what fans can expect from the defensive unit this season: “We should be playing at a high level. And for me to say anything else is unacceptable, and my players know that, it’s a standard here. It’s been set before, and we’re raising that bar. We want to play at a high level on defense. I told the room my first kind of speech to them, I’m not setting any goals, expectations, or any of that stuff. I know the makeup of the room, and I truly believe if we attack every day and if we improve – but you got to be in a race to improve, you can’t just be cliché and coach speak – a race to improve every day, I think we can turn into a dominate unit. But it’s a lot of things in between now and when you get to that September point that we have to progress. It’s development, it’s learning curves, and everybody’s on a different arc of the curve. You have guys like (Lions EGDGE) Aidan Hutchinson who’s been at this thing, and I told him. He’s trying to put himself in a position to have an all-pro year. Then you have a guy like (Lions EDGE) Ahmed (Hassanein) who I’m extremely excited about, but he’s just trying to figure out what’s the A, B, and C gap. So it’s different guys on the curve, and us as coaches, it’s our job to meet those guys exactly where they’re at and make sure everybody’s at that bar where the Aidan’s, where the (Lions DB) Brian Branch’s and all these guys are expected to be.”
On how much easier it is to give the players ownership with a more developed roster: “I wouldn’t say it’s never easy, because when you do that, it has to be a level of trust there. Before you can have a level of trust, it has to be a level of honesty. I tell these guys my three pillars, honesty, trust, accountability. Can’t have one without the other. I think it starts with being honest, having open dialogue within the room. That’s not calling people out to pick on somebody or somebody laughing, making fun of. It’s a learning environment, it’s healthy when you’re honest, open, everybody can walk in their own shoes, be exactly who they are. You see growth and development. I’ll repeat this, not only with players but with coaches. I’m seeing that, and once I see that as a coach, that’s when that door opens and you start to get freedom, you start to give leeway whether they mess up or not. You have the open door there so they feel comfortable to go do it, then you can correct it after the fact.”
On Lions EDGE Nate Lynn: “Tremendous athlete. A lot of tools, a lot of gifts. Our front office did a tremendous job a year ago going out and finding him. He’s a phenomenal player – he’s built for the city, but it’s about going out and doing it. You know you can flash, that’s a word you use, and it’s something I told him outright front, you flashed a lot, but I’m not looking for flash. I’m looking for consistency down in and down out. You have to earn the right to be able to flash those pass rushes, and how do you do it? By first, second down setting hard edges, showing that you can play big in the run game, and then affording yourself those situational situations where he can go and flash. He has juice, and he definitely has athleticism, and I’m looking forward to seeing him in live action this preseason.”
On if Lions EDGE Ahmed Hassanein has started to reach early developmental milestones: “Absolutely, I’m excited for him to put the pads on. I don’t think his game could be seen until the pads are on. With the way he plays, the mentality he plays with, the effort he plays with, he’s everything we’re about here. Like I said, it’s just that development piece to learn and curve. That’s why I don’t want people to start saying, ‘Is he the answer?’ Guys, this guy is a rookie. He just started playing football six years ago, he just learned the English language six, seven years ago, so let’s not turn this guy into Lawrence Taylor or something like that. He’s a rookie, he’s on the developmental swing, but he’s been afforded the opportunity to work with one of the best, if not the best in the League in my opinion in (Lions Run Game Coordinator/Defensive Line Coach) Kacy Rodgers and I’m already seeing it. I saw it in the spring, but that guy’s all in. Whatever his potential is, I’m able to reach it because he’s going to work at it that way.”
On Lions Linebackers Coach Shaun Dion Hamilton: “That’s been the hardest thing for me to not step in during individual and all that, but again, Shaun Dion Hamilton, I’ll repeat this. First things first, he is a freaking genius. When I coached him as a player, he knew every spot. He literally reminds me of myself, and I say that all the time. It’s not a cliché or anything, but it’s like I’m watching myself all over again. Like when I coached him as a player, I’m like, ‘You should coach.’ It’s hard for you to get to that outside zone there, come on over here on my side. He took that advice, and I mean, he’s running with it. He’s off to a fast start. The room respects him. Early in spring, he’s like, ‘Shep, it’s weird. These guys are saying yessir and no sir.’ I’m like, it’s because they respect you. That’s not because they think you’re their peer, he’s younger than some of the room, but that’s because there’s a level of respect there. And the way he works, it’s the way he grinds, the guys have seen him in the locker room as a peer, and now they see him in an authoritative figure, and it’s tremendous. I’m looking forward to the growth, just like the players. There’s going to be growing pains with myself, there’s going to be growing pains with Ham. But there’s no one else I would rather have as my linebackers coach.”
On Lions EDGE Aidan Hutchinson’s progress post-injury: “Listen, I’m not saying anything about numbers, statistics, any of that. But I see a better player than we had last year. You might be like, ‘Woah.’ That’s the same thing I said when I saw him out there. I’m like, woah. But if you know Hutch, which all of you do, and the way he works, the way he attacked his rehab, a week after the surgery he’s in here trying to work out and things like that. It’s no surprise. Now it’s about going out in live action. Getting those hits, taking those blows, building those mental pieces back to where it’s not a, ‘Oh, watch out for this and that’ moment. In live action, you can only build that throughout training camp with the pads on, live reps when we do have that setting here. The joint practices will be really good for Hutch, going against a foreign opponent where you don’t kind of know, and it’s not as controlled and things like that. But I see a better player, quite frankly, and I’m looking for Hutch to have a big season and he’s one of the pillars of the defense.”
On the importance of being aggressive with the ball: “Like I said, you guys know I’ve been here for four years, so I’ve seen it. I mean, I was one of those position coaches yelling at my room, we need to get the ball back. And when you turn on the tape this spring in the self scout, some guys stuck out. (Lions CB) Amik (Robertson), (Lions DB) Brian Branch, (Lions LB) Jack Campbell, but I told the defense, guys shouldn’t stick out. It should be the opposite. You should be the anomaly if you’re not touching the ball, if you’re not finishing on the ball. I call it biting the football every play. That guy should stick out. It shouldn’t be three guys sticking out because they’re finishing on the ball, so that kind of has been the mindset. Again, that’s why I wanted to start the presser because I’m nothing without the players. Say what you want, I could have all these fancy ideas, yada yada yada. I’m nothing without those guys, and those guys have to believe in me, just like I have to believe in them. It’s clear to me on tape that those guys believe in what I’m saying, they believe in what we’re doing. I mean, it’s phenomenal. The first three days of practice, like I said (Lions Special Assistant to President/CEO and Chairperson Chris) Spielman came up to me and said, ‘I haven’t seen that violent intent on the football around here in four years.’ And you know what, that doesn’t mean that we get to take three days off here. That needs to uptick now. We need to turn into a pack of wild dogs when people turn on our tape, they know, you better tuck the ball and you better get down if the defense is around you.”
On making sure players are not being too aggressive without pads: “As a defensive player, it’s a very fine line. It’s a line that our head coach wants us to tow. But you have to be able to tow it and not cross it. And it’s as simple as that. When you don’t have pads on, you don’t take people to the ground. It’s simple as that. Everything else, (Lions Head Coach) Dan (Campbell) is all good with. Everybody, (Lions President and CEO) Rod Wood, everybody here wants guys being aggressive, punching at the ball. I can promise you that. (Lions Executive Vice President and General Manager) Brad Holmes, everybody. They’re excited about it. But at the same time, we don’t want collar bones, AC joints and all that laying on the field. So it’s about knowing how to practice, being a pro, and going out and perfecting your craft. Simple as that.”
