LIONS HEAD COACH DAN CAMPBELL QUOTE SHEET
May 30, 2024
On his discussions with Lions Offensive Coordinator Ben Johnson when he decided to come back and if he was surprised: “Ben’s always done a really good job of no matter what he’s in, he can see things for what they are now, but he can also look out and say, ‘Alright, what is this?’ A year from now, two years from now, ‘What does this really mean, is this good, is it not good, is it the best thing for me, for my family?’ He’s just always been able to – he can lay it out and look at a process to it. I think – am I surprised? No. Only because – but I wouldn’t have been surprised had he taken one too. I just think he’s very much – I think he feels like it’s a good opportunity here and he wants to make the most of it, and if something else becomes available, it needs to be right. Everything needs to be right, and I appreciate that about him. Not everybody would do that. I think it’s also a little bit of living in the moment too. I think he enjoys it here, I know the family enjoys it here, and he’s with a group of guys that he really respects and loves to be around. Coaches, players, it’s just a good vibe right now, so why not live it to the fullest and then the next thing will be the next thing.”
On how important it is to him to have continuity in his coaching staff: “It’s important. It’s important. I put a lot of stock in that, there’s a lot of value. I’ve said this before, without my coaches, without my coordinator, none of this thing works. So, to have the continuity – we worked a situation yesterday and you go through these things, and you talk to them. You talk with the coordinators as a staff and, ‘OK, if we get in this situation this is what I’m thinking, what I want to do.’ We kind of covered one the other day. We talked about it one time, and it’s been a little bit, and we go out there, and so I kind of throw a situation that’s very similar just so we work it and see how they handle it. I can get a little antsy like I don’t know – with (Lions Offensive Coordinator) Ben (Johnson) he’s like, ‘I got it,’ you know he knows. I love that, I appreciate it. Same deal with (Lions Defensive Coordinator Aaron Glenn) AG and (Lions Special Teams Coordinator Dave) Fipp. They know exactly – we’re all on the same page. That helps, everything is so much more efficient.”
On if he believes there is a position group that has improved the most this spring: “No, there again, it’s really tough to say that. I’ve been pleased with a number of the groups, most of them, most players. I can’t say that anybody’s come in here and has taken a step back, like, ‘Oh this player’s really,’ so you feel improvement especially from some of the young guys. I don’t know if there’s one group that I could say. You certainly can’t say that with O-line and D-line because you don’t have pads on, so that’s not a real thing. I think it’s pretty even right now, I think there’s growth and development everywhere.”
On how important he believes the little steps are in the journey of rebuilding: “I think it’s important because I think it’s made us what we are. I really do, I think that’s very much a part of our DNA as the coaches and the core of this team. It’s something that (Lions Executive Vice President and General Manager) Brad (Holmes) and I talk about all the time, but we knew that we were going to do it, that we were going to go the hard way. Which is the right way, we believe, when you’re starting from the ground up. You have to do that. You can’t put a band aid on something that needs stiches and expect it to just hold. We knew from that standpoint that it was not going to be the easiest thing. Now at the time you don’t believe – you refuse to believe that you can’t win. You believe you can win, but you just know that every little things going to have to be done right and has to go perfectly in your way. It doesn’t always work that way. But I do think it is important. Every team is going to have adversity. Every time you come into a new situation it’s going to happen. It’s how you handle it, and then being able to believe in what you’re doing and stay true to the process. That’s the part where you have to have the intestinal fortitude to hang in there and just keep doing what you believe in.”
On pressure a player like Lions TE Sam LaPorta will face coming off a record-breaking rookie season: “I guess that comes with every individual. I would hope that’s not negative pressure that would enter his brain. And just knowing him, per se, just because he may not have the same production as he did this past year, doesn’t mean that he’s not going to help us win or he’s not going to be satisfied. Some of that could just be because there aren’t the targets. What if some of those targets go to (Lions WR Jameson Williams) Jamo, or more go to (Lions WR Amon-Ra St. Brown) Saint, or (Lions RB Jahmyr) Gibbs, or (Lions RB David) Montgomery, or (Lions TE) Brock Wright. You just don’t know. So, for him, I think it’s just about, ‘Whatever job you ask me to do, as long as I’m doing it the best I can do it and I’m helping this team win,’ I think he’s going to be pretty satisfied with that. I don’t see him getting caught up in the numbers of the production relative to what he did the year before.”
On if he likes the progression that he has seen from Lions QB Hendon Hooker: “I would say yesterday was good to see. There was some improvement yesterday that we had really been looking for, and you felt a little bit of – there’s some development there that was really good to see. Just some of his reads, some of the throws he made, so yeah. It’s hard to put a timeline on things. Every player grows at a different level and especially at that position. The quarterback position now, we put a lot on those guys, and he’s got a lot. It’s a reminder that this is his first spring. This is the first time he’s been through spring, it’ll be his first training camp. There again, you just need to see growth, so yesterday it was good to see.”
On if he is a fan of the idea of a longer training camp: “I’m always going to lean on the side of what’s best for our team. It’s hard to be caught in the middle of it a little bit, between the players and the – so for me it’s whatever. If that means it’s a longer training camp and that’s better for us as a team, then I’m all for it. If it means keeping it split as it is, I’m all for it. I’m kind of indifferent right now. Whatever happens or however this goes, we’re going to make it work either way. We’ll be just fine.”
On if he has an opinion on the League going to an 18-game season: “Not really. The hard thing is that’s another game, but yet if you reduce a preseason game, you have all these young guys you’re trying to develop, and you have to have them every year. You look at what we were able to do with some of our young guys last year, and how important they were to us winning, but there’s a process to it. If you don’t get them developed or get them enough reps to where they help you, then – that’s the only thing. That’s what you lose, so there again, we’ll make it work. It’s a long season right now, and we’ll make it work either way.”
On if he feels like Lions Offensive Coordinator Ben Johnson has outgrown his position and what else needs to improve on: “You’d have to ask him that. What does he think? If you’re asking me, I don’t think you ever stop growing in any position you’re in. Whether you’re a coordinator, you’re a head coach, you’re a position coach – I feel like you learn something new, especially if you’re looking for it. If you’re always looking to grow, and what’s the next thing. We have college coaches that come in that want to be here to see how we work, what we’re doing and all that. We as a staff will pick their brains on some things. You never know what you’re going to pick up. There are some good coaches out there everywhere. It can be one nugget. They think they’re getting something from us, we’re getting something from them. I think as long as you’re always looking to grow, there’s plenty that you can always – and believe me he’s had a ton of growth over these three years, two and a half years. But there’s always room for all of us.”
On how eager he is to see Lions Offensive Coordinator Ben Johnson in a head coaching position to see the Dan Campbell coaching tree grow: “I’m not worried about my tree, per se. But yeah, I would love to see him, and do I think he’s – yeah, I do think he’s ready. I think (Lions Defensive Coordinator Aaron Glenn) AG’s ready too. I think (Lions Assistant Head Coach/Running Backs) Scottie Montgomery’s ready. It’ll all come in time, and until that time comes, I’m going to enjoy my time with my coordinators. I’m glad they’re here and I’m glad they’re part of this with me. They’re very much a huge part of all of this.”
On what more Lions Assistant Head Coach/Running Backs Coach Scottie Montgomery will have on his plate this season: “Yeah, look, there’s a ton of things I’ve done with him behind the scenes, but also in front of the team. There’s a number of things that he’ll install for us, not only offensively, but there will be some things that he does in front of the team. And so, wherever I can take that a little bit, I will. He’s very comfortable with those guys, the team’s comfortable with him. He just – he does a good job of presenting things and he’s smart, he’s driven, he’s outstanding.”
On how important sack totals are to him and if Lions DL Aidan Hutchinson has another level he can unlock to his game: “Yeah, sacks aren’t that big of a deal, as long as you’re getting the pressures, and those pressures show up that affect the quarterback negatively. Now, would you rather have sacks? Absolutely, I would rather have sacks. Right? Your loss of yardage, all those things. But the pressures are more to me than – pressure that affects the quarterback – we watched a couple of clips this morning in front of the team. The quarterback’s wanting to step up, he can’t step up, the throw is high, he’s flipping to his right, he can’t get his hips around and he threw a pick. So, these things that end up in negative plays, whether it’s incomplete, it’s turnovers, it’s whatever, I’ll take those all day long. So, look, Hutch is going to continue to improve. Whether those come in sacks or not, I already know he’s going to be better. You know what I mean? That’s just the way he is, the way he works. It’s like (Lions WR Amon-Ra St. Brown) Saint. I mean you’re going to be able to count on the production he’s going to bring.”
On if he believes that Lions DL Aidan Hutchinson needs more production on the other side of the defensive line to help his production: “That will always help. I mean, that just – it helps if you’ve got somebody else that can kind of push him to you. At times you can kind of hide in the little window, just – and it can be a half a yard the other way, and that’s all it takes for him to miss by an armlength. So that helps, yeah. It certainly does, but you can also get that from a three-technique on the other side. That could be (Lions DL Alim McNeill) Mac that’s opposite of him on some things. But yeah, somebody on the other side always is going to help.”
On if any player has come back to the practice facility with a transformed body: “Somebody that came back like an underwear model, like (Lions DL Alim McNeill) Mac last year. That’s what we talked about. I want to say (Lions C) Frank (Ragnow), just to say Frank. Frank’s the same old Frank. He just – he looks great and all that, but I can’t say that he’s lost 30 pounds and he’s got an eight-pack, but certainly in great shape. Not necessarily, but I feel like we’re in a pretty good position here with where our guys are at. They’ve all been working. They worked over the offseason, they’re continuing to do it. So, I don’t – there’s not a guy I can think of that’s made this mad transformation here.”
LIONS OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR BEN JOHNSON QUOTE SHEET
May 30, 2024
On how not having an offensive player drafted in the first two rounds affects the offense: “The Draft, you just never know when you go into it how it’s going to unfold. There were a number of guys that we certainly felt like we had a vision for that would have fit us nicely. We ended up with a couple of really good defensive players. How that affects us offensively, we already have plans for the guys that we had on the roster. We spend all of the springtime talking about, ‘How can we get them a little bit better?’ Honestly, we started the offseason talking about who we felt like our bell cows were going to be and how we want to help develop and grow them into other roles as well. We’ve got a lot of good, young players on this team, ones that contributed for us last year, and ones that are still learning that maybe not everyone knows about yet. There were some guys on scout team last year that – we don’t draft a guy, maybe that’s an opportunity for them to show what they can do. I think more than anything, it just opens some windows for some guys that are really talented, they just haven’t had their number called yet.”
On what led to his decision to come back to the Lions: “Right after the championship game, we got on the plane, and I was just thinking about something that (Lions Head) Coach (Dan Campbell) had said. 2021 and early part of 2022, he had made this analogy to the team, just about how we were sailing down the ocean and at that moment, we were in the Arctic. We were hitting the icebergs, we had the storms going on, those were dark days. He had the foresight, he had the vision of where we were going and where we were heading. He assured us, ‘Guys, I see it. I see where we are going. The results haven’t been there yet, but the Caribbean is on the horizon. It’s coming up.’ I’m sitting on the plane, I’m thinking back to that. Just the story of my career has been living in that Arctic for a lot of it. That was the second time I had been to the playoffs, the first time I had experienced winning games in the playoffs. I think when it boils down to it, I wanted the sunshine a little bit longer. That’s really what it comes down to for me. I liked the sunshine, I like what we’ve built here. Starting with ownership, the Head Coach, the (Lions Executive Vice President and General Manager) GM (Brad Holmes), on down. We have a great group of guys in the locker room, and I want to reap the rewards with them a little bit longer.”
On why he valued seeing his goals through with the Lions over pursuing a head coaching job: “There’s a lot of things that go into it. A lot of reasons and dynamics that play a part. Something that really resonates with me is – OK, eight openings this past year. What would you set the over/under in three years for how many still have jobs? I would put the over/under at four and a half. I would say there’s a good chance that five of them are out of jobs in three years. When I look at it from that perspective, if I get the opportunity to go down that road, it’s about how do I get to that second contract? How do I set myself up that the stars need to align? I’m not going to do it just to do it. I love what I’m doing right now. Love it. I love where I’m at, my family loves where we’re at, I love the people that we’re doing it with, and so I’m not willing to go down the other path yet unless I feel really good about how it’s going to unfold.”
On what he is looking for in a head coaching job to make it right for him: “It comes down to – it’s ownership, it’s staff. My vision of how I can make it work with how I know I am, part of me too – I love play calling, and so if I took a head coaching job, I would want to be a play-calling head coach. Well, there’s a limit on how much time there is during a week, and so what’s it going to look like Monday through Sunday in that regard? So, I just want to make sure everything is nailed down. There’s an adjustment period for every person that takes that job. They’re learning on the fly, but I think the more that you have set and feel good about, that gives you the best chance. I was actually talking with someone the other day about this, the longer you’re in the coordinator chair, it does nothing but help you and prepare you more for the next step if it ever comes down the pipe. Personally, I don’t feel like I’m hurting my opportunities or my abilities to be a head coach in the future, and I love what I’m doing right now.”
On how he stays in tune with himself in the middle of all of the rumors about his interview process: “That’s what this League’s about. When you get opportunities to take care of yourself, you have to make sure you keep the big picture in mind, and that’s what I’ve tried to do, what’s right for me and my family. That’s really what it came down to for us.”
On how different the flight home was following the NFC Championship game after his meeting with the Washington Commanders: “It’s crazy. The whole playoff scene is crazy. We’ve already been going 17-plus weeks of four hours of sleep at night, and it adds up over the course of the year. Truthfully, I didn’t really give it any other thought. Once I finally got on the plane, I knew where I was probably leaning, and then it took 36 hours after that to, ‘Hey, this is the direction we’re going to go.’”
On what it was like seeing the negativity from the national media about his interview for the Washington Commanders head coaching job: “There was, in my opinion, some false narratives going on out there, and it started towards the end of last year, before I made the decision to pull out. That comes with the territory – I’m good with that. That’s part of life in the NFL so it doesn’t affect me. I do feel for the people around me. I hate that my family would ever read stuff that’s not necessarily the case, but they handled it really, really well. So, support staff is there, from that regard. I think I sleep well at night knowing what happened, how it happened, why it happened. I’m good there, and the people that are closest to me, they know who I am and what I about so it’s all good.”
On what makes his relationship with Lions Head Coach Dan Campbell different: “Yeah, I mean we’ve got a different relationship because we’ve known each other for so long, but we’re extremely comfortable with each other. I mean, he’s got this way about him, we’ve talked about his leadership capabilities up in front of a room and all that, but he knows when to press, when to demand, and when to – he can still crack a joke and have a good time as well. And there’s that balancing act when you’re in that chair that – he walks that line as well as I’ve ever seen.”
On if he studies the way that Lions Head Coach Dan Campbell talks to the media: “I can’t say I study. I’ve seen some of the press conferences, though, yeah. He’s unique.”
On if he has any doubt that he can be a head coach: “I do not.”
On if he feels that he needs to change anything about how the offense is run in the third quarter upon reflection of how the season went: “I love the football questions. This is great, this is good. I did this a couple of months ago, so I’m spit balling a little bit here, I don’t have the numbers exactly in my head, but I got it, I know what the third quarter says. Overall, third quarter was not good enough for us. I didn’t watch every single snap from that particular quarter. We did go back, we studied the opening drive of the second half, we did do that. There is a significant difference from the first 10 games of the season to the last 10 games of the season and how we were in the opening drive of the second half. We we’re significantly better in the second half of the season, the last 10 games. I want to say, those 10 games, those possessions, we scored five touchdowns, which is – 50 percent of your drives are going for touchdowns? You’re doing something right. So, I understand what’s going on out there. I do think it was something we talked about, we addressed during the season, and we started to see some results as the season went on. So, if you separate it up that way, I think we’re trending in the right direction.”
On what the biggest thing is that he needs to replace with the departure of former Lions WR Josh Reynolds: “That was eye opening during the self-scout period, to be honest with you, was he was an explosive play waiting to happen. A number of his receptions were big plays for us. So, something we’ve talked about with this skill group, those opportunities go elsewhere now, and we need guys to step up and rise to the occasion just like he did. It might be someone that didn’t have as much production last year – say an (Lions WR) Antoine Green or a (Lions WR Donovan) Peoples-Jones or some of the guys that we had on the scout team, that could be the – or it could be some of the other guys – maybe it’s another carry for (Lions RB) David Montgomery or (Lions RB Jahmyr) Gibbs or it’s another target for (Lions TE Sam) LaPorta. It could be – we might have to spread it out that way. So, that’s what we’re trying to find out here this springtime and in training camp is not just who the guys are that we’ll hang our hats on, but also how we distribute those carries and those targets as the season goes.”
On if there are any false narratives he wants to correct about his interview process: “No, I’m good.”
