LIONS HEAD COACH DAN CAMPBELL QUOTE SHEET
January 5, 2026
Opening Statement: “Just met with the players. They’ve had medical, all that stuff this morning kind of doing their checklist. They’ll get with the coaches and then that’s it, man. It’s hard to believe this is it. And it’s going to be a hard pill to swallow watching these teams in the playoffs, but I think you’ve got to watch them. I think you’ve got to watch it, force yourself to do it because that’s the drive to want to be there, be a part of it. And that’s what this business is really about at the end of the day is the competition, finding a way to win. I thought the guys earned that win yesterday. They came out and collectively that team showed up. Our team showed up and they fought, they played hard and played complementary football. I was proud of them for that.”
On if he stays the course and committed to the way he has done things after a season ends without being in playoff contention or if he looks at making a lot of wholesale changes: “Well, I want to – first of all, I don’t want to make any decisions that I’m not prepared to really think through. So, I’m going to need a little bit here. I’m going to need a few days to really think about this and deep dive some areas. And I’m willing to do whatever it takes. Whatever is best for this team, I’m going to do. What I believe is best for this team, I will do. I think as far as doing things, some of it is a little bit like I want to get back to some of the things we were doing a couple of years ago. And what I mean by that is just getting back to a little bit of what we did at the ground level, just little bit of the way we train, the way we go about things. This is going to be a good training camp for us. We’re going to go back and really sharpen the sword a little bit. And I know that’s a ways off, but I think that’s the big thing.”
On what he wants to move away from that might have cost the team: “I don’t want to go into that right now. I don’t want to go into that.”
On if he thinks there are more than just tweaks that are needed with the roster: “I think it’s a number of things, I do. I think it’s – and I don’t think in itself one thing is not a huge thing. But I think when you start adding up a number of things maybe we need to do – we didn’t make a couple of changes or move a couple of guys in areas whether it’s coaches or players. I think it’s all of that. I think some things that happen are also we learn on the fly here a little bit too. Learning to adjust as we go through and growing, which I did think we grew as the season went on, in some areas. Learning to adapt, adjust, all that. And we always know we’re going to get hit by injuries. That’s happened every year and that’s part of the NFL, everybody gets it. But we’ve just always got to think about contingency plan. How do we make the most of this roster and really preparing the next guy up to be ready to step up for us for, if possible, half the season? I mean that’s what we’re charged with.”
On how much the team still believes in their process and what they have built despite regressing this season: “Oh, for sure. For sure. We’re not going to back down on that. We believe in what we do. It’s got us to where we’ve gotten to at this point. Now, we fell short this year and look, we all acknowledge that. I acknowledge that. It’s bitter. It’s a bitter taste. I mean it feels good to win yesterday, but ultimately it’s frustrating. But we’ve got nobody to blame but ourselves. But I really don’t believe we’re that far off. There are a couple of things we can do, and I just want to make sure we go after it. And I’m not saying we weren’t hungry, but let’s get that hunger back and we’re going to bring in some guys to compete. That’s the thing. We need competition in a lot of areas because that brings out the best in players, whether it’s with some of the guys that were here or the guys that we bring in. That’s how you elevate the roster.”
On if he is intrigued by the potential stability that his being the permanent play-caller could provide the team: “I mean I’m open to anything. I don’t know exactly where I’m at with that yet. I mean I guess one of the good things if I did do that, you don’t have to worry about somebody else leaving. You don’t have to worry about your play-caller leaving. So, that would be one of the perks of it. But listen, I’m going to think through all of that, and I think I really want to do what I feel is best for the team – and that included. If I believe that’s what’s best for us and I feel good about it, then I will. If I just feel like, ‘Eh,’ then I won’t do it. I won’t do it.”
On why it was meaningful to win yesterday’s game even though the team could have had a better Draft position if they lost: “Well, yeah, I’m not worried about the Draft, whatever. I think it’s important we play to win. We play to win, otherwise why are – we shouldn’t have rolled out (Lions QB Jared) Goff or (Lions WR Amon-Ra) St. Brown or (Lions DL DJ) Reader or (Lions T Taylor) Decker or any of those guys if we weren’t saying we wanted to win. We play here to win. We’ve got a lot of young guys on this roster. They need to see how it’s done. They need to understand we’re here to win, we’re here to compete, we’re here to get better. You’re not here to just be here and get by. We need it from everybody. So, I think what’s important is that we win and we’re always trying to win. And no, it didn’t get us anywhere, but we won and that was the objective.”
On what lessons can be learned from former Lions C Frank Ragnow’s later retirement last year that could apply to the situation of Lions T Taylor Decker considering retirement and if it changes how they approach offseason planning: “Well, we’re going to have to obviously take note of that. And I know Decker’s going to come talk to (Lions Executive Vice President and General Manager) Brad (Holmes) and myself here either today or tomorrow. And I know this, whatever goes down there from his perspective, he’s going to need some time. I mean you just do when you’ve played as long as he has and had the career he’s had, you’re going to need a little bit. But absolutely, we learned lessons. We’ve – you learned lessons there.”
On what he is most proud of and disappointed in from this season: “Well, I’m proud of the way these guys just responded every week. That’s not easy. You win, you lose, you win, you lose, you win. And for these guys to – of course it can get frustrating, but they came back to work every Wednesday and they went after it, they tried to improve. You go out to the games and they bust their (expletive) and it just sometimes it didn’t work the way you wanted it to. But this group man, they never laid down, they just came back in, they were great teammates. And so, I appreciate that, the work ethic that these guys had. Obviously the most disappointing thing is – I said this to them yesterday, I said it last night – we were one play away from getting in, basically. One play, either Minnesota game or Pittsburgh, you’re probably in. You have a good chance. And so, that’s how close it is. But that’s what this League is.”
On how he evaluates the injuries that have occurred on the team and compartmentalizes the different components of what he needs to look at regarding injuries: “Yeah, I think when you start talking about some of these, it’s like, ‘Look at the soft tissue.’ That’s where I always start because if you’ve got a major soft tissue issue then it’s more than just the player, in my opinion. There are other factors. We’ve been great. I mean we do a great job of preparing our players. When you start talking about it’s an Achilles, unfortunately those are freak things. And so, it’s for whatever reason, we’ve just kind of been hit. And listen, as far as practice, I’ve done everything. I’ve done from walkthroughs to we go, to doing a little bit of both. And so, at the end of the day I know this, you’ve got to get your team prepared to play. And so, that’s what I’m always going to hang my hat on. I like our training staff. I think they do a hell of a job, I really do. It’s just it was a tough year in some areas.”
On how he feels like he did this year as a head coach: “Not good enough. We didn’t get in. I mean we underachieved, so not good. I’m going to give myself a freaking ‘F.’”
On what the top priority is that he has figure out first this offseason: “Well, the first thing I’ve got to figure out is the staff. I need to make sure that – where do we go from here. I just need to either – I need to make sure that I feel good about where the guys are at, the positions they’re in. Or do we tweak a couple of things, move a couple of guys, do we stay pat? Those are the things I’ve got to sort through, that’s the first for me. That’s what I’ve got to get through. And I’ve got to do some digging here.”
On if he has made any decisions on whether or not he will make staff changes yet: “No. No, I haven’t.”
