LIONS HEAD COACH DAN CAMPBELL QUOTE SHEET
January 25, 2024
On what he meant when he questioned why the Lions could not be ‘America’s Team’ before the season and if he believes they are closer to the title now: “I mean I just think – I think our environment, our culture, the coaches, the players. I think we have a lot of people that respect football and try to stay true to it. And hard work, discipline, all the things that I think most people can resonate with. And so, I think that’s probably why we’re somewhat attractive. And then we’re winning, obviously that helps everything.”
On if he thinks they are taking the crown of being ‘America’s Team’ from Dallas: “No, that’s not my crown to take. That’s for somebody else to say whether we are or aren’t.”
On if Bill Parcells or any other former mentors have reached out with any messages or advice: “I think – didn’t I say this the other day? Did I say this to you? Yeah, (he) said, ‘Congratulations, shoes.’ Shoes. Did you watch the game the other night, San Francisco Green Bay? All the slips, the falls, the everything. And that’s Coach Parcells. Classic. And he’s right. He’ll always give you some substance.”
On how much preaching a road mentality and winning on the road plays into success: “I think that’s big. I mean you – look, if you want to be competitive in the playoffs, you want to have a chance to really go all the way, you have to be a good road team. I believe that because you’re not always going to get the one seed. That’s the cream of the crop. That’s the one. But man, if you can win on the road, that means you can handle adversity, you can handle the ebbs and flows of a game, you don’t crack, you handle pressure well. And so, I think that’s something that we’ve talked about here, the way we practice, the way we do things, the way camp is, all of that. And I think it serves you well. You can – when you’re able to play a certain way on the road and handle a certain amount of pressure, that travels anywhere.”
On what kind of step the team took last year beating Green Bay on the road in the final game of the season despite being knocked out of the playoffs 20 minutes before kickoff: “Yeah, I mean look, that was big because for what the circumstances were. Yeah, we had been knocked out, but I think the spotlight was – there was nothing on us. We were just supposed to go lose. I mean nobody really gave us a chance, so – and we knew we had one more to play and we knew we had enough. We knew we could go in there and win that game and play our game. And we did that. So, I think there was a belief. There was a – just like we did all year. We put in the work, we were prepared and then we were dialed in and ready to play. And we did that, and it was significant. But I would tell you, so was the Giants win last year. That was huge. So was Chicago the week before that. I mean once we got our first one, we started knocking a few off. It’s no different, you’ve got to learn how to win. And you’ve got to learn how to win on the road too. And once you start to figure that out, you get better at it.”
On what Lions Head Equipment Manager Tim O’Neill means to the organization: “Well, Tim’s one of these guys – no different than I think everybody that’s involved here. All the fans, everybody that’s been a Lions fan for so long, I think when you think about these people that have worked for this organization for a number of years and do what like Tim does, for all those years and not have success, and to have to load everything up, load those bags up one more time. Have to get them on the plane, get them off the plane, get them back here, four o’clock in the morning, getting them loaded, let me take an hour to sleep. Let me get up, let me wash the laundry, let me – I mean they do it nonstop and there’s nothing easy about what those guys – there’s nothing easy about what he does. But he’s been a rockstar at his job for a long time. He never complains, he never moans about anything. He never says we don’t have this. He just – all he does is he just wants to help the players. He just wants to be a resource. ‘What can I help you with? What can I give you?’ Same with the coaches. He just grinds. He just grinds. So, he’s another guy I’m happy for. He puts in the work and I’m glad we could – it makes all that hard work feel a little bit better, right? Because it’s still going to be there. Still have got to put in the work but makes it worth it.”
On if it is a coincidence that the remaining playoff teams have a strong tight end: “Well, I think when you have a guy that can do everything, can do multiple jobs and do them well, I think those guys are hard to find. We’re fortunate, I think we’ve got one and he’s just beginning. But (49ers TE George) Kittle, I feel like has been at this – he and (Chiefs TE Travis) Kelce are to me, at the top of their game in different spectrums. They both kind of do a little bit of different things, but it’s also relative to their offenses, what they’re asked to do and where they’re needed. But knowing we’re getting ready for Kittle, I’ve got a lot of respect for the way he plays the game, man. He’s high energy, he does it all, he’s an aggressive blocker, he’s strong, he’s physical, he’s good in pass protection, he’s an explosive route runner, creates separation, run after catch, plays strong, team guy. I mean he does it all. He does it all. But I like our guy too and our guy can do quite a bit of things as well. And look, they’re going to need him to play well and we’re going to need our guy to play well.”
On what makes 49ers Head Coach Kyle Shanahan’s rushing attack special and how 49ers RB Christian McCaffrey amplifies it: “Yeah, I think their system and what he’s done for years and how it’s evolved – everything kind of began I think with a wide zone, something that they really leaned on. But then it kind of evolved into more of the fast-flock motion with the tight ends and now you’re blasting the edges. And then once you’ve done that enough, you get good at it and they start changing fronts on you. You’re able to adjust between the tackle, the tight end and the other tight end that’s moving on whose got what. So, any front you get into, they adjust on the fly because you do it, you just rep it, rep it and they’re really good at it. And I mentioned this yesterday, so you get enough of that, then you get the counter off of it. You get that and then you’ll get gap scheme back this way. You’ll get boot back this way, then you get play-pack this way. You pull the guard and it’s hard action and here comes the dagger, here goes the post over the top. He just does an unbelievable job of setting you up. He’s going to make you stop it and if you don’t stop it, you keep getting it. And then once you feel like you’re about to stop it, he counters. And he’s just always been great about that, the way he sets it up. They have a mentality about the way they do it. You can’t do what they do without the mentality either. I mean it’s physical. There’s nothing easy about what they do. And then when you have a back like McCaffrey who’s got – we know the athlete that he is, but he’s got really good vision. Like he – and he understands the blocking scheme. He understands what they’re trying to do, he understands, ‘I’ve got to pull this MIKE all the way to this block, the MIKE linebacker before I put my foot in the ground. And if I do that, I’ll find the crease back here and then the rest is up to him, he’s on the safety.’ So, you do that, and then you add in (49ers WR) Deebo (Samuel) out of the backfield with some of these things. You’ve got (49ers TE George) Kittle in play-pass. You’ve got – I mean (49ers WR Brandon) Aiyuk. I mean these guys – that’s why they’re hard to stop. They’re really good at what they do. He’s an excellent gameplan designer, also calling a game. And then they’ve got playmakers, they’ve got players. They’ve got a heck of an O-line that’s pretty nasty, so. Does that answer it?”
On what it has meant to him to reward Lions Principal Owner and Chair Sheila Ford Hamp’s decision to take a chance on hiring him three years ago: “It means a lot. I always wanted to do that. I always wanted to prove her right. That’s not an easy thing to do, to take a chance on somebody that nobody knows about or thinks deserves a shot or whatever it is. And so, to trust your instincts and trust people around you and to pull the trigger, it means a lot. It sure does. But once you know her and once I know her, it doesn’t surprise me one bit. She’s one of one. She’s unique and I’ll say this, everything that we kind of are and what we’re about has started with her. It’s really her, it’s her vision. Like I’m fortunate she allows me to be myself. I don’t feel like I have to be somebody I’m not, and you can’t always do that. You can’t – and so with that, I can coach. I can do what I need to do, and I appreciate that. So, she took a chance on me and yeah, it feels good to prove her right, but we’re not done either.”
On if he is the person that coordinates all three phases during the game-planning process to ensure it reflects complementary football: “Well, no, it – look, each group, we have to figure out, how are we – (Lions Defensive Coordinator Aaron Glenn) ‘AG, how are we going to stop this offense? What’s the best way to stop this offense? Ben, how are we going to move it against this – what’s the best way to do that? Is it more run? Is it pass? Is it more 11, 12, 21, heavy?’ Same deal on defense. ‘What kind of package? What kind of’ – and special teams, same thing. ‘Is it is going to be our punt return’s going to be the big unit this week? Is it the punt team? Is it kickoff return?’ And so, you do that and then my job is to compile all of it and decide, what’s the best way to do this? I understand this is what we could do. Now, maybe we need to be a little more conservative here, a little more aggressive, offensively, defensively, special teams. And that to me is where you start pulling areas. This level goes up, this goes down, these two levels go up and then you just kind of – by the time you get to the game, you’ve got a pretty good idea of how you want to handle it per the opponent and where we’re at.”
On if his involvement in the game-planning process has grown: “Yeah, I’ve grown. I’ve grown. I would still say the least amount that I’m involved in is defense. I’m still offense and special teams and then I’ll go back there with (Lions Defensive Coordinator Aaron Glenn) AG, but not as much as I do the other two. Obviously, have a lot of faith in AG and if there’s something I see from an offensive perspective, I’ll just kind of – we’ll go back there and talk about it. But yeah, that’s all part of it.” |
