When Dan Campbell was hired to be the next head coach of the Detroit Lions, he promised that he would do whatever he can to bring a Super Bowl to the Motor City.
Up to this point, Campbell, along with GM Brad Holmes and the rest of the Lions coaching staff has been doing everything they can to change a culture that had become extremely toxic.
But what made Campbell want to come to the Lions in the first place?
During a recent interview with Kevin Clark of The Ringer, Campbell explained why the Lions were at the top of his list.
“There’s this small handful of teams that I’m like, ‘I belong here,’” Campbell says. “This was at the top of the list because I’ve been here and I remember as a player thinking, ‘God, if you could ever win in Detroit? Oh my God.’”
He explains that Detroit reminds him of Texas, where he grew up, but just with different accents. A place built around family and hard work. He starts to get emotional and clears his throat. “Everything about this place,” Campbell says of Detroit, “the bubble burst, housing, it hit everywhere, but it hit here, and then the auto industry, man, takes a hit and the Lions have sucked for 30 years and they’re always the joke, year in and year out. ‘Oh, the Lions’ and this narrative,” he says, in a mock voice of how people talk about the team. He continues: “I just feel like this place fit me, man. It really did. Like I belonged. That I literally fit like a glove in Detroit. They love the Lions, they love football, and this place called out to me. It was like, ‘You know what? You need to let these guys know what you’re about, that you understand their own pain.’”
Folks, there is no question about it that Campbell wants to be in Detroit and that he wants to give Lions fans the Lombardi Trophy they have dreamed of for so long.
Up to this point, he has said the right things and has already changed the toxic culture in the locker room.
But the question is, will he be able to change the losing culture, too?
If he can, there is going to be one hell of a parade!
