When it comes to building the Detroit Lions with a purpose, GM Brad Holmes and head coach Dan Campbell are on the same page.
Prior to the first episode of HBO’s Hard Knocks with the Detroit Lions, Campbell spoke to his team and explained that they were going to be all about ‘grit’ as they move forward as a franchise.
What are we? What makes us what we are and what we’re going to be?” Campbell rhetorically asks the room. “I think it’s that right there. It’s Grit. And what does it mean? In a nutshell, I think it means this: we’ll go a little bit longer. We’ll push a little harder, and we’ll think a little deeper and a little sharper. It means we’re unbreakable.
“Like, to me, it means we’ll play you anywhere. We’ll play you on grass. We’ll play you on turf. We’ll go to a fucking landfill. Doesn’t matter. And that’s what we got to be. That’s who we have to be, because we’ll tread water as long as it takes to fucking bury you. Let’s go to work, men. It’s about to be fun.”
Before the start of Fan Fest at Ford Field, Campbell explained that ‘grit’ is what the Detroit Lions are all about and that he and Brad Holmes have been on the same page since Day 1.
“That’s what we embody, that’s what we’re about,” he said before the Lions’ Fan Fest at Ford Field. “That’s what (general manager) Brad (Holmes) and I said we were going to do from Day 1 when we said, ‘What’s the vision?’ I told the coaches, ‘This is the vision of who we are.’ The players know this is our vision. It’s our foundation, it’s where everything starts, and then we branch from there.”
Brad Holmes says Detroit Lions are ‘aligned’ and ‘It’s about grit’
During a recent interview with NFL.com, Brad Holmes explained that the Detroit Lions are “aligned in terms of what they want things to look like” moving forward and that it is all about “grit.”
“We are aligned in terms of what we want this thing to look like,” Lions general manager Brad Holmes said. “It’s about grit. And when you talk about grit, it’s about how much longer you can go than your opponent. It’s not just duration — it’s how much stronger can you be, how much more physical can you be. It’s will power.
“We played so many young guys last year. We had to go through those growing pains and take those lumps. Now we’re expecting a year or two leap from these guys.”
One thing is for sure, from the very top to the very bottom, the Detroit Lions are on the same page. The question is, can Brad Holmes and Dan Campbell take things to the next level in 2022 or will the rebuild take a year or two more?
