https://x.com/davebirkett/status/2052158924833292514?s=20
In 2021, Campbell initially agreed to coach the Detroit Lions before changing his mind; the Lions hired Dan Campbell instead.
“Leaving Ames wasn’t something that I was looking to do or wanting to do,” he said.
So we didn’t get the HC hire right.
We got lucky.
Which…
…for this franchise.
Here is a quick golf story…
…this year I had my first Eagle on a Par 4. I holed out my approach shot from 42 yards. It was also the very first on-course shot I had taken with my brand new PING s259 56 wedge! If I stopped the story there, it would be enough for what matters. The full story is that I pushed my approach shot to the right…by a significant amount. As I was getting ready to cuss for missing my target, I saw the ball take an abrupt turn left towards the hole. It just kept trickling until it finally went in. The fact that it wasn’t my first choice is irrelevant to the score card, and it taught me how to play this hole going forward!
Here is a picture I took after the shot…from where I was standing. The light blue is what I was aiming for. The yellow is where the ball ended up and the red is loosely what happened next. “Don’t care…still smashed!”
I’ve heard for a while now that he was our first choice and we offered him the job. Who knows how it would have turned out, but I’m pretty happy with the way it did.
Only the lions would succeed by not doing the thing they set out to do.
That’s actually kind of what recovery is about
This all makes me laugh.
I have said this 100 times.
The Lions org “would like to win” but if it was a need or required they would have hired Sean Peyton. Just like when they Red wings were desperate they hired the best available in Scotty Bowman. And the Tigers Sparky and then Leyland.
My point has always been that instead of getting a proven performer who was an almost cont miss they go cheap. And if you want more proof look at the whole DC situation. Instead of going out a paying for a proven elite person they stick “With their guy” who clearly is bottom 5-10 DC in the NFL.
I love everything about MCDC and Holmes but the org runs things on the cheap at times and they also do not act like a group who NEEDS TO WIN.Because if they were they would have dropped a bag on Flores and called it a day.
How pumped would this place be if they had Flores calling the plays on Defense for next season.
Glad we finally got confirmation of this. I remember people on this board adamantly refusing to believe it at the time it originally hit.
Remember–the original leak to this story was that the Lions offered him a 10-YEAR DEAL 
Mooch sort of throws a wrench into this. He was the experienced “proven winner” that year, and yes we had a major advantage since he was local-ish and buddies with Izzo, but it was still a big swing. I would even argue Patricia was a big swing, no he wasn’t a former coach but he was the hottest assistant that cycle. I know the Giants were after him hard, but we had an ‘in’ due to his buddy Bob Quinn.
I don’t think we make as many of these decisions based upon cost as you’re implying, but I do agree we watch the purse strings a little more closely than a lot of other teams. But we’re nothing like the Bengals or Cardinals or other legitimately cheap teams.
Besides, swinging for the big name coaches isn’t any better of a strategy, just look at what the Raiders have done since they’ve been in Vegas. McDaniels, Gruden, Pete Carroll, all failed in the end. I don’t think teams avoid big-name hires because they’re cheap or don’t want to win, I think there’s legit data out there that says it’s no shorter cut to winning.
I mean I am being a bit hyper critical.
The change in culture has been insanely positive. And I do appreciate how the org tries to treat the players as well as possible while also keeping an eye on the business side of things.
But the approach to the coaches has been lacking most of the time IMO. And I agree the Mooch thing shows that no one is a lock.
But my real gripe is this endless shit show of a defense and the DCs.
MCDC will yoke an OC after like half of a game of bad play calling. Meanwhile the defense has been bad since he got here except for 1 season. And the DC is not changed. We are on our 4th or 5th OC and the offense has been top 5 while the D has sucked and the only change was due to our DC leaving. He was not booted…this reality makes no sense to me at all.
So ownership got lucky? At the end of the day, they hired the “right” coach… But they just as easily could’ve been SOL if they got their first choice… Glad it worked out (and that I was wrong about Dan) in the long run
I have been saying since day 1 that MCDC was a huge gamble. Yeah sure it has paid off, but the reality is that I feel 100% that they did not go hire Peyton because at the time the Lions would of had to compensate the Saints with money or draft picks or both as I recall. So instead they rolled the dice with MCDC.
I just do not think it was a great decision based on decades of a failed org and you gamble instead of hiring a guy who has done it and would in theory give you a much better chance at success.
With all this said. I do think the Lions want to be the NFC version of the Steelers in how they run the team and treat players. Although I am not sure the Ford family could have withstood Big Ben and his criminal behavior.
I do struggle with the fact that we all gauge the decision on the results and not how it came about. You have a plumbing leak and have 4 plumbers try to fix it with no success…do you hire a guy with little to no experience to “try” to fix it or do you ask around a get the plumber who has fixed this problem before…this is always where I end up on this topic. And again I love the Lions under MCDC outside of his ridiculous loyalty to his DCs.
Detroit and Pittsburgh have a very similar feel to each other as far as type of city and it’s residents/fan base. Tough nose, blue collar, and loyal, that’s what resonates with fans and why DC works so well here and why he’d get more leeway if/when things aren’t going well.
I agree that results over process is a bad way to judge things (really crops up come draft time), I just disagree with you about the actual process. But then I am not of the belief, as I said, that swinging for the fences with coaching hires works all that often.
The vet coach option is always brought up, and every time I produce a list of the times it didn’t work (not doing it again lol), and that’s it’s really no better than a coin toss. The unproven path is no better of course, in fact it’s probably a little worse, but denying one side or the other doesn’t mean you’re ‘going cheap’ or ‘doing the process wrong’ or anything like that. There’s no absolute right way to do it, that’s my main point. You can have your opinion as to what’s better - I know I do - but we have to let history be our guide and be open to being wrong about it.
That’s why I’m OK judging this one by the result, to me it’s basically the result of a coin toss.
Fair point. And for sure coaching success is not guaranteed.
I do think MCDC had a lot going for him. But I have been disappointed in his approach to the defense as a whole. While I have been super impressed with how well he has managed the offense.
It just looks to me like he has the team management down pat, the offensive down pat, special teams are at least average. But his management of the Defense and the DC has left me wanting. I would have really liked to see Flores brought in and keep Shep. Let him learn because I think eventually Flores will be gone anyway. So it would have been a benefit to the team and also allow Shep to be mentored more by a top flight Defensive mind. Flores is a jedi master.
Matt Campbell decided not to take the job when they didn’t call him Matthew.
That’s a fair take though I think it’s a tad harsh. Andy Reid heard the same complaints his whole career, Parcells did on the other side, etc… Very rare is the coach who’s great at everything, that’s what the coordinators are for.
And I still have… well I wouldn’t say high hopes for Sheppard, but hopes. I don’t think his story is written yet. I just think it’s VERY difficult to come to any conclusions about our DC performance the past two years considering we’ve lost the 2nd and 4th most starters’ minutes to injury on that side this century. I think superstar DCs would have struggled in that situation, much like Fangio did in Miami.
Me too, but I don’t think that was ever in the cards. Flores wouldn’t be well served by being a mentor to Shep, and just being DC for the Lions would just be a lateral move, with players he didn’t even get to select.
I wouldn’t expect Flores to uproot his family to a new city unless it were for a HC opportunity.
To understand the process, people have to have to put themselves back in that time. The Patricia locker room was toxic. It does not surprise me that the team was looking to the college ranks as a means to correct it. The Dan Campbell hire was absolutely the correct one, but that most definitely wasn’t clear at that time.
Matt Campbell is going to win some big ball games at Penn State. I’m happy for him and the opportunity he has.
