The official NFL website last week rated the Top 5 coaching staffs in the league this season.
NFL alum and Lions head coach Dan Campbell’s staff ranked third out of the 32 teams.
“If you appreciate culture and team building, you love Dan Campbell’s work in Detroit,” NFL.com analyst Bucky Brooks wrote. “He has remade the Lions in the image of a gritty city that fully appreciates a blue-collar squad that does not flinch in any situation.”
Campbell, an 11-year tight end with four NFL teams, was named to his current position in January, 2021. It is his first fulltime head coaching assignment. He has led the team to two straight NFC North championships which are Detroit’s first division titles in 30 years. He and his team earned a bye last weekend as the number one NFC seed but play host to Washington this Saturday night in the Division Playoffs.
Campbell has stocked his coaching staff with other NFL alumni. Defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn, a 15-year NFL defensive back, may be the hottest head coaching candidate this cycle. Glenn is one of 10 former NFL players whom Campbell hired to assist him on the field in Detroit.
The success of the Lions with the large number of NFL alumni-turned-coaches has not gone unnoticed.
“Given Detroit’s immense success with a coaching staff full of former NFL players”, Brooks writes, “the football world is paying close attention to the Lions approach.”
The Lions are one of only four teams that never has reached the Super Bowl. Dan Campbell and his team fell one game short last season.
We at NFL Alumni wish him and the fans in Detroit more postseason success starting this weekend.
