The Dan Campbell Effect: How Lions went from laughingstock to juggernaut

National Football League

Published Nov. 27, 2024 10:46 a.m. ET

While it may seem that the Detroit Lions are currently tearing through the league with reckless abandon this season, they are far from an overnight success.

This current iteration of the Rock ‘Em, Sock ‘Em Lions has been years in the making. And the headlines have hardly told the whole story.

Let’s venture back to January 2021. The Lions were coming off their third consecutive losing season, finishing in the basement of the NFC North. They had fired their head coach (Matt Patricia) midseason. It had been four seasons since they made the playoffs. It had been nearly 30 seasons since they’d won a playoff game.

Quarterback Matthew Stafford’s talents had seemingly been wasted up until this point. Despite surpassing 4,000 yards passing in eight of his 12 seasons in Detroit (and surpassing the 5,000-yard mark in 2011), Stafford had very little to show for it. He was selected to the Pro Bowl just once in that span.

Detroit had very little to show for it, too. They had three appearances in the postseason, all losses in the wild card round. By contrast, and not in a good way, they had finished last in the division five times.

Drastic change was needed in Detroit. And so the rebuild began.

On January 20, 2021, Dan Campbell was named the 28th head coach in Lions franchise history.

Campbell had been the tight ends coach for the New Orleans Saints for the past five seasons. He held the “assistant head coach” designation, as well. It was another stop of his under Sean Payton, whom he both played and coached under.

The hiring was met with mixed reviews. Even more so after Campbell’s infamous press conference a day later where he waxed poetic about biting off opponents’ kneecaps.

Campbell wasn’t the only hire that offseason, either. General manager Brad Holmes was brought in, as well. Holmes had spent his entire executive career up until that point with the Rams, both in St. Louis and Los Angeles. He was the director of college scouting for eight seasons before assuming the general manager role in Detroit. He and Campbell hadn’t worked together prior to this experiment with the Lions.

A first-time head coach and a first-time general manager? What could go wrong?

Both men came in with a bang, too.

Campbell had the kneecaps. Holmes, weeks into the job, executed a blockbuster trade that sent Stafford to the Los Angeles Rams. They received Jared Goff as part of the deal. It was seen as a salary dump by the Rams and a consolation prize for Detroit.

And again, while that was the headline of the 2021 offseason, the 2021 draft was what yielded multiple cornerstone pieces. Holmes drafted offensive tackle Penei Sewell with his first Lions’ pick at No. 7 overall. Defensive tackle Alim McNeil came in the third round. Amon-Ra St. Brown was (also infamously) picked in the fourth. Levi Onwuzurike, Ifeatu Melifonwu and Derrick Barnes were also part of that class. All of those players are still in the league, if not still on the Lions.

Yet, with what a seemingly good initial foundation, the first year looked pretty catastrophic. The Lions started the season 0-10-1. Their first win didn’t come until Dec. 5 against the Minnesota Vikings. They’d only get two more, ending the season with a record of 3-13-1.

As a result, offensive coordinator Anthony Lynn was fired and Campbell insisted they were in no hurry to find his replacement. That was probably because their new offensive coordinator was already on staff — as the tight ends coach. Ben Johnson took over as offensive coordinator and the rest was history… right?

Well, the 2022 season didn’t start much better than 2021.

Despite getting Aidan Hutchinson and Jameson Williams in the first round of the draft, as well as Kerby Joseph and Malcolm Rodriguez in later rounds, the Lions started 1-6.

But something was happening in Allen Park.

Meandering around that locker room that season, you would have no idea the team had a terrible record. In the week leading up to a Week 9 game against the Packers, there was music playing after practice during the week. Players were joking around with each other. They were joking with reporters, too. They had urgency on the field, even indoors, even during a non-full speed practice.

The belief was palpable. It was belief in each other, it was belief in the coaching staff, it was belief in the organization. More than that, it was belief in Detroit. The Lions knew they weren’t the laughingstock of the league anymore. Soon, everyone else would know it, too.

That very week, the Lions went out and beat Green Bay. It was an ugly, gritty, 15-9 win, but it was a catalyst. The next week, they beat the Chicago Bears in comeback fashion at Soldier Field. In Week 11, they went on the road to New Jersey and beat the New York Giants, this time handily. On Thanksgiving, they very nearly beat the Buffalo Bills. By the time the Lions saw the Packers again at the end of the season, with the playoffs on the line for Green Bay, Detroit was an even 8-8. Winning their final game would mean their first winning record in five years but it didn’t mean much else. The Packers had everything to play for and they were at home, with Aaron Rodgers under center on a win streak of their own.

Campbell went into his locker room before the game and told his guys to “f—ck sh— up” (that’s a direct quote).

And the Lions did.

The 2023 Lions weren’t defined by the national headlines because they had earned the trust of their fans. When Holmes took a running back in Jahmyr Gibbs with the 12th overall pick in the 2023 draft, only to follow it up with an inside linebacker six picks later in Jack Campbell (no relation to Dan), sure the rest of the NFL world mocked them.

But Lions fans had been let in on the secret the team had now known for two years: these Lions weren’t the laughingstock of the league.

It set them on a trajectory last season that saw Detroit come within a half of earning their first Super Bowl berth in franchise history. They won the NFC North for the first time (having last won the division when it was the NFC Central).

There were chants of “Ja-red Goff” ringing out all across Michigan. It made the man himself choke up.

“I get emotional thinking about all the guys that went through 3-13, went through 1-6 early last year and now can stand here NFC North champs,” Goff said to NFL Network after beating the Vikings to clinch the division crown in Week 16 of 2023.

That brings us to 2024. And surprise, everyone knows Detroit is no laughingstock.

The Lions roared from the very beginning, starting the season with a rematch of their 2023 playoff win over the Los Angeles Rams. Detroit won that, too.

They are 10-1 on the season. The last (and only) time they lost was in Week 2 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. They have outscored opponents 360-183. Their average margin of victory is over 16 points per game. They’ve scored 52 points in a game twice. Goff is firmly entrenched in the league’s MVP conversation.

Offensive coordinator Ben Johnson, who wouldn’t be pried away from the team despite an overwhelming amount of head coaching interest, is finding the most unique ways to either spite or exploit his opponents. Remember the Dallas game? In 2023, the Lions lost a heartbreaker to the Cowboys after a botched reporting call by offensive lineman Dan Skipper. What did Johnson do this season for the rematch? He put the ball in the hands of his offensive linemen… a lot. The Lions hung 47 on the Cowboys in Dallas.

Sure, defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn lost his best player to injury in Aidan Hutchinson, but no matter. He’ll just take Brian Branch and Kerby Joseph and make them the best safety tandem in the league — the toughest and most spiteful, too, judging by Branch’s theatrics after being ejected from the Green Bay game.

The Detroit Lions aren’t just winning right now. They’re playing with their food.

The preseason odds of Detroit winning the Super Bowl ahead of Dan Campbell’s first season were +25,000.

Now? They have the league’s best odds to win the Super Bowl at +260, per BetMGM.

What started as one man’s belief three seasons ago has now become the belief of the entire league.

It’s no longer Detroit vs. Everybody. It’s Detroit with Everybody.

Carmen Vitali is an NFL Reporter for FOX Sports. Carmen had previous stops with The Draft Network and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. She spent six seasons with the Bucs, including 2020, which added the title of Super Bowl Champion (and boat-parade participant) to her résumé. You can follow Carmen on Twitter at @CarmieV.