Podcast: Lions' Super Bowl Window Is Now Open
Detroit Lions general manager Brad Holmes should be excited and let out passionate screams, especially after accomplishing a feat no other front office executive was able to accomplish in decades.
A rebuilding effort by the Lions is actually working.
Detroit is still playing football in the middle of December. Not recapping another failed season, not talking about the upcoming draft.
After winning a playoff game and examining the infrastructure in place currently, it is quite plausible to declare that the Lions' Super Bowl window is now officially open.
“Well, I knew it felt right, the first phone call we ever had after he had been hired and then I got hired and so really before that, we had a phone call. It was really right before I was – that I took the job, and it was just kind of an intro. I could tell there’s – for a first phone call for somebody you don’t know yet, we had mutual contacts," Campbell explained this week, after winning his first playoff game as coach of the Lions. "We have people that both of us, we have mutual friends that we have a lot of trust in, and it was, I could tell it was, it felt like it was going to be right. And then once I got around him, I could feel that early."
Led by the efforts of Holmes, owner Sheila Hamp, team president Rod Wood and chief operating officer Mike Disner, the Lions have assembled a legitimate Super Bowl contending team in just three seasons.
It has been a united front, as the front office has worked in lockstep with coach Dan Campbell to seek out and acquire talented players that fit their vision for the team.
A prime example of this is the team nailing draft picks. In addition to adding foundational players early in drafts, Detroit has struck gold on players like Amon-Ra St. Brown (2021 4th), Alim McNeill (2021 3rd) and 2023 second-rounders Sam LaPorta and Brian Branch.
"We’re very similar in the way that we view players, view a team, how we want to build it. And, I have things and I have a certain vision, and Brad has helped me by the type of players we acquire and what we look for. I mean, he’s given me that. He’s helped me," said Campbell. "So, listen, that’s – the GM and head coach have to have a healthy relationship and it starts with ownership, but then that’s the next most important by far. And, if you don’t have that, you just can’t sustain success.”
The latest All Lions "Bang The Table" podcast explores why the Lions' window to win a ring has realistically opened.
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