Dan Campbell Shares Signs of Greatly Improved Lions Culture

Detroit's third-year coach explained culture improvements within the locker room.

The Detroit Lions have been a top story all throughout the NFL offseason. 

Their ascendance from a downtrodden franchise to league darling has been well-documented. After an 8-2 finish to the 2022 season cemented them with a winning record, they're viewed as a team with good fortunes heading into 2023. 

In fact, the Lions are so well thought of that they will play the reigning Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs in the NFL's annual kickoff game on Thursday, Sept. 7. 

The MMQB's Albert Breer recently profiled the Lions' offseason. In his latest report, Detroit's improvements under third-year coach Dan Campbell, from a cultural standpoint, were explored. 

“I always wanted a team that you felt could self-regulate. The standards were set, and [the players] were the barometer. They were the regulators. They were the ones who said, 'Listen, this is how we go about our business. The coaches, we’re out of the world of, Hey, this is how we do things. This is what we do,'" Campbell told Breer. "We’re into all little football things, the detail, the fundamentals, the technique, the scheme. All the other stuff, the standards of the way that we go about our business, how we show up, when we show up, the way that we practice and the way that we are in the weight room with conditioning, the players handle that.

“If somebody is below the standard, if somebody’s below the line, well, the herd gets them back in line," Campbell continued. "That’s what I feel like is a little different now. Here we are going into Year 3, and I can feel the team beginning to take over, that our captains, our core, this team, are beginning to set the standards. That’s what I wanted all along. That, to me, is culture.”

The Lions rose to prominence with their improvements in the second half of last season. After starting the season 1-6, the team reeled off eight wins in 10 games to finish one game out of the postseason. 

"Everybody thinks that when you go through a stretch where you’re 1–6, you lose five in a row, it’s, 'You’re awful,'” Campbell explained. “The reality was, we always knew, I always knew, we were one play away in all those games we lost. Yeah, you lose five in a row but, literally, it was right at the very end of the line. Dallas, that game got out of hand by the fourth quarter so take that one out, but these other ones, we were right there. You understand how close you are.

“If you listen to all the outside noise, you’re miles away, and nothing’s going right; you can’t do this. And, that was never the reality. Reality was, 'Guys, we’re one turnover away. We’re one play away, we’re one third-down conversion away, we’re one third-down stop away.' Those guys understood that, and they just kept putting the work in.”

Praising Jared Goff

One of Campbell and general manager Brad Holmes' first moves upon taking positions in Detroit was to deal incumbent starting quarterback Matthew Stafford. 

The deal landed them plenty in the way of draft capital, as well as quarterback Jared Goff. Though he was widely viewed as a bridge to the future, his performance during the team's second-half spurt last season has given him stability moving forward. 

The popular coach has praised his passer consistently throughout the offseason. His conversation with Breer was no different.

“When you have a quarterback you can win with, why would you do anything else? We have a quarterback we can win with,” Campbell said. “He can win in this league. He’s our guy. And thank God, we’ve got him. There’s a number of teams that are out there right now that don’t know if they have a starting quarterback. We do, so we’re fortunate. He’s a hard worker. For a guy that’s got skins on the wall and played as much football as he’s played, a veteran guy, he’s been out here all offseason.”

The Lions have found themselves in unfamiliar territory. They're the preseason favorite to win the NFC North, and are viewed as a darkhorse title contender. 

With the high expectations surrounding them, it's clear the rest of the league is taking notice of what Campbell is building.