George Kittle: People 'Love' Dan Campbell's Coaching Style

49ers tight end George Kittle is a big fan of Dan Campbell.

Detroit Lions coach Dan Campbell celebrates a touchdown scored by running back Jahmyr Gibbs during the first half of the NFC championship game vs. the San Francisco 49ers at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California, on Sunday, Jan. 28, 2024. / Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK

Now in his fourth year in the Motor City, Dan Campbell has become one of the most recognizable and respected NFL head coaches in the game today.

Among his peers and both current and former players, he is also largely considered one of the league's very best head men for the job he's done instilling a winning culture in Detroit.

The ever fiery Campbell, known for his never-say-never attitude and spirited speeches, has helped transform the Lions from a three-win, cellar-dwelling franchise in 2021 to a team that has won a franchise-best 13 games and has a legitimate shot at capturing a second straight NFC North division crown. 

Along with general manager Brad Holmes, he's helped “restore the roar” in Detroit, and has helped turn the organization into Super Bowl title contenders. And, Campbell has certainly gained several admirers of his coaching style along the way, including San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle.

“I think when you have a head coach who had played and the way that he played, too, was very gritty, kind of a nasty player but was beloved by all his teammates, I think it’s really easy to play for guys like that,” Kittle said of Campbell to 49ers On SI’s Grant Cohn. “You can see all the clips in his original press conference, like ‘biting the knee caps’ and stuff like that, I think that while to people on the outside that might look funny, I think once you get to know him and find out that’s who he is, I think people love that. 

“And, I think he seems like a really easy guy to play for, and he seems like a guy who they have hard practices, he makes them grind, makes them earn every second. But, you want people like that to hold you to a standard, and that’s a standard they’ve created and he’s created since they’ve been there. And, it’s very awesome to see the Lions have gotten to that.” 

George Kittle Shares His Opinion of Lions Coach Dan Campbell
Via: @grantcohn pic.twitter.com/fGl8SHsvoF

— DetroitSportsPodcast (@DetroitPodcast) December 28, 2024

Campbell has been a walking soundbite ever since his introductory press conference with the Lions in 2021. During that media session, he quickly went viral for expressing that Detroit would become a team that would regularly “kick (its opponents) in the teeth” and “bite kneecaps off.” For as outlandish as those comments may have been at the time, they set the tone for the type of team the Lions have since become: a tough and gritty bunch capable of overcoming adverse circumstances.  

“I think any time you come in, that’s your first chance to, I guess, give everybody your – your vision of how you see things and where you see yourself being when it’s all said and done and what you want it to look like from the people that don’t know you in the organization. But more importantly, the team, the players that are out there that you haven’t had the chance to talk to,” Campbell said of the purpose of his introductory press conference. “And so, that’s exactly who I was talking to, the fans, to give them an idea of a little bit of who you are and where you see this going and your vision, and so I felt like I did that for me. I mean, that was the whole point of it, and I did it and it was weird because it was Covid. I mean, you’re just looking on these screens. But yeah, I did that.”

Campbell & Co. have a date with Kittle and the 49ers on Monday night, in the last Monday Night Football contest of the 2024 season. With a win for Campbell’s squad and a loss by the Vikings to the Packers Sunday, the Lions will clinch their second consecutive NFC North division title and the NFC's No. 1 seed.