Lessons Dan Campbell Learned from Bill Parcells

Dan Campbell played for Bill Parcells as a member of the Dallas Cowboys.

The timelines of Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell and Hall of Fame coach Bill Parcells intersect and weave together rather interestingly, as do the lessons Campbell has learned. 

As a player, Campbell was drafted by the N.Y. Giants as a tight end in 1999. Ironically, New York is where Parcells first became a head coach years prior. It is also where Parcells won two Super Bowls, back in the 1980s and early '90s. 

While that was way before Campbell arrived in New York as a player, the organizational roots are still noticeable. 

From there, Campbell went on to actually play for Parcells in Dallas in 2003, back when Parcells was the head coach for the Cowboys. 

Upon the completion of his playing days, Campbell's career once again intersected with Parcells, this time in Miami in 2010. This would be Parcells' final year of being the Dolphins' executive vice president of football operations. 

However, their brief time there together served its purpose. Campbell began as an intern on the coaching staff, before ascending over the next five years to tight ends coach and ultimately Miami's interim head coach in 2015 (5-7 record). 

From there, Campbell's path led him to working in New Orleans on head coach Sean Payton's staff.

Ironically, Payton is also a Parcells disciple and comes from his coaching tree. 

That is how it works in the NFL. It is one big fraternity. 

Campbell worked in New Orleans from 2016 until being named as the head coach in Detroit this past January. 

So, what lessons did Campbell learn from Parcells and those that were influenced by the Pro Football Hall of Fame head man (i.e. Payton)? 

Campbell told Rich Eisen on "The Rich Eisen Show" that he's got "about a million Parcells stories." Just that quote alone provides some insight into the amount of wisdom Campbell carries with him. 

Specifically, Campbell told Eisen that he learned how to build team comadarie, how to call the players out that deserved it and how Parcells was really into the psychological part of the game. 

Campbell even said, "Nobody could push buttons the way that man did." 

© Kirthmon F. Dozier via Imagn Content Services, LLC

© Kirthmon F. Dozier via Imagn Content Services, LLC

Campbell delved even further into what he has learned from Parcells on ESPN, "The biggest thing for me that I would take away from Bill is just how to deal with players and personalities and things of that nature. I've said it before; Nobody is as good as Bill Parcells at motivating players. And, just the way he did it, he knew who needed a hug. He knew who needed a kick in the rear. He knew who needed to be challenged and who needed to be built up. To me, those are the things I most remember about Bill." 

Ironically, the intersecting lines between these two even extend to one of Parcells' unfulfilled life wishes. 

According to NJ.com, Parcells said the one place he wished he had a chance to coach was in Detroit - - and now as it would play out, one of his proteges in Campbell has that very opportunity. 

Interestingly, Parcells was a seventh-round draft choice of the Lions back in 1964, and Campbell just so happened to also play in Detroit (2006-08). 

Parcells has said in connection to his wish to coaching the Lions, he felt it was places like Detroit where football should be great -- places where it had been the backbone of life for so long. 

Now, with all the time spent and all the lessons learned from the legendary man simply known as Parcells, we will all have the opportunity to see how it plays out on the field for Campbell this season -- and hopefully for the Lions' sake, for many seasons to come.

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