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Colin Cowherd Admits Being Dead Wrong About Dan Campbell, Proposes Lifetime Contract

Campbell has overseen a remarkable turnaround in Detroit.

Kyle Koster

Dan Campbell has the Lions on track for another playoff push.
Dan Campbell has the Lions on track for another playoff push. / Lon Horwedel-Imagn Images
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Dan Campbell's tenure as head coach of the Lions got off to an inauspicious start in 2021 as he failed to win any of his first 11 contests. A year later his side was 1-6 and there was serious chatter about his job security. Since then he's won 40 of his last 51 regular-season games, made the playoffs twice and advanced to an NFC championship game.

With two new coordinators in tow this season, Detroit has gotten off to a 5-2 start with its latest victory coming in the form of a defensive stunner against the Bucs on Monday Night Football.

On his show Tuesday, Colin Cowherd spoke about the latest bit of evidence that Campbell might actually be a good coach and the FS1 host's initial impressions of his prospects were slightly off.

"Dan Campbell, I thought he was—I'll be honest—kind of a meathead, biting kneecaps in his first press conference. This is probably the most wrong I've ever been .. Dan Campbell should be the Lions head coach forever. He is a home run."

Credit Cowherd for holding himself accountable as so many pundits fire off takes and forget them at the end of the day, hoping they disappear. He can take solace in the fact that he is far from the only person who thought the ceiling was falling in the Motor City only to see it rise up higher than it has in 75 years.

And he also has plenty of company in thinking Campbell can hang on to those reins forever. In fact, it's a pretty common opinion in the state of Michigan. Now, another early playoff exit could change all that. On the other hand, bringing this franchise to the Super Bowl would pretty much calcify that belief across the entire fanbase.

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Kyle Koster
KYLE KOSTER

Kyle Koster is an assistant managing editor at Sports Illustrated covering the intersection of sports and media. He was formerly the editor in chief of The Big Lead, where he worked from 2011 to '24. Koster also did turns at the Chicago Sun-Times, where he created the Sports Pros(e) blog, and at Woven Digital.

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