Dan Campbell Knows He Still Has Room to Improve as Head Coach
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Through his first two years as Detroit Lions head coach, Dan Campbell has built up a solid amount of credibility for himself.
Among the reasons why have been his ability to relate to the players inside the Lions locker room, his transparency with the fans and media alike and his bold offensive play-calling.
And, the cherry on top is that he guided Detroit to eight wins in its final 10 games a season ago, enabling the team to finish above .500 for the first time since the 2017 campaign.
Subsequently, Campbell has become a fan favorite and seemingly can do no wrong.
Yet, the 47-year-old, former NFL tight end doesn't view himself as a finished product on the sidelines.
"I mean, there's still, there's so many things that I know I can get better at and that I want to do better," Campbell said on the latest edition of the "Green Light with Chris Long" podcast. "And that's, man, that's time on task. That's watching more tape. That's, you know, I mean, throughout the year, every night before the games, I try to watch all these game managements from the week before and put yourself in the shoes of this, you know, okay, you're running this game. How are you going to handle this? You know, to your point, are you using the timeout now? Are you going to hold on to it? You know, at what point do we start slowing the clock down? Should we challenge this play? And, I think just the more times you, you know, in your head, you put yourself in those situations, you have an answer in the moment when it comes in real time."
Campbell, with the help of his playing background, has become known as a "player's coach," and it has allowed him to more often than not get his players to work hard for him. Yet, as he admitted to Long, his familiarity to what the players are going through doesn't come without its drawbacks.
"But, I guess having been in those shoes at times, I remember thinking, man, I'm asking a lot of this guy. You know, this is tough. This is really, really tough," Campbell told Long. "And so, just being careful that you don't, you know, you got to remember, continue to push the player beyond the limits that even you may think it's hard. Like, you know, this is a very difficult job to do. And, you can't just give them an out, because you know how difficult it is having done it or played it, (having) been there in the moment."
At the end of the day, Campbell, as authentic a head man as they come, isn't going to change who he is for anybody.
"Look, for me, honestly, I just try to be, I try to be myself. I try not to coach-speak. I really try to just, this is what's on my mind. This is how I feel, and I want them to feel my emotion," Campbell expressed. "If I don't have something to say, I'm not going to say it. And, rarely do I write things down. And then, I'm up there, and I'll give you my speech and here's my bullet point. I'm just not that guy. I want them to know when I speak, they feel me speak. Otherwise, I shouldn't be saying anything."
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