Tale of the Tape: Dan Campbell vs. Robert Saleh
The N.Y. Jets' Robert Saleh and the Detroit Lions' Dan Campbell will square off for the first time as fellow head coaches Sunday at MetfLife Stadium.
Just like Campbell, Saleh, a Dearborn, Mich., native, is in the second year of his first full-time stint as an NFL head man.
Saleh was hired by the Jets in 2021, after spending the previous four seasons as the defensive coordinator of the San Francisco 49ers. He was a highly coveted head coaching candidate, having received interviews with the Lions, the Jacksonville Jaguars, the Philadelphia Eagles and the L.A. Chargers before landing the job in New York.
Saleh, who attended Dearborn Fordson High School and Northern Michigan University, was the No. 1 choice for a myriad of Lions fans during the post-Matt Patricia hiring cycle. So, there was a significant amount of Detroit supporters who were unhappy when Saleh didn't end up as the head man of the Lions.
Instead of Saleh, Detroit went with Campbell, a tight ends coach with no coordinator/play-calling experience, to fill its head coaching vacancy.
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Campbell, who was coming off a stint with Sean Payton and the New Orleans Saints as their tight ends coach and assistant head man, did previously serve as the interim head coach of the Miami Dolphins in 2015 (5-7).
However, he wasn't one of the first choices for Lions fans to replace Patricia, and unlike Saleh, he wasn't sought after by other NFL organizations.
From all accounts, it looked like the Ford family was settling by hiring the former tight end, and was setting itself up for another disastrous experience with a head coach.
Fast-forward to 2022, though, and the results have been eerily similar between the two head men.
Since joining the Jets, Saleh has amassed a 11-19 record, while Campbell has guided Detroit to a 9-20-1 mark.
And, in recent weeks, the Lions -- yes, the Campbell-led Lions -- have been the better of the two teams. Detroit has won five of its last six games, while New York, which has lost two in a row, has lost four of its last six contests.
The Lions have taken on the relentless, never-say-never attitude of their sideline boss, and it's been noticeable during the team's turnaround this season.
"He’s been the same guy since I’ve been here, and he’s the same guy every week, and approaches everything with energy and confidence and enthusiasm," Detroit signal-caller Jared Goff said of Campbell, after the team's 34-23 win Sunday against the Vikings. "And, I think when things were bad, he did things -- he made tweaks, and he tried different things. He tried this, and he tried, and sometimes, that’s what it takes as a head coach. You have to try different things and see what sticks, and I think whenever it was that he changed whatever it was. I can’t put my thumb on it, but something in the last six weeks has changed. And, it’s been -- you can feel it. It’s different, and I said this after the game, like the work speaks to it, and the results speak to it."
Just like Campbell in Detroit, Saleh has garnered the widespread support of the locker room in New York. And, similar to the second-year Lions head man, he's overseen a sweeping cultural shift with his team.
"It started Day 1 last year when this whole staff got here about changing the culture,’’ Jets receiver Braxton Berrios said, after Saleh & Co. beat the Packers, 27-10, in Week 6. “It’s been a constant push, a constant message over the last year and a half and now, it’s finally starting to show."
As much as Lions fans once coveted Saleh (and rightfully so), there's an increasing likelihood that both him and Campbell end up as solid NFL head coaches. They've each gained control of their locker rooms and reinvigorated their respective fanbases over the last year and a half. And, that should be commended, knowing the not-so-great pasts of the organizations they now lead.
It'll be interesting to watch the two second-year coaches match wits with each other Sunday, in a pivotal contest for both franchises.
May the best coach win.
