Q&A: Joy Taylor Defends Opinion of Dan Campbell, Is Big Fan of Jared Goff
Joy Taylor is the co-host of "The Herd", which can be seen on FS1 Monday through Friday from noon to 3 p.m. E.T. and heard on Fox Sports Radio. She is also the host of the "Maybe I'm Crazy" podcast.
SI All Lions was pleased to interview Taylor regarding her recent comments about Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell.
Here is our Q&A.
(The interview below was edited for length and clarity).
Joy Taylor: Thank you for having me. I feel like I'm not welcome in Detroit.
John Maakaron: The good thing is that you're not just some national media host talking about the Detroit Lions. We just spoke for a little bit, and you shared with me that you have history in Detroit. You've visited several times.
Taylor: Yeah, I'm very defensive of Detroit. I spent a lot of time in Detroit, because my grandparents. My grandfather was in the Army for 30 years. Retired command sergeant major (CSM), and he lived in Detroit. So, we would be in Detroit several times a year. I grew up in Pittsburgh, obviously. We would drive up on a six-hour drive, or whatever it was, several times a year. I was there for holidays and the summer. So, I spent a lot of time in Detroit growing up. I have an affinity for the city and a little bit for the Lions, in particular, because that's a city I spent a lot of time in growing up.
Maakaron: You had an opportunity to observe Dan Campbell back in 2015 when he was the interim head coach of the Miami Dolphins. What are your recollections of his time there?
Taylor: Well, we, as Dolphins fans, were kind of caught up in the fun, the hype that Dan Campbell can bring. Dan is a very respected guy around the league. Players love him. So, he brought that energy. We called him "Man Campbell." I think Dan Le Batard started that, because he has this press conference and he's in this medium shirt and he's got the muscles and he's all about running through walls and stuff.
It had a little bit of success there, but not obviously what was going to translate into long-term success for the Dolphins. As we know, his time there wasn't very long. So, it wasn't that he was like a bad guy or necessarily a bad coach. It's just that type of stuff has a lifetime to it -- that running through the wall and grit and grind and all of that stuff. Eventually, you have to translate to do you have the talents, are you developing the talents? And is all of this "rah rah" stuff actually translating to wins? Which, obviously, it didn't.
Maakaron: Dan (Campbell) obviously was excited that he got the opportunity to be the Grand Marshal of the Detroit Grand Prix. So, he shows up to his latest media session donning a racing helmet, and everybody had a reaction to it. And, yours was quite interesting in that you had potentially felt that this might be a little bit too much at this point in time. Can you explain your reasoning for those comments that you made?
Taylor: So, first of all, I knew he was the Grand Marshal of the Grand Prix. I don't go on TV and just react to things. So, I said that when I was setting the story up, when Colin (Cowherd) and I discussed it. So, I did know that because a lot of people were like, "Don't you know why he's doing that?" Like, yes. I don't think he's just randomly walking up to the press conference with a helmet on. I would be seriously concerned if that was the case. So, yes, I did know that.
Here's my thing with what and how Dan has popped up on the national media stage so far in his time with the Lions. I understand when you're local, you're going to see a different side of him day-to-day. I know that because he was with the Dolphins when I was working locally in Miami. So, I'm fully aware of that. For me, being in the national space now, I feel like a team, especially like the Lions, who has a long history of, let's just be honest, failures and not being competitive and not being able to get past that hump, you really need to come in with a culture-building mentality. And yes, it's fun to wear helmets at the press conference. And yes, it's fun to talk about biting kneecaps and just running through a wall and bringing in a real lion -- like all that stuff is fun. How it reads to me is, "Okay, so it's kind of more of the same." Like we're doing these over-the-top motivational things. We're creating this kind of over-the-top, "rah rah" culture. It's all about motivating. It's all about creating dogs. And we're going to be the toughest and the roughest. That, to me, is not how you build a real culture and a long-lasting winning organization. I think it's fun. I think it plays great on social media. Obviously, fans love it. And especially when you're transitioning from Matt Patricia to a Dan Campbell. I mean, that is a big personality change. And, to be fair, I didn't think that Matt Patricia was going to have a lot of success there, either.
I think that the way that you build winning, and I've seen this because I grew up in Pittsburgh, so I watched the Steelers be a winning organization for a very long time. You have to be consistent, and you have to create some urgency. And that, to me, is just not the message that he's sending. So, I think you can be that guy. I think you can have fun. I think you can make jokes. I think you can wear the helmet and do all that goofy stuff after you've shown I'm serious. This is a serious organization. Not that you have to be serious 24/7. We know that. But, present yourself in a way that you're building something. And, to me, it just seems kind of gimmicky and silly.
Maakaron: When you look at his personality, do you believe that when he comes out and says, "I'm just being true to myself, this is who I am," that this is the way that he's going going about building a culture? So, that other players will start to advertise and say, "Hey, come to Detroit."
Taylor: Maybe, but what I think is fun is winning. So, while Matt Patricia had obviously not established a good culture there, he also wasn't good, and he wasn't winning. So, all that super serious stuff is as bad as super gimmicky stuff, if it doesn't translate to winning, because everything is about balance. So, I don't think you should overreact and overcorrect. I think sports is entertainment. It's fun. Fans should be crazy. Detroit fans should be mad at me. Like, this is what we do. We support our teams, and we love our teams and we want to win. I just think it's better for me if the Lions are competitive. I don't want the Lions to be terrible. I don't want any team to be terrible. So, there's this kind of idea that the national media wants teams to be bad. Maybe some people do. I don't. I want everyone to be competitive. So, if I'm being critical of Dan, it's just more about, "What is it that you're telling me?" Are you really trying to build a culture here, or are you just bringing in lots of fun, because really, you can have a lot of fun when you're winning.
Maakaron: What was your takeaway from the reaction that you saw online? Obviously, you saw the sensitivity of the Detroit fanbase. It felt like you poked the bear a little bit.
Taylor: I poked the bear. I know a lot of Lions fans, actually. I didn't expect entirely the reaction that I got, but it's all good. Fans are supposed to defend their teams. They're supposed to be passionate and fanatic. So, I can take it. It's all in good fun. I hope that the Lions are great this year. I genuinely do hope that. I'm not one of those people that, just because you guys are picking on me, I hope that they lose. I hope that the Lions are great. I actually am a big fan of Jared Goff. So, I really want to see what he does this year. I actually think the Lions have a lot of interesting pieces and things that they've done throughout the offseason. And so, I just want everyone to be competitive. Social media is not the best place to have these nuanced conversations, which is why we're talking. But, it's fine. It's all good. It's all in fun, and fans should be passionate about their teams.
Maakaron: What's the excitement level for Rams fans having Matthew Stafford come from Detroit in a blockbuster NFL trade?
Taylor: People are very excited for Matthew Stafford. I'm really interested to see how it works, because we know what Sean McVay is capable of. Obviously, people thought Jared Goff was a bust before he got with Sean McVay, and they went to the Super Bowl. So, he clearly has the ability to bring out greatness in people.
And, the Rams are one of those organizations that are very aggressive, obviously, and they go all in. And they've got that new stadium. There's a big buzz for the Rams this year. I am really looking forward to seeing what they're able to do with Matthew Stafford. I've heard some people talk about, he's an early MVP candidate. That type of thing. I want to be a little more patient, but I do think Matthew Stafford has quite a bit of pressure on him because of his time in Detroit. People were really talking about how talented he was, and it's just the Lions that are holding him back. Now, he's with Sean McVay in Los Angeles, with an organization that is not afraid to go out and spend money, that is not afraid to make big moves.
So, I think he actually has a significant amount of pressure on him this year with the Rams. But, I'm really looking forward to watching and seeing what he does. And, like I said earlier, seeing what Jared Goff does, because he's kind of been doubted now, again. I want to see what he's got.
Maakaron: Joy Taylor, co-host of "The Herd", we appreciate all your insights.
Taylor: Thank you so much. Thanks for having me. Sorry, Lions fans. Hey, I love you guys.
