Sporting News Ranks Campbell Hire as Worst This Offseason
The Lions were one of seven NFL franchises that had to fill a head coaching vacancy this offseason.
The team's principal owner Sheila Ford Hamp and president Rod Wood, along with special assistant and former Detroit linebacker Chris Spielman, went out and made it a priority to hire someone that was the complete opposite of former Lions head man Matt Patricia.
Patricia lost control of the locker room early on in his tenure, and never was able to fully regain the respect of the players.
Detroit's antidote for that was hiring former New Orleans Saints tight ends coach and assistant head man Dan Campbell.
Campbell, who served as the interim head coach of the Miami Dolphins in 2015, wasn't tabbed to be Patricia's successor because he's considered to be an X's and O's genius.
Instead, he was brought in to replace the former New England Patriots defensive coordinator due to his ability to command the respect of the players both on and off the field.
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Additionally, the former Lions tight end will bring a ton more energy to the job than Patricia -- as was evident during Campbell's highly entertaining introductory press conference.
Sure, maybe Campbell wasn't a slam-dunk hire. And he was far from the first choice for the job, among many Detroit fans that desired current N.Y. Jets head man Robert Saleh for the opening due to Saleh being a Dearborn, Mich., native.
However, after three years of the failed Patricia era in the Motor City and the organization badly looking for a change of pace, it appears that Hamp & Co. might have landed on the right man for the job at the present moment in Campbell.
Despite that being the case, Vinnie Iyer of the Sporting News doesn't view the hire as kindly.
In fact, he ranked Campbell No. 7 of the seven head coaches hired this offseason.
Here's what Iyer had to say about the Lions' decision to hire Campbell:
"First off, Detroit shouldn't have been roasted for hiring Campbell vs. a minority coach, given that it also hired two minority coordinators along with new GM Brad Holmes, the Rams' former college scouting director. Second, with that out of the way, Campbell and Lynn also are presented with an immediate big challenge with the looming transition from quarterback Matthew Stafford to likely a rookie.
The other hires were based on scheming brilliance and staffing experience, while Campbell, the one-time Dolphins interim head coach, is somewhere in limbo on that spectrum. He's a wild card like Meyer, only with nothing close to the same individual winning resume. Someone had to be last and, given how good this round of hires feels, Campbell is that guy."
And the coach that received the top spot from Iyer in his ranking of this round of coaching hires: None other than Saleh, the former San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator.
If you're a fan that wanted Saleh for the Detroit vacancy, unfortunately, Iyer probably just rubbed some salt in the wound for you.
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