Mike Valenti: Dan Campbell Is a 'Cartoon'
The debate that has emerged recently has centered around the personality of Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell.
Detroit's newest leader is vastly different than his predecessor Matt Patricia. He has quickly endeared himself to the fanbase, based off of his energy and willingness to not stick to a script during interviews with the media or on the shows that he chooses to appear on.
Campbell is certainly an outlier among the other coaches who roam the sideline in the National Football League.
Based off of the buttoned-up and highly rigid public personas of head coaches, becoming invested as a fan becomes that much more difficult.
And, then coaches wonder why fans are quick to turn on them just as soon as there is a rocky patch in the season.
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When Campbell recently donned a racing helmet during a media session, the latest round of opinions surfaced nationally regarding his outward display of enthusiasm and willingness to act in a non-traditional manner.
Mike Valenti, co-host of "The Valenti Show with Rico" on 97.1 The Ticket, is no longer impressed with Campbell's public behavior, which he described as cartoonish.
On Friday, Valenti expressed, "When he goes 2-15 this year, that stuff ain't going to be cute. We had this before. We had Rod Marinelli. We've had Marty Mornhinweg on a Harley, and Oakley's and driving away from practice. We had "The Terminator" Jim Schwartz. Everything with Lions' coaches is a bit."
Valenti added, "This is a cartoon. Dan Campbell doesn't look right running an NFL team right now. You're not gunna see Nick Saban in a space helmet. You're not gonna see Bill Belichick talk about knee-cap biting."
Valenti then went on to implore someone in the front office to inform Campbell that the organization has had a long list of "cartoon-character" head coaches.
Co-host Rico Beard does not believe that will occur since any publicity would be viewed as good publicity, since everybody is already aware the team will struggle in 2021.
Just how long Campbell's honeymoon period lasts has yet to be determined.
At this point, he maintains a very high approval rating.
While Campbell's methods are unorthodox, the one thing you can't question is his authenticity.
And if others have negative thoughts about him, you can just visit him on the sideline with his new pet lion and tell him all about it.
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