Dan Campbell Learns Early Lesson: Leaving Voicemails Does Not Work

Communicating with modern athletes is vastly different for new Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell than during his playing days.

During his playing career, Campbell did not have to worry about monitoring what he posted on social media or receiving a text message from one of his coaches.

As a first-time coach in the league, Campbell & Co. are learning how to efficiently gather information from social media and how to actually get a player to respond via the phone.

In a recent sitdown interview with The Athletic, Lions general manager Brad Holmes explained how communicating with athletes has evolved throughout his time in the National Football League.

"Dan brought this up one time. He called a player and left a voicemail, and the player hadn’t gotten back to him. And, he said something about, 'Oh, I didn’t text him.' And it’s, like, voicemail is just nonexistent (now). Dan made the joke, 'It don’t count if I leave voicemail.' You’re hearing the actual human being that’s talking to you. But, if you didn’t send that text."

Holmes explained further that social media has actually made it easier to learn about modern players, based on their addiction to posting information for their followers.

"When people want to find out about somebody, what’s the first thing they do? Go to social media," Holmes said via The Athletic. "And, so, it’s kind of made it easier, to an extent. If you’ve got information like the character information you’ve got from sources -- 'he’s a great kid' -- and you’re seeing a similar thing on social media, that’s some confirmation. You might see something totally different."

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