Holly Campbell Explains Grind For Lions Coach Dan Campbell

The lifestyle of a National Football League head coach can be quite challenging.

From the very long hours to the grind of making serious decisions that impact the lives of several people, the challenges are never-ending.

Holly Campbell, wife of Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell, recently appeared on the Sunday Sports Club podcast and discussed the mental grind and sheer number of hours a coach must put in.

"As a coach, you don't necessarily see that physical toll, but you see the mental toll, because they're exhausted," Campbell explained. "There's times that Dan, he's got a bed, like in a wall, it's a closet off of his office and there's like a twin mattress in there. It's like kind of shoved in the back. It's like a little, it's very depressing. But, it's dark."

Offensive coordinator John Morton was known to spend several evenings at the Allen Park Performance Center watching film and preparing for the next opponent.

Detroit's fifth-year head coach also put in the massive amount of hours, sometimes sleeping two to three nights at Allen Park.

Campbell explained, "There's nights he'll spend the night, because I mean, it just -- first of all, I'm like, 'I don't want you to get an accident.' I mean, he drives like a big, huge F-250. So, I think he'd be fine no matter what, but like whatever he hit wouldn't be. Just driving home, I'm also like, that's a good 40 minutes. Back-and-forth, that's like over an hour that, like, you could just save by staying there.

"He doesn't like to stay there, but like there are some weeks that he'll stay two or three nights, but then there's other weeks he doesn't stay there at all. It just kind of depends on how it's going."

On short weeks, the work is still required to be done in terms of reviewing the game prior, but also preparing for the next opponent. Thursday evening games are quite challenging for all parties involved.

On some mornings, the former NFL tight end up wakes up at 3:30 a.m. in order to leave for work.

"Like this morning, he told me last night when he went to bed. He's like, 'I have to get up early, like you know, shortly. I'll have to go in early tomorrow, because of the short week.' And I'm like, 'Okay, you don't know (what time), no problem.' And then his alarm went off at 3:30 a.m. And he got up and he left at 3:30 a.m. Not like he rolled over and hit snooze. Not like made a coffee, got dressed and took a shower. He got out of bed, and then I heard the garage chime. And then I saw the lights of his truck go by. Oh, he passed the window. And I'm just like, 'He literally left the house to go to work at 3:30 in the morning.' It's not even morning."

Campbell is entering his sixth season leading the Lions.

Holly Campbell explains the grind for Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell on a recent podcast episode of Sunday Sports Club podcast @DetroitPodcast pic.twitter.com/yRl1pbz4t5
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