Dan Campbell is one of those head coaches who will believe in his team no matter what, but after a crushing defeat in the Divisional Round to the Washington Commanders at home as the No. 1 seed, even the most optimistic people can feel deflated.
But not Campbell, who reiterated his belief that his Detroit Lions’ championship window remains wide open.
“Yeah, I do,” Campbell said when asked that championship-window question, via ESPN. “We talk about that core. That core group is still intact, and we’ve signed some back, some are up on contracts, and that’ll be ongoing. But, yeah, we absolutely do.”
“I think the most important thing is you want to know you’ve got your culture, you’ve got your identity, and you’ve got players that fit into that, and we’ve got that.”
A perfect example was star wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown, who signed long term with the Lions this past offseason, texted Campbell at 4 a.m. after the 45-31 loss to the Commanders on Saturday night.
The loss was eating at him, but it showed Campbell that he has hungry players in the building, especially leaders like St. Brown.
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“I know the right guys. They’re our guys for a reason, and that’s what will always give me hope and let me know we’re only going to be better.
“We’re going to come back stronger, we’re going to learn from this, and it’s just more fuel on the fire, is what it is.”
Campbell said all of this before reports surfaced that his offensive coordinator, Ben Johnson, had been plucked by an NFC North rival to become their next head coach. The Chicago Bears are bringing in Johnson to help turn things around, and he obviously knows all about the organization after the past three seasons in his role in Detroit.
But this shouldn’t come as a shock to Campbell, who should prepare for the loss of defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn as well. Glenn is going in for his second interview with the New York Jets on Tuesday to potentially fill their head coach vacancy as well.
Campbell told ESPN that he must have a next-man-up mentality if he were to lose his coordinators, but winning right now doesn’t change.
“We’re not going to allow that to happen,” Campbell said regarding a potential mindset change. “Does it hurt to lose those guys? Absolutely. They’re a part of what we’ve been here. They’ve been here for four years, and they’re one of the major reasons why we’ve been able to get to where we’ve been.”
Simply put, the Lions weren’t supposed to be thinking about the future, already losing their innovative offensive coordinator and preparing for the offseason. With their ability to throw up points on the scoreboard, they seemed almost destined to represent the NFC in Super Bowl LIX.
While the Lions have to go back to the drawing board, their head coach still believes they have the squad to get to the Super Bowl for the first time in franchise history.
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