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Holding some of the worst win-loss records in NFL history, an 0-16 season, and no playoff win since 1991, the Detroit lions were a bad football team plain and simple. Even with some of the best players of all time like Calvin Johnson, Barry Sanders, and Matthew Stafford, many believed that no matter what the team would always be the SOL (Same. Old. Lions) including myself. This all changed in 2021 when former NFL tight end and lions player Dan Campbell had become the new head coach and immediately came in to change the culture of grit when he said his all famous quote “We're gonna kick you in the teeth, and when you punch us back we're gonna smile at you, and when you knock us down we're going to get up, and on the way, we're going to bite a kneecap off. We're going to stand up, and it's going to take two more shots to knock us down. And on the way up, we're going to take your other kneecap…” This quote and his many antics like wearing biker helmets to interviews lead to many being skeptical and laughing at him thinking he’d be gone soon just like most lions coaches and that nothing ever changes in Detroit, but I and others saw what he was doing and were intrigued and hooked. As I watched his first and continuous seasons and looking back at what I’ve learned in this class, I see now that Dan Campbell exemplifies transformational leadership, quality leadership characteristics, and most importantly authentic leadership. This felt right as I remember working in the McDonalds kitchen with the week 13 game versus the Vikings where Dan Campbell and the lions had won their first football game together, for a team that was 0-10-1 they were expectedly happy to finally win, but me in that hot busy kitchen and the team knew this was more than just a victory but the start of a new era in the lions and now I became a fan. Only 2-3 years later Dan Campbell had turned the lions into a winning team and won a playoff game after 34 years, then got the 1^(st) seed in the nfc and #1 offense in the NFL.

Initially, the lions were not a good team nor rarely a great team, but by motivating his team and inspiring them with a shared vision, expectations were exceeded through Dan Campbells transformational leadership. We first must look back at the lions previous head coach Matt Patricia, a former New England Patriots defensive coordinator under very successful head coach Bill Belichick whose also friends and close with previously class discussed leader Nick Saben. As with many struggling teams a lot of times regime changes occur to instill a new and “better” culture such as the lions when their still new general manager Bob Quinn had fired longtime head coach Jim Caldwell after a 9-7 season that wasn’t deemed good enough. With the GM’s first pick of a new head coach they wanted to create a new culture with Matt Pattrica who was seen as a defensive “mastermind” who worked with Bill Belichick, where the new lions head coach attempted to create a strict “Patriot way” culture. This attempt of a transformation failed as it was a system from a previous successful team not the lowly lions, where Matt Pattricia acted as a pseudotransformational leadership creating a culture of fear and embarrassment for not performing to his previous standards which were self-consumed. This created a toxic relationship between many players where attempts were made to fix only by adding ex-patriot players he was comfortable with, which still didn’t work especially after failing on his specially vision of a defense when under his coaching they ranked near the bottom. Soon both Bob and Matt where fired, and with another regime change came a new culture, but this time with the popping charisma of Dan Campbell. Through his first talks to the media and the teams a culture of “Grit” and collaboration where to be built rather than instilled where relationships and leading by example are prioritized. Dan Campbell then demonstrated individualized consideration when he had to trade the lions star quarterback Matthew Stafford, where Dan picked former first overall pick Jared Goff who had one of his worst years with one of the best head coaches in the NFL Sean McVay where many believed Goff was back-up bound and a trip to Detroit would be near career ending. Instead, Dan Campbell believed in Goff that he was their quarterback and not just a stopgap for a shiny rookie, he took his time with Goff in their first season where he didn’t do so well but made Goff feel valuable to where through Dan’s inspirational motivation, he set high expectations that he believed his players could reach their potentials. Through this motivation players like Jared Goff where he overcame his adversities and blossomed into an even better quarterback having his best seasons ever after his first with the lions. It was through these actions and improvements as well as Dan Campbell being an NFL player before where an idealized influence was created that the players felt a role model too. By Dan Campbell coming out strong with a shared vision and creating emotional connections with players, the lions as a whole become transformed into new success.

If there was anything to describe Dan Campbell it would be that he is always authentic to himself and his teammates. Dan to me and his team has truly embodied what it means to be an authentic leader where he is genuine, self-aware, honest and transparent. His foundation on what Grit is resonates with the city of Detroit and thus his players especially when he ended his ideals of grit by saying “It doesn't matter if you have one ass cheek and three toes, I'll beat your ass.”, which showed how he wanted to carry the team to beat anyone no matter what. Dan Campbells previous experience as an NFL player carried weight as players could see he knew what they were going through, as well as doing the physically demanding drills with his players during training camps which shows his own self discipline and sets the standard for the other players that he and the team are not going to just sit around and watch everything succeed without teamwork. Dan knows who he is and his aggressive mentality leads into his play calling where he is known for going for it on 4^(th) down which is the riskiest of downs where many would question his decisions but going for it is also what won them games. QB Jared Goff talked with Dan where they said “For a while, he was playing into it,” Goff says. “‘So what, people think I’m a meathead? They think I’m stupid? Good. I hope they do.’’’, this is why I loved Dan Campbell he was always so unapologetically him and it worked for him which was just awesome. Finally, what made Dan Campbell truly authentic was his honesty and transparency about how things went during the game, win or loss, he would hold himself and the staff accountable for shortcomings “I didn’t have them ready”, as well as players for when they made mistakes while framing as opportunities to get better “St. Brown had whiffed on a nickel blitz. “Would rookie Saint do this?” Campbell asked. “No.” “That’s not you, man,” the coach continued” (NYTimes, The athletic). Being honest like this is important in great leaders like what was discussed in the book Good to Great where Jim Collins said “In confronting the brutal facts, the good-to-great companies left themselves stronger and more resilient, not weaker and more dispirited. There is a sense of exhilaration that comes in facing head-on the hard truths and saying, “We will never give up. We will never capitulate. It might take a long time, but we will find a way to prevail.” (Jim Collins). Dan Campbell embodies what Jim Collins had said about being a great leader though with a team instead of a company where he confronts what’s happened to the team and chooses to use the tough moments as learning to get better and always having faith that they can prevail. This honesty creates strong relationships with his players like what tackle Taylor Decker says “He took it on the chin, criticism from everywhere, to protect us,” Decker says. “That sounds silly because we’re grown men, but when you have a guy in the organization saying, ‘I’ve got your back, I’ll take all the bullets, you just work on getting better,’ that’s really, really powerful. Especially when the guys here didn’t know who to trust.”, and how this level of authenticity is where teams becomes emotionally invested in their leaders success.

After everything that has happened, I’m really glad I was able to see a leader like Dan Campbell succeed even with the likes of an organization of the Detroit lions. While I typically wouldn’t like such an aggressive leader as many are all talk and no show, Dan Campbell was different and is exactly what the lions needs to become great. He was different because he was transformative in a way that inspired both me and his players where he believed in his players even if they did not, and he was truly authentic to himself and his players which set the tone and culture of Grit that he wanted to create. Most importantly his authenticity created trust by holding himself and team accountable when it mattered most which many coaches are afraid to do in a sport that is just as focused on brand perception as it is performance. This shows in how his players feels “I’ve never wanted to go harder for a head coach,” Montgomery says. “That is a leader you want to be in the building with — and not only that, wanna fight with. Because you know what he’s going to do: stand up.” (Lions RB David Montgomery). What has been created is a winning team and culture which is beyond impressive for the lion’s organization of repeated sadness and failure, yet Dan Campbell doesn’t care.

 

 

Sources

The genius of Dan Campbell: ‘he’s the best leader I’ve ever been around’ - the athletic. (n.d.). https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6047743/2025/01/15/dan-campbell-detroit-lions-coach-leader-nfl-playoffs/

Johneades. (2025, January 16). Dan Campbell’s leadership is so authentic, you should model it. Learnloft. https://learnloft.com/2025/01/15/dan-campbells-leadership-is-authentic/

Meinke, K. (2020, November 29). Matt Patricia’s reign of error was unraveling before it even began. mlive. https://www.mlive.com/lions/2020/11/matt-patricias-reign-of-error-was-unraveling-before-it-even-began.html

Dan Campbell, Grit, & the transformation of the Detroit Lions | by Omar Zahran | medium. (n.d.-a). https://omarzahran.medium.com/dan-campbell-grit-the-transformation-of-the-detroit-lions-1146fc72bbc4

McCarriston, S., Edwards, J., Renner, M., Bahns, C., Dubin, J., Acosta, J., Breech, J., Clawson, D., & Sullivan, T. (n.d.). A look at some of the best Dan Campbell Quotes, as Lions head coach prepares for NFC championship vs. 49ers. CBS Sports. https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/a-look-at-some-of-the-best-dan-campbell-quotes-as-lions-head-coach-prepares-for-nfc-championship-vs-49ers/

YouTube. (n.d.). Tearful Campbell after Lions loss: Didn’t have team ready. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3g0BwHpt88&t=129s

YouTube. (n.d.-a). Head Coach Dan Campbell Joins Team In on Field Workout | Hard Knocks Detroit Lions. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5mMGSReMam8

Good to Great: Why some companies make the leap and others don't by J. Collins (2001).