When Dan Campbell was named head coach of the Detroit Lions in 2021, the team was one of the league’s doormats. The franchise’s last postseason victory had come in 1991, and the Lions hadn’t won their division since 1993.
However, at his introductory press conference in January 2021, Campbell made it clear that the Lions weren’t lying down for opponents anymore:
“Here’s what I do know is that this team is going to take on the identity of this city. This city’s been down and it found a way to get up. It’s found a way to overcome adversity. So this team’s going to be built on we’re going to kick you in the teeth, and when you punch us back, we’re going to smile at you, and when you knock us down, we’re gonna get up and on the way up, we’re gonna bite a kneecap off, alright, and we’re going to stand up and then it’s gonna take two more shots to knock us down, alright, and on the way up, we’re going to take your other kneecap.”
The first season was rocky, and Campbell hasn’t had the postseason success of some of the other names on this list. But the 50-year-old is 52-43-1 as Lions head coach, and it cannot be denied that he has completely changed the culture in Detroit.
No one takes the Lions lightly anymore.