Detroit Lions coaching rumors: Getting to know front-runner Dan Campbell

If the Detroit Lions hire Dan Campbell, he needs to surround himself with an experienced offensive and defensive coordinator.

Here are a couple of coordinators I’d suggest, and no, I refuse to say, Joe Lombardi. Lombardi is currently the quarterbacks’ coach in New Orleans.  After Lombardi’s previous debacle in Detroit, he isn’t welcomed back.

I wouldn’t be opposed to seeing Darrell Bevell back in 2021, especially if the organization is committed to retaining Matthew Stafford.

Another option to be the next OC may be recently fired L.A. Chargers head coach Anthony Lynn.  Lynn and Campbell crossed paths in the past with the Dallas Cowboys.  I’d be fine with hiring Lynn to be an offensive coordinator, as long as he’s not responsible for managing the clock.

A pair of potential defensive coordinators to keep tabs on are Marvin Lewis and Todd Bowles.  Both had been scheduled to interview for Detroit’s head coaching vacancy.  Lewis did an interview, Bowles’ had been canceled after the organization hired GM Brad Holmes.  With Lewis’ abundance of NFL head coaching experience, he’d be nothing but an asset to the first-year head coach.

Another name to watch is Wade Phillips, who would like to return to football after being out of the game for a year.  It would be wise for Campbell to surround himself with experienced coordinators.  Phillips crossed paths with newly appointed GM Holmes in L.A. as Sean McVay’s defensive coordinator.

Campbell seems to be a players coach, the phrase being thrown around lately by both current and former players is they’d run through a wall for him.  That’s exactly what the Detroit Lions need.

Here is a former Miami Dolphins tight end talking about Campbell, per the Detroit Free Press.

"“It’s hard to put a finger on what people say when they say a players’ coach, but to me, he is the definition of a players’ coach who you want to go to battle for,” former Dolphins tight end Jake Stoneburner told the Free Press earlier this week. “He’s your coach and he wants to pump you up, but he’s not going to bullshit you, to put it lightly. Cause he’s played and he’s been there and he’d tell you how it is. If he thinks you can do it, you can probably do it because he’s been there and done that. And he just demands a very high, high amount of respect around the locker room.”"

The Detroit Lions have completed a thorough general manager, head coaching search but have yet to interview Campbell, who can’t be contacted until the New Orleans Saints season is completed.  The Saints will lock horns with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers this Sunday evening.