Pre-training camp 2021 NFL Power Rankings: Packers slide, Titans climbing
By Randy Gurzi
. . Previous: 31st. Detroit Lions. 31. team. 50
Another team that made a questionable coaching hire was the Detroit Lions, who brought in Dan Campbell to lead their troops after moving on from Matt Patricia. The move for Campbell seems odd considering the shift to younger coaches with innovative ways of approaching the game, whereas he’s a complete throwback coach who wants to win by acting tougher than everyone else.
His approach may have been great in 1985, but this is 2021 and making quotes about biting kneecaps and punching people in the mouth isn’t what wins ball games. It’s also alarming to listen to him speak and say some of the weird stuff he does, like when he went off about players and the wiping of their behinds (the quote was from NFL.com’s Mike Silver but since he blocks just about everyone, we linked to an article from Joe Rivera of Sporting News).
"“I told (the players), honestly, day one, I said, ‘Look, I’m not carrying your toilet paper around. I’m not gonna wipe your butt. You’re gonna wipe your own butt. You handle it and I’ll treat you like men until you prove otherwise.'”"
On top of this, the Lions have no real No. 1 receiver, and their defense is a mess. They traded away Matt Stafford and while he’s a better player than Jared Goff, it was a good move since it landed them some draft stock going forward. But that doesn’t mean it’s going to help them this season.