Dan Campbell deserves to be Lions head coach for the foreseeable future
Dan Campbell has proven he’s the man to coach the Detroit Lions for years to come, whether they make the playoffs or not in 2022.
The Detroit Lions are a storied franchise for all the wrong reasons. Nearly two decades ago in 2003, the Detroit Lions finished 3-13. It was the beginning of a long stretch of futility for the franchise. They would not have a winning season again until 2011. They would not make the playoffs again until 2016. And, they have not won a playoff game since 1991.
Enter Dan Campbell.
Campbell was hired as the Lions’ head coach in January 2020. He inherited a team that was coming off a disappointing 9-7 season. The Lions had failed to make the playoffs despite having one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL in Matthew Stafford.
The Lions made some changes in the offseason, firing offensive coordinator Jim Bob Cooter and hiring Darrell Bevell. Bevell was tasked with getting more out of the running game and Stafford. The Lions also hired Aaron Glenn as their defensive coordinator.
The Lions started the 2020 season with a bang, beating the Arizona Cardinals 35-23. They followed that up with a 24-20 win over the Green Bay Packers. The Lions then went on a four-game losing streak, but they bounced back with a 20-17 win over the Philadelphia Eagles.
The Lions finished the season 5-11, but there were plenty of signs of progress. Stafford was having one of the best seasons of his career. He threw for 41 touchdowns and just 13 interceptions. He also had a career-high passer rating of 106. Unfortunately, that was the end of that era. They traded him to the Los Angeles Rams for Jared Goff and a haul of picks.
To many, this was supposed to be the end of Goff. It turned out that playing for Dan Campbell breathed new life into his career. He went on to win a Super Bowl and the Lions continued to grow with Jared Goff as their signal caller.
In Goff’s first year with the Lions, he didn’t play well. The entire team looked bad, which resulted in a 3-13-1 record netting them the second overall pick. Instead of taking a quarterback, the Lions took Michigan’s defensive end, Aiden Hutchinson. This gave Goff another opportunity to prove he was worth the Lions hanging on to.
Jared Goff and Ben Johnson are the perfect match for Dan Campbell’s Lions
Ben Johnson came in to replace Anthony Lynn as offensive coordinator. It turned out that Johnson and Goff were a match made in football heaven. The duo has the Lions’ offense playing at a high level in 2022. With no expectations, the Lions have won five of their last six games and Goff is a big reason why.
Goff had a three-game stretch where he completed 67.7 percent of his passes for 1,083 yards with eight touchdowns and just one interception. He’s also run for two touchdowns. Offensive coordinator Ben Johnson has been able to put Goff in a position to succeed with creative play calling. The Lions’ offense is currently ranked inside the top 10 in the NFL in yards per game and points per game. After Goff’s 330 yards and three-touchdown performance against the Vikings, it doesn’t appear they’ll be slowing down.
Goff is showing the Lions franchise, fans critics, and Campbell that he is the long-term solution. With the Lions’ offense playing at a high level and Aiden Hutchinson leading the defense, the team has a good chance to make a run at the playoffs. Whether they make it to the post-season or not, Campbell and his staff proved they deserve to coach the Lions for the next three to five years.