Dan Campbell on Lions’ homegrown talent, free agency additions, tush push and other rule proposals

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PALM BEACH, Fla. — Dan Campbell is entering a fascinating stage of his Detroit Lions’ tenure. Over the years, he’s helped lift this franchise to heights unseen in the Super Bowl era. It’s Year 5 now, and he’s watched players he started this thing with grow in front of his very eyes, paving the way for the successes we’ve seen. However, Campbell and his Lions are now paying the price of that success.

Campbell’s staff is different. Once known for its continuity, many of the trusted voices he came up with are gone, poached by other teams. He was forced to rebuild his staff in ways most franchises only see when there’s a firing. He’s dealt with it all while maintaining the lofty expectations of a true Super Bowl contender. It’s a unique challenge in and of itself.

But if you don’t think he’s up for it, you don’t know Campbell. Or the team he has.

“The bottom line is when you come into an organization, you want to have the vision for it, you want to get it up on its feet and then you want it to be self-sustaining,” Campbell said. “I feel like we’re just about there. It’s because of the people we have in this building. It’s the owner we have, it’s the people that we have, from scouting, to player personnel, to the coaches, and most importantly, it’s the players. We’ve been fortunate to stay together here long enough to build this thing with a true foundation of players. …That group of players that have been here now, going on five years with us, all of us together. So, that’s what it’s about. That’s what it’s about. This group, all of us now.

“We’ve seen the ups and downs, we’ve been through it, so this is the next challenge. So, if you say, well, you lost this guy, this guy, this guy, this guy — that to me is a slap in the face of the guys in that locker room. We’re looking forward to this. This will be the next challenge for us. It won’t be easy, but we’re all good with that.”

Campbell was on-hand in Florida to discuss the Lions’ offseason, the players added, the outlook for the future and more. Here’s what was discussed.

Campbell’s take on Detroit’s homegrown talent

On Monday, Brad Holmes explained why Detroit has approached free agency the way it has — because they’re saving money for their own. He explained his side of things, and that because they’ve drafted so well, the bill is coming. On Tuesday, Campbell put it in his own words, explaining why the team prefers this route rather than building externally.

“Look, there’s a reason why we draft the guys that we do. It’s because they fit us,” Campbell said. “The hardest thing about free agency is not knowing guys. You don’t have a history with them. You don’t know how they are when they have an injury or how it pertains to practicing, what they’re like after losses, what they’re like after wins, what they’re like when they do something wrong and you get after them. All these things. But your guys that you pick and drafted for a reason, you’re with them three, four, five (years). That’s huge. That’s huge. So absolutely we’re going to sign those guys back. They’re us. They’re our guys, and so I think if anything, it just helps you see the future. You have an idea of those guys that belong here long-term, and it just means that it’s not going to be as flashy outside of your own group.”

A perfect yin to Holmes’ yang. Holmes explained the financial implications of exuding patience in free agency, while Campbell used the moment to discuss the ecosystem that’s been carefully crafted. Campbell wants this core to grow together. He wants to win with this group, because they’ve been handpicked to carry the torch and carry out how things are done around here. It’s to a point where new guys can’t help but fall in line and adapt to the culture. This group went 15-2 with 21 players on injured reserve for a reason.

If the Lions end up winning it all with this core, it’ll be the kind of team that’ll be talked about for generations because they grew up together. There were no shortcuts taken getting here. There’s something special about the idea of that. Campbell, Holmes and these Lions know no other way.

Campbell on the free-agent additions

The last time Campbell spoke with local media was in January, discussing the abrupt end to a dream season. Since then, Campbell quickly switched gears to focus on free agency and the draft, searching for players to maintain what the team has built and ensure its depth is better. He offered his thoughts on several of Detroit’s new additions, and how they can help the team in 2025.

D.J. Reed: “He’s got cover ability. He can play man-to-man, let’s start there. But then he’ll bite on the perimeter, right? He’ll come up. He’ll tackle. He’ll squeeze the edges. And then when you see him in press, man, he challenges. He’s not giving you free release. He’ll mix it up. And then he’ll challenge you at the catch point. Man, he’s feisty. He’s competitive. One of the best things that I saw — I told him this — they were playing, it was early in there, crossover tape. He got beat on the play. He actually got beat, alright? And to watch him put his foot in the ground, kind of stumble out from one of the rare times he gets beat  — but you get beat at corner, that’s part of this league. He gets beat. He puts his foot in the ground, and I mean, he is on an all-out, he doesn’t have time to think about recover. He is just on a beeline to try to angle this guy off. I thought that was one of the most impressive things — ‘Man, this guy doesn’t go in the tank, he’s not worried about what it looks like. He’s just trying to compete and win.’ And he lines up and goes back for more. That says it all. He’s got the attributes. He’s got the skill level. But, man, he’s feisty. He’s competitive. He doesn’t get down, man.”

Roy Lopez: “I would say Lopez is the same thing. Lopez is a down and dirty — doesn’t mean he can’t play third down. But he lives in base a lot. He’s taking on the double teams. He’s keeping people off the backers. He can get an edge on you. And he’ll just do it time in, time out, again over and over. One of the things that impressed me about him was when we played them. I mean, him going against Frank all day. We ran the heck out of the ball. But, man, that guy held his own now and we’ve got a pretty good damn center. That was impressive. That among others.”

Grant Stuard: “Stuard can do it all, man. He’s a guy that’s been counted out. But just continues to make plays in this league. He’s a dynamic special teams player in my opinion. And he can play defense. I mean, he played defense against us.”

Campbell on the Tush Push

One of the major topics of discussion here at the owners’ meetings is whether or not the Tush Push will remain in the game. The Packers proposed to ban the play, and there were reports that it had momentum. However, several coaches pushed back against the idea of eliminating the play.

Campbell is one of them.

“Philly’s obviously known for this because they’re the ones who’ve really kind of perfected it and done it and do it over and over, and I’m like, ‘Hey, good for them, man,’” Campbell said. “If you got something, we gotta stop it. So, to me, leave it in. We play them this year, we gotta find a way to stop it. I like that.”

If you know Campbell, you knew this was going to be his response before he was even asked. It’s extremely on-brand. The Eagles run this play better than any other team in the league, and despite the claims that it’s a safety concern, it very much feels targeted. Campbell sees a team that’s very good at one thing, and a league that can’t stop it. He’s of the opinion that you should find a way to stop it on the field, rather than off. A real football guy answer.

Later at his roundtable, Campbell was told that several coaches — Sean McVay, Raheem Morris and others — were strongly against the tush push. Some coaches kept their answers close to the vest. Campbell made it clear where he stands.

“Look, we don’t run that, right?” Campbell said. “Jared Goff, we’re not gonna — it doesn’t mean we don’t quarterback sneak, but we don’t do that. But I am of the school that, hey, they found something and it’s up to everybody else to stop it. I’m a hard yes.”

Lions’ rule proposal updates

The Lions proposed several rules that were discussed at the owners’ meetings. One of them was to eliminate the automatic first down that comes with defensive holding and illegal contact penalties. Campbell stated his case Tuesday morning.

“Really, I felt like where those are most glaring for us — we had a number of these second-and-16, second-and-20, second-and-10, second-and-10, second-and-9, third-and-8 — those, specifically,” Campbell said. “Forget the first downs. Our rule for first downs, it’s irrelevant. It’d be first-and-5 now instead of five yards (and a first down) — that’s actually better offensively, by the way. But it’s more when you’re in those that I just mentioned, the second-and-long, their, and the contact happens six yards down the field, it’s on a scramble — which four of those were — you’re like, ‘Ugh. Man, that seems unfair,’ right? Why not just a 5-yard penalty and let’s replay the down?  So that was really, for me, I know that’s where it came up. And it’s really that little bit of the area, those longer yardage situations where — and I’m not talking about the blatant, man, this is a clear hold. He’s 10 yards downfield, but we had a number of these that really were like that. Contact happens plays six yards down the field and it’s second-and-12. It just, man, that doesn’t seem right.”

The Lions’ stance makes sense. It’s hard enough for defenses in today’s league. The Lions wanted to lessen the impact of the rule. Granted, they led the league in defensive holding penalties last season, so it’s a bit self-serving. Most rule proposals are. But Campbell’s perspective does make sense.

The counterargument would be that opposing defenses would be coached to commit defensive holding in certain situations, knowing they can afford to give up the yardage. A happy medium could’ve been a 10-yard penalty and no automatic first down. But alas, the proposal did not have the votes to pass.

The Lions also proposed a rule to change the playoff seeding format, essentially de-emphasizing divisions and seeding by record instead. If you’ll recall, the loser of the Vikings-Lions Week 18 finale would fall to the No. 5 seed despite winning 14 games. They would be forced to play a road playoff game against a team with a worse record, while the winner earned the No. 1 seed and a first-round bye. The Lions won, the Vikings lost. Still, the Lions proposed a rule that would prevent this scenario from happening again in the future.

It always seemed like a stretch for this proposal to get passed, but it wasn’t entirely shot down — just tabled for now. It’s worth keeping an eye on.

News and notes 

• Campbell doesn’t anticipate DT Alim McNeill being ready for training camp and went as far as saying he doesn’t anticipate him being ready to start the season. No surprise there. McNeill tore his ACL in mid-December and the Lions tend to ease their players back from serious knee injuries. He’ll be afforded time to recover, which is why getting Levi Onwuzurike back was huge.

• Campbell on the retirement of former Lions DL John Cominsky: “I wish him the best of luck, certainly, and love him to death, man. He was the best. But that’s part of the tough side of this game, is the injuries.”

• Campbell said the Lions are still deciding whether Graham Glasgow will return to right guard or stay at left. He said the team could get a look at Giovanni Manu at guard, and also did not rule out drafting a guard who can start.

• Campbell on signing QB Kyle Allen to compete with Hendon Hooker: “The best way to help guys really reach their full potential is competition. …I anticipate Hooker is gonna compete.”

• Campbell said he expects second-year DB Ennis Rakestraw Jr. to take a leap in Year 2.

• Campbell said joint practices are in the works and he’d like to conduct them with two different teams, however, unlike past years, he did not reveal which teams he’s talked to. He said he’s revealed details early in the past. Not this time, despite our best efforts to pry.

• Campbell on Marcus Davenport: “If it goes the way we think it’s going to go, Davenport is going to be a hell of a player.”

(Top photo of Dan Campbell: Jim Rassol / Imagn Images)

This news was originally published on this post .

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