During his first year and a half as Lions’ head coach, Dan Campbell was portrayed as a caricature come alive.
Since then, though, he’s been the toast of the town. Want legal help? Dan Campbell can tell you where to get it. Have a medical issue? Campbell is all over TV with advice about where to get help for that, too.
It’s the fruit of success. Endorsements galore. And who doesn’t love those pictures of the big guy with the little dog rolling through the drive-thru at a coffee joint.
Triumphs like the Lions’ first two playoff victories and division titles in more than three decades make for popularity. The Lions are 35-9 in their last 44 regular season games.
There is, however, a downside to such success. The Lions coaching staff has been roundly poached, including golden boy offensive coordinator Ben Johnson (Bears) and Campbell’s right-hand man and defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn (Jets).
It also leads to a challenge in player personnel. General manager Brad Holmes has drafted so well, the Lions' struggle is less building than keeping the band together because of salary cap challenges.
Throw in an unusually harsh road schedule, and Campbell finds himself at a crossroads entering 2025. The Lions remain a patently talented team, but the NFC North keeps getting better.
Minnesota was 14-3 in 2024. The Lions had to win a showdown in the season finale to capture the division from the Vikings. Green Bay has drafted astutely in recent years, building a formidable team with a young quarterback, Jordan Love, who has displayed flashes of brilliance, along with a strong defense.
The Vikings and Packers have among the NFL's best defensive fronts. The Lions have one the least mobile quarterbacks in Jared Goff. As importantly, Minnesota’s Kevin O’Connell (three years) and Green Bay’s Matt LaFleur (six years) have established their programs as head coaches. And now Johnson is in the division with a revamped version of the Bears.
Each of these coaches, including Johnson this offseason, have followed the Lions’ blueprint of building their teams from the inside out by investing heavily along the offensive and defensive fronts.
The Bears and Vikings have the advantage of quarterbacks on rookie deals, in Caleb Williams and J.J. McCarthy. Their slotted salaries give their respective teams quite an edge cap-wise compared to the Lions’ investment in Goff.
Given the talent of Love, who has a similar cap hit, it has also put Goff on the spot. His faltering performance against the Commanders in the playoffs aside, Goff was clearly the best quarterback in the division last season, which was apparent in the regular season finale when Sam Darnold, since moved to Seattle, faltered badly as the Vikings’ QB.
Who knows what the Vikings have in McCarthy, but he is loaded with weapons in Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison and T.J. Hockenson and a reinforced offensive line.
Green Bay departed from its recent defensive drafting mode to select wide receiver Matthew Golden in the first-round. His sub-4.3 40-time combined with impressive production at Texas and Houston was eye-opening. Williams has weapons, too, and the ultimate savvy play caller for a head coach.
But the division isn’t necessarily going to be decided by offense. Each of its head coaches has an offensive background, which puts more of a question mark on defense.
Former Boston College head coach Jeff Hafley improved the Packers’ defense significantly last season after replacing former Lions’ defensive coordinator Joe Barry. Ex-Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores has one of the best defensive minds in football, as coordinator for the Vikings. Green Bay and Minnesota both had a plus-12 turnover differential last year, even better than the Lions’ plus-9.
Dennis Allen didn’t have much success as a head coach with the Raiders and Saints, but his coordinator chops are among the NFL’s best. Clearly, Johnson is handing that side of the ball to Allen, and he’s got some promising talent to mold.
Conversely, Campbell is counting on a first-time coordinator, Kelvin Sheppard, to run his defense.
Nobody is expecting the Lions to go 15-2 again. What really matters is the postseason, which ended with the heartbreak of blowing a 17-point halftime lead in the conference title game after the ’23 season at San Francisco, and the terribly bad performance at Ford Field vs. Washington last season.
It starts with winning the division. It won’t be easy. It will be tougher than the last two seasons. But with proper adjustments to the changing landscape, the Lions are more than capable of a three-peat.
That requires the best of Dan Campbell, above anybody else in the organization.