The offseason felt interminable for Dan Campbell. He couldn't shake the shame. As soon as the Lions played their last game of the season, a hollow victory over the Bears on Jan. 4, Campbell was desperate to fast-forward. To fix the flaws of a 9-8 team. To get here. The last thing he wanted was rest and relaxation.
"It does stick in your craw, it’s a bad taste in your mouth and man, that’s a long time," Campbell said on Fox 2's Training Camp Special. "When you fall short, everything is about getting back to this point where you can get back on the field and correct those issues. It eats at you and it comes in waves. There is an embarrassment to it, and I’m responsible for that, I’m responsible. And I’m gonna be one of the ones responsible for getting it back to where it needs to be."
It's not often that a winning team in the NFL is so disappointed in itself, especially around here. But the Lions have set a new standard. For three calendar years, starting in November of 2022, they had the best record in the NFL, at 40-11. Then they lost their way.
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Under the strain of two new coordinators, one of whom was relieved of play-calling duties halfway through the season, a diminished offensive line, a wave of injuries on defense (again), and an unforgiving schedule, the Lions went 3-5 down the stretch. They failed to measure up in several measuring stick games.
Maybe worst of all, after going 15-3 in their division the prior three seasons, the Lions finished 2-4 in the NFC North.
"Fourth place in the division, 9-8, missed the playoffs, the drastic drop-off in production and wins, it’s definitely a motivating factor for us," said tight end Sam LaPorta.
This could be a defining season for Campbell and Brad Holmes. No, neither one is on the hot seat. It's foolish to even suggest that. It's fair to say they need to get back on track, or the temperature will rise. After climbing from three wins to nine to 12 to 15, the Lions had to hit a wall eventually. Now they have another one to break through.
"You see a sense of urgency from everyone," Jared Goff said on Fox 2, "and there is that want to avenge things that happened a year ago. But there’s also a lot of trying to build this team now from the group up and finding out who we are as a 2026 team. But individually, you want to have a better taste in your mouth."
Campbell made changes to his coaching staff, headlined by a new OC in Drew Petzing. Holmes made changes to the roster, fortifying the trenches. The Lions bid farewell to a number of mainstays, especially on defense. They are younger and, by all accounts, hungrier. The core of this team remains elite, but the Lions have to reassert themselves this year. They have to reestablish who they are and how they play.
"Look, my pressure or heat always comes from letting the players down," said Campbell. "I don’t care about job security, I don’t care about what somebody else thinks. I will say this, man, I haven’t told the team this yet, but it’s like, man, I want some R&R. And you're like, what are you talking about? Man, Redemption and Respect. That’s what this league’s about.
"So yeah, I feel pressure to get us back to where we need to go and to not let these guys down, man. Do my job and help them do theirs."
The Lions lost their edge last season. Campbell acknowledges it every time he says he wants his team to get back to its roots. 2022 is often his touchpoint. That's when their rise began, fueled by an attitude maybe more than talent. Those Lions were defiant. They played like they had a point to prove. They set the tone with their offensive line. When their talent caught up in 2023, they came within 30 minutes of the Super Bowl. Now it's their snarl that has to make up some ground.
But reclaiming their identity goes beyond saltiness and grit. It's also about playing a clean, conscientious brand of football, which wasn't always the cast last year. Campbell did away with joint practices this summer, preferring for his guys to clash exclusively with each other over the next month. Situational football will be an emphasis in camp, along with running the ball and stopping the run. Campbell will set the tempo. The Lions are back to marching to the beat of their own drum.
Asked how he wants his team's newfound motivation to manifest itself in the weeks ahead, Campbell said, "One of the big things, man, we are not going to beat ourselves. We will not be a team that beats ourselves. That’s a focal point."
"And I want teams to know, man, when you come out of a game, if you’re gonna beat us, you better have the horses and you’re gonna need about 20 things to go your way. That’s the mentality," Campbell said. "But you gotta practice a certain way, you gotta be very disciplined, and that’s what I expect. That’s it, man.
"Of course we want to win the division, of course we want to make our mark in the playoffs, of course we want a Super Bowl. But if we go back to what that is -- what I started with, man -- you’re gonna know you played us and you don’t want to play us again. And if you do beat us, it’s because you feel like you got lucky. We do that, everything else will handle itself."
Respect is earned, and accorded by others. Only the Lions will say if redemption comes with it.
