The Lions surged down the stretch last season, by the standards of a last-place team that was winless until December.
And Dan Campbell expects them to hit the ground running this season -- and perhaps sneak up on the competition like the longest of longshots to win this year's Kentucky Derby.
“We kind of feel like we may be Rich Strike here,” Campbell told Peter King this spring in King's weekly column published Monday.
The biggest underdog in the field, Rich Strike went from the back of the pack to first over the finish line in maybe the most shocking turn of events in the history of Churchill Downs. Campbell called it "one of the most inspiring things I've seen in a long time."
And he believes the Lions can do something similar in his second season as head coach, the organization's losing history be damned. In fact, Campbell says that losing history is fuel.
“I just think I’ve got guys like Rich Strike. Every time we hear the S-O-L, same old Lions, and all the stuff, I think it fuels our fire," he said. "We love it. I think that’s how we all feel. That’s how we all talk. That’s how we all think. There’s nothing fake about it.”
The Lions did make strides in the second half of last season, winning half of their final six games and forging a competitive identity under their fiery head coach. Campbell has emerged as one of the most popular picks for the NFL's Coach of the Year in 2022.
"2021 won’t be in vain, I promise you that,” Campbell told King.
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Of course, Vegas is also picking against the Lions in all but one of their first 15 games -- essentially projecting the team to start 1-14. That would put a Coach of the Year candidate squarely on the hot seat.
For Campbell and the Lions, consider it more fuel.
“I know that people are probably tired of hearing foundation and the culture, but I do feel like we set that in year one," Campbell said. "I do feel like that for us was the primary goal. We have to create our own style, our own identity, our own culture of who we are, what we accept, what we don’t accept, and now let’s build from there.
"Now, in year two, we feel like we have that foundation built now. Let’s start stacking on top of it.”
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