Dan Campbell kicked off his tenure as Lions head coach by talking about kneecaps. He kicked off the season premiere of 'Hard Knocks' by talking about the "deep dark abyss." Now, allow him to talk about pants.
In Episode 3 of 'Hard Knocks,' Campbell drilled his players on the importance of finishing games after the Lions had blown a fourth quarter lead in the preseason opener by shaking out a pair of dusty jeans in a team meeting.
"You’ve done some hard work, you’ve got dirt all over your freaking jeans, and it’s just full of this stuff. To me, that’s all the sh*t that’s been here that has kept us from winning. That's the last little bit we gotta get over. We’re going places, man. There is no doubt about it. I can already see it. I got a clear vision for where this team is going. But I know this: If we really wanna go where we wanna go, we gotta get all this fu*king sh*t out of our stuff, man," Campbell said, shaking out the pants for effect. "All this dirt, this last bit of losing has gotta get out of here, the shit that fu*king crushes us, that cost you a fu*king game, costs you a season, costs you the playoffs, costs you a championship game, costs you a Super Bowl. That’s the sh*t we gotta get out, man. When we have a game and we own that game, we finish that game."
And then there was Duce Staley. The Lions assistant head coach and running backs coach went from the loudest voice on Campbell's staff in the first two episodes of 'Hard Knocks' to maybe the quietest in the third -- but not for lack of effort.
Despite shredding his vocal chords during the Lions' joint practices with the Colts last week, Staley chewed out the running backs with everything he had for letting their intensity slip in competitive drills.
"What the fu*k!" he screamed, in more of a shrill whisper. "That’s not what the fu*k we talk about, that’s not what the fu*k we about! So you better pick this sh*t up, I’m telling you right now. You better pick this sh*t up, especially when you get fu*king tired. Stop feeling sorry for your fu*king selves! That’s the fu*king game! You gotta play when you’re fu*king tired, you gotta play when you’re fu*king hurt! Coming back with your fu*king eyes all big like you’re confused — no, fu*k that! Go to the next play! Not fuc*ing good enough."
Asked Tuesday about his seemingly made-for-TV personality, Staley said, "It’s just me. It’s how I coach. Passion about this game, I love this game. If those cameras were not there, that’s where I would be. And it’s good that I guess the fans and everybody gets a chance to see us in that light, so it’s cool.”
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