"I’m Duce Staley, I’ll be your head coach for the week and I’m fuc*ing psyched."
Those were Duce Staley's first words to his players at last month's Senior Bowl, where the Lions coaching staff was running the American Team. It typically would have been Dan Campbell addressing the team, but assistant coaches at the Senior Bowl were elevated into more prominent roles this year.
Campbell tabbed Staley as his head coach. And Staley brought the juice.
"Let’s jump into why we are here," Staley told a room full of future NFL players, courtesy of the Lions via Inside the Den. "Number one reason why you are here is to improve your draft status. That’s it. Nothing more, nothing less. Now, here’s how we’re going to do it. Number one thing is competition. All of you have been competing when playing this game since you were yay-high. That sh*t’s inside of you. It’s in you. And that’s what drives you, is fu*king competition. That’s what drives these fu*king coaches, is competition."
Staley can speak from experience. The former running back was one of the fiercest competitors in the NFL during his 10-year career. He was studious at the same time, a trait he made sure to emphasize in Mobile. Before handing out playbooks for the week, Staley told the the players to "treat that playbook like your cell phone."
"Every five fu*king minutes, look at it," he said. "That’s what you do with your cell phone. A lot of you are on TikTok, taking pictures and sh*t. Some of you think you’re cute. You ain’t. But really, though. Treat it that way. Every time you get a break, look at it. Digest the information. Yeah, I get it, it’s an All-Star Game — fu*k that. If they’re keeping score, we wanna fu*king win. Now, we, you, us, all of us are here to do that."
Campbell has been grooming Staley for a potential head coaching job since he hired him last offseason, and his leadership abilities shined through at the Senior Bowl. During his introductory speech, Staley also had his players stand up from their seats and make a commitment to their teammates.
He said he wanted them to know what it would be like to play for the Lions. A couple of them will likely find out for real next season.
"Look to the man nearest you, left or right, and say, 'I got your fu*king back,'" Staley said. "So guess what, that sh*t is real, right? You just signed a verbal fu*king contract with the man next to you. And that’s what we’re about."