The disappointment in last season started at the top. Above Dan Campbell, above Brad Holmes, owner Sheila Ford Hamp knows the Lions fell short -- well short -- of their rising bar.
Changes to the coaching staff and roster reflect it.
"9-8 is a winning season, but that wasn’t good enough for us," Hamp said this week on Fox 2 Detroit. "It’s not what we expected, it’s not where our standards are. So, top to bottom, we went through everything about last year and what could we have done differently, what went wrong, what went right? We’ve really done a thorough, self-searching exercise and we’ve identified several things that we could have done better, and hopefully we’ve corrected them.
"The entire organization is aligned in the fact that what we want to do is bring a winner to the city of Detroit."
For starters, Campbell parted ways with former OC John Morton after one season and replaced him with Drew Petzing. The aim is to re-establish the physical identity on the ground that fueled Detroit's back to back NFC North titles in 2023 and 2024.
In conjunction, the Lions rebuilt their offensive line by signing center Cade Mays and drafting right tackle Blake Miller in the first round, though Mays will miss the first several weeks of the season after breaking a bone in his wrist.
The Lions also got younger on defense by moving on from veteran starters like linebacker Alex Anzalone, defensive tackle DJ Reader and defensive back Amik Robertson. Questions loom in the secondary as star safeties Kerby Joseph and Brian Branch rehab injuries from last season.
"Camp has gone really well," said Hamp. "We’ve had some injuries but I have to say, I think we have more depth than we’ve ever had, especially on our offensive line. I think we’re going to be definitely a contender, so we’re all excited."
