If Dan Campbell caught some grief for his kneecap-biting introduction as Lions' head coach, he's drawn nothing but praise for the staff he's assembled since.
Campbell, in his first stint as a full-time head coach, has hired a number of experienced minds on both sides of the ball. Which has caught the eye of a man who won two Super Bowls as a player and is looking for a third on Sunday, Buccaneers linebackers coach Larry Foote.
The Detroit native still keeps tabs on the Lions and likes the look of their new coaching staff.
"I am very impressed with those guys," Foote told the Stoney & Jansen Show. "I just saw the other day that Dom Capers is joining that staff (as a defensive assistant), and he’s a protege of Dick LeBeau. They're bringing some smart guys in there, some proven guys, with Duce Staley, (John) Dorsey signed on to be a consultant upstairs. They’re making some right moves."
That's without mentioning OC Anthony Lynn, who's joining the Lions after a four-year run as head coach of the Chargers, and DC Aaron Glenn, the former Saints defensive backs coach who followed Campbell to Detroit. The Lions also poached linebackers coach Mark DeLeone from the Bears after beating their division rival in a race to hire Staley, who will be running backs coach/assistant head coach in Detroit.
As for Campbell himself, his former players continue to say good things. That includes Ndamukong Suh, who played for Campbell during his stint as interim head coach of the Dolphins in 2015.
"I heard a number of good things about Campbell," said Foote, whose playing career overlapped with Campbell's for seven seasons and included a one-year stop in Detroit. "I was talking to Suh about him a couple weeks ago and Suh said, 'He’ll get those guys to play for him.' So I’m excited."