Not just anybody can play for Dan Campbell. It takes a certain kind of player to meet the standards of the Lions head coach, someone like Penei Sewell or Amon-Ra St. Brown or Aidan Hutchinson.
Someone with "conviction," Campbell said this week at the combine where the Lions are meeting with the next wave of NFL players, someone that "can handle pressure" and doesn't "get frazzled." By the same token, someone that "can laugh at themselves," said Campbell, "because we'll keep it lively at times, too." And ultimately someone with talent.
As they search for their next building blocks this week in Indianapolis, the Lions are interviewing players in front of Campbell, GM Brad Holmes and the coordinator and position coach that correspond to each player's position. Not every NFL team still sends its full staff to the combine, but Campbell feels it's valuable for the Lions because "this is step one" in really getting to know how a player thinks.
"We've got a number of people, and that can be intimidating," Campbell said. "So, to me, you want to see if you can put (the players) in a gray area and see if they'll give you a black-or-white answer, which is what you want. You want the conviction. There is only so much you can get in a 20-minute period, but that would be something I'm looking for."
There's something else he's looking for, too. Something that's "hard to put into words," Campbell said, and that might be even harder to find. Something that fuels a player from within, like the stokehold of a steamship. You can see it in Sewell when he finishes a block and gets up screaming, in St. Brown when he lowers his shoulder to reach the sticks, in Hutchinson when he flies off the edge one snap after the next. Call it what it sounds like: Fire.
As of Wednesday, Campbell said the Lions had met with 30 to 35 players in Indy.
"And I've check-marked four guys," he said. "To me, they got the 'It' factor."
And what does 'It' look like in meetings?
"Just when you sit in there and you hear them talk about football, there's a fire burning in them," Campbell said. "They can't sit in their seat. They have to get up to talk. They have to tell you what's going on, 'This is what I think, this is what I --.' You can't fake that. When you have that, you love ball. You'll eat and breathe it, do anything for it and do anything for your teammates."
In some ways, Campbell is looking for elements of himself. He played 10 years in the NFL by pouring every ounce of himself into the game, once taking the field for the Lions with such a mangled elbow that Calvin Johnson remembers him "playing with one arm." His fire wouldn't let him fold.
Campbell also had the brains to go with his brawn, and the drive to utilize both. In the interview for his first full-time coaching job in the NFL, he was manhandling chairs to demonstrate blocking techniques. For Campbell, 'It' also looks like a thirst for the details, which can be quenched only by being right.
"You watch the guys, you present them this mini-install before they get to the tape. They're taking notes, asking questions and then man, when you (quiz them on it), they throw the sheet down. Because to them, it's a competition. Like, 'I'm about to show you how good I can do this. I'm about to show you what I can retain. I'm going to show you that I understand what you're wanting me to do," Campbell said.
"And those guys are rare," he added. "If you can find those guys and they've got some ability, which most guys here do, it's hard not to like them."
The Lions' roster has come a long way in two years under Campbell and Holmes. It still has a ways to go. Campbell said the Lions "want to get more athletic" and "need to get smarter." Some of that will happen organically as Detroit's young players continue to grow.
"But at the same time, man, these players we acquire need to have some FBI (football intelligence) to them," Campbell said. "They need to love it and have some FBI. That's not always, they can tell you exactly what to do. But they have an instinct about them. Some of them can't really tell you, but they're always in the right place. And there is something to be said about that, too."
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