The Campbell We Almost Got
Here’s a wild piece of Lions lore that’ll make your head spin. Back when Brad Holmes was hunting for his head coach in 2021, he didn’t just interview Dan Campbell. He offered the job to someone else first. And that someone else said yes.
According to ESPN’s Jake Trotter, Iowa State head coach Matt Campbell initially agreed to coach the Detroit Lions before changing his mind. The Lions then hired Dan Campbell instead.
Let that sink in for a second. We were this close to having a completely different timeline.
A Different Kind of Campbell Energy
Matt Campbell was considered one of the favorites during the search, and honestly, it made sense. Three-time Big 12 Coach of the Year, turned Iowa State into a legitimate program, had that grit you want in a Lions coach. He’d already turned down Texas and USC according to sources, so Detroit must have felt pretty good when he initially said yes.
But then he got cold feet and stayed in college. His loss, our gain.
The best part? Dan Campbell knew exactly what happened. At his introductory press conference, he cracked this joke: “I told my agent, Rick Smith, I said, make sure that they think I’m Matt Campbell, so I think that’s how this has really worked out great for me. So now that I’m in the seat, I am Dan Campbell. But I do know this, you can’t go wrong with a Campbell.”
Sliding Doors Moment
It’s one of those sliding doors moments that makes you wonder. Would Matt Campbell have brought that same culture change to Allen Park? Would he have convinced guys to bite kneecaps? Would David Montgomery have followed his college coach to Detroit?
We’ll never know, and honestly, we don’t need to. Dan Campbell turned this franchise into something we’d never seen before. He made us believe again, made us proud to wear Honolulu Blue, made us dangerous.
Sometimes the best things happen when your first choice falls through.
Did we dodge a bullet or miss out on something great? Either way, I’m not complaining about how this Campbell situation worked out. Drop your take below.
Honestly I’m just grateful we got Dan instead of going the safe college route. Matt Campbell seemed solid but there’s something about how Campbell connected with our guys that feels different. He actually believes in this team and it shows every single week.
I mean the Matt Campbell thing is wild but let’s not act like Dan was some second choice consolation prize. He came in and actually did the thing, so at this point the ‘what ifs’ don’t really matter much to me. I’ll judge them by what they produce going forward.
I’ve been watching this team since I was a kid and I gotta say, whatever happened with Matt Campbell doesn’t matter because Dan Campbell is the realest thing we’ve had in a long time. The way he’s built this culture reminds me of how it used to feel when you actually looked forward to Sundays, not dreaded them.
That joke Dan made at the press conference is peak Campbell honestly. The guy’s got the confidence and the personality that this franchise needed. I’m not even thinking about the road not taken at this point.