Dan Campbell Is Not Changing A Damn Thing
The Detroit Lions have made some significant changes to how they run things this offseason. No rookie minicamp. No joint practices. But one thing that is not changing? How Dan Campbell runs training camp.
Hard. Physical. No apologies.
Campbell made that crystal clear Wednesday at the Meijer Performance Center in Allen Park. “We’re going to push it,” he said. “We’re going to push, that’s what we do, but we’ll do it smart.”
He went on. “We have got to get these guys ready for a season, there’s a chance we play some of these guys in the preseason without the joint practices, and so I’m going to do what I think is best to prepare these guys for 17 weeks, but also understand that we have got to be smart about it and we can’t break them in training camp.”
Translation: pads are coming on, bodies are going to hit, and if you were hoping for bubble wrap and cautionary tales, you are going to be disappointed.
Why This Might Actually Be The Right Call
Here is where it gets interesting. Most of us, myself included, have spent years wondering if Campbell’s hard-nosed camp approach is what keeps landing guys on the injury report before the season even starts. Surely all that contact early is grinding these guys down, right?
Wrong. Maybe.
Dave Kempfert, a former NFL offensive lineman and current Director of Rehabilitation Services at the Bone and Joint Institute of Tennessee, says the opposite might be true. He says going hard early could actually be protective.
“If you’re not used to all that bruising, sudden starts and stops, and cutting, taking on collisions, learning how to get up at full speed, it makes a difference in how you perform,” Kempfert said. “There are limits to how often you want to do it, but I think you have to prepare your body for those things.”
He added that some teams that take it too easy in camp might actually be more vulnerable to early-season injuries because their bodies are not conditioned for the violence of the regular season.
In other words, you cannot fake contact. You cannot simulate game speed in slow motion.
The Old-School Approach Might Be The Smart One
Kempfert also pointed out that while the NFL has gotten smarter about monitoring workloads and using data to prevent overtraining, there is still real value in putting players through physical stress early. “There is something to putting in the contact and putting yourself in those situations to get yourself ready for that,” he said.
He even admitted that back in his playing days, they did more full-contact two-a-days in training camp than teams do in an entire season now. Not ideal, but the pendulum may have swung too far the other way.
Campbell and Kempfert are essentially saying the same thing. You have to be smart. You have to monitor each player individually. But you cannot baby them.
And Campbell is not about to start now.
This Is Who He Is
Dan Campbell has a philosophy and he sticks to it. He has rebuilt the culture of this franchise on toughness, accountability, and preparation. You do not prepare for a fistfight by shadow boxing.
So when camp opens and the pads go on, expect the same intensity Ford Field has come to know. Expect hitting. Expect guys getting after it.
And maybe, just maybe, trust that the man who has turned this franchise around knows what he is doing.
So what do you think? Is Campbell right to keep pushing hard or is this just asking for trouble before the season even starts? Sound off below.
