Despite what NBA Hall of Famer Allen Iverson once insinuated, practice is incredibly important, especially when it comes to the NFL. We know full well that great teams are cultivated in practice and, by all accounts, the Detroit Lions do them well.
That was something Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer recently touched on in an article detailing the things he saw while attending different training camps throughout the NFL.
Breer was very complimentary of Lions head coach Dan Campbell for the way he runs his practices, and for his high football IQ.
Now, to be clear, there are circumstances where players should fight. I don’t, for example, blame anyone in a Detroit jersey for rushing to get Joseph’s back after Nabers took his shot. Conversely, there are times where fights are simply a product of teams being in camp, and it being hot, and frustration boiling over. And faced with those sorts of situations, the Lions stayed steady, and never let the temperature turn up to that point.
That, to me, is a team that knows how to practice, and it flies in the face of the idea that Detroit is anything but a mature, smart, professional group — don’t let the bitten kneecaps or up-downs fool you. It also reflects the emotional intelligence of a head coach who doesn’t mind if everyone thinks he’s a meathead, when he’s actually the smartest guy in the room, a dynamic that’s now prominently reflected in his team. And it was on the day I was there.
Quarterback Jared Goff also heaped praise on his coach when talking to Breer following a practice.
"The best I’ve ever been around. I don’t think you can teach it. I think he’s just got it,” Goff said of his head coach. “All of our coaching staff will watch him in front of the room — he knows exactly when to push, exactly when to pull. Even sometimes when you’re like, Man, is that the right thing? A week later, you’re like, Man I’m glad he did that. He can see ahead better than a lot of guys. I’ve had many moments the last three years where he’s asked for more from me. I appreciate that.
“Then he’ll love me up when I do the right thing and make me feel good. I know he does all of that for everybody. He has such a great feel for who needs what, and I would say that’s coaching staff, that’s players, all the way, top to bottom. He’s a very special kind of human, and I don’t think you can teach that.”
Aside from simply knowing ball, one of the benefits of having a former player like Campbell as a head coach is he understands the daily ups and downs of the guys on his team, and he knows how to handle every situation the right way.
The proof has been in the pudding that the Lions have the right man for the job, and Breer's assessment only further cements that. If there's anyone who can get a team ready for the kind of expectations the Lions have in 2024, it's Campbell.