Dan Campbell’s Coaching And Leadership Philosophy: How He Turned The Detroit Lions Around

how does the heavy metal loving guy who called everybody dude love to go to biker bars do you ever think that guy was going to be a head coach of an NFL football team see what that is is that a I think that's a f when they hired this man named Dan Campbell we're going to get up and on the way up we're going to buy a kneecap off that's all you need to know uhhuh we're going to punch you in the mouth Dan Campbell is making history with the Detroit Lions this gives me a chance to go out and see some of our fans who I know he'll be out there um you know Coach Campbell he's he's great you know he's one of the finest leaders I've been around yep but what is it about his leadership that turned this program around if we really want to go where we want to go we got to get all the rest of this out of our stuff man and I'm not talking about any other program I'm talking about the Detroit Lions a team that has failed to find any kind of success in decades as far back as I can remember normally what I do is I get I'll get two ventti with two shots Dan's the greatest leader I've been around and on on a scale of one to Dan Campbell how crazy is your coach but I love the way this guy is he's fighting his ass off and he wants to win I'm soing proud of you guys all right you know how hard it is to win this league in the playoffs I love this team now and I think that the guys are they're they're playing for him now I got goosebumps gentlemen when you see your players give all that they have and uh and you lose that way it's tough I love having him as my coach and I think he's he's the guy mcdc has turned the entire culture around in Detroit I think that this team is built in the image of Dan Campbell and he likes to lead and he likes to have people who want to run through walls but Dan Campbell did all of this and the way he did it for the people of Detroit and lions fans everywhere it couldn't be any more perfect you know 12 games but that was that was that portion of the season so what the I want to give it game ball to [Applause] coach let's find out what makes Dan Campbell such a good leader today I want to conclude our search process with the introduction of Dan Campbell as the new head coach of the Detroit Lions Dan will be the first to tell you that winning is the only Mission but the way in which he plans to go about that is perhaps the most important his football philosophy founded on the principles of competition identity toughness and operating with one heartbeat is something I look forward to seeing come to light in Dan's time as our head coach yeah this is how I remember it a Lee this is great thank you this is so exciting appreciate it man I do I'm going to make yall proud We Are thank you here's what I do know is that this team is going to take on the ident of the city all right and the city's been been down and it found a way to get up all right it's found a way to uh overcome adversity all right and so this team's going to be built on uh we're going to kick you in the teeth all right and when you punch his back we're going to smile at you and when you knock us down we're going to get up and on the way up we're going to bite a kneecap off all right and we're going to stand up and then it's going to take two more shots to knock us down all right and on the way up we're going to take your other kneecap and we're going to get up and then it's going to take three shots to get us down and when we do we're going to take another hunk out of you before before long we're going to be the last one standing wow so that's two kneecaps a chunk oh my God shot I'm sorry I was hiding under my desk m i mean who's going to beat that team there's only two kneecaps in a body right there's no you take his opening press conference was electric at one point he said you're going to knock us down we're going to get up and on our way up we're going to bite your knee cap off question the first one is is bitten off he did not describe how the second kneecap will be he said they're going to take it thiso kick in the teeth and bite at the knees we need resuscitation and Dan Campbell being a head coach for the Detroit Lions is good for everybody is it going to be good for the Lions organization I mean TBD I believe me I know 100% that biting a kneecap is a 15 yard penalty I promise you I know that did you know you were going to talk like that when you went up there or is that just Dan camp got let out I'm big and speaking what's on your mind and what's from your heart and that's the way I've always been so to your point no I just wanted to I wanted to be me all I will just say this is I hope he knows when to call timeout and I hope he knows when to throw the red challenge flag if I'm a lions fan I'm concerned we're going to bite off their knee I I see what Campbell thinks he's trying to get across this press conference was kind of embarrassing hiring Motor City Dan Campbell is the greatest thing the Detroit Lions have ever done oh J this is awesome Foy but you know what when you got something to say and you believe in what you're going to say to hell with everybody else it's funny in his opening press conference everyone references the biting kneecaps comment however if you watch that entire press conference he lays out exactly what they're going to do and that leads to one of his greatest attributes as a leader Vision I envisioned that we would have a chance to compete with the big boys and what I love about Dan like from the beginning he talked about it right and he's never wavered and who's had more obstacles who's faced more adversity than this group my job is to make this team better make it competitive make it a winner man you got to have patience there's a certain time for everything to uh you know to get to where it needs to be I'm not going to stand up here and give you coach speak but I'm going to tell you this man this team is going to freaking take on your identity all we can do is put the work in if we really want to go to where we want to go I wanted this job I wanted to be here man I think this is a special place because I know this when we bring a winner to this city it's going to be something we can all be proud of all I know is we stayed we stayed the course with what we believe in I'm going to put the right coordinators in place I'm going to put the right staff together with those coordinators thing and every time we get hit we're going to get back up stronger that's what I do know I knew I knew I could do this I knew this was something that I was I felt like I was born to do I agree with you Dan Campbell can coach my team any day of the absolutely mine too and you keep fighting and you keep swinging you keep believe in that it'll turn you got to have these small battles first right you got to do it with one win and one win's got to lead to two and two's got to lead to three and let's live in the moment and uh let's stay true to what it really is so vision is extremely important and Dan Campbell certainly has that but it's not so much about having the vision it's about getting everyone else around you to buy into that Vision I never wavered or coaches didn't our players didn't and I knew we were this close I knew we were this close um and so did they man we just stayed true to what we do and what we're about and the guys uh man they just kept going I'm telling you it's a resilient group those guys just had to keep getting more reps they kept getting they kept developing we got great coaches they got we got great teachers they just kept getting better and so all that just kind of came together when you lose the number of games we did and the guys come back in on Wednesday you assume we won I mean guys are back to work man they're grinding they're on the tape they're going out to practice competing I think like Dan said it was from from the starters all the way down to the guy the third stringers to the special teamers to you know everyone it was all guys that showed up on Wednesday without batting an eye every single week and it it was and if you weren't that way we we didn't want you here and nobody's batting High nobody's pouting nobody's moping they just kept going and they believe that the next game was the one the next game was the one if we just clean up a couple of things they're looking at me they're looking at our coaches and if we believe if we believe in what we're telling them I'm standing up there and they know I believe it then they believe it and and they did he makes pushing through obstacles and adversity fun because he you he takes it on more importantly we're not in the business of just stacking Players let's find a vision for this guy and that's the type of team that he's built uh those guys believe in him because when you find a vision for a guy now you know how to play him how to put him in your system he has a great way of relaying messages to us with his storytelling he's able to tell stories and and touch our hearts in ways that I feel like some people can't in his words he could be the most athletic guy in the world if you don't have a vision for him what are you going to do with him he had to get every single person within that franchise to buy end to a culture change was there a moment at all where you had any doubt where like am I losing this team a little bit I knew that I knew the guys were still in it I knew we hadn't you know lost the locker room or guys were starting to question what he's empowering his players right he understands what the players want it is that fine line of like when things aren't going well are guys still buying in I think that this team is built in the image of Dan Campbell everyone wants to be a part of that everyone wants to be like oh yeah this happened this bad thing happened whatever dude bring it on let's go right yeah you can feel that when he speaks to the team I I totally agree Chase with him empowering the players he he acts like a player but he is in charge I never felt like we were far away and the and the coaches knew that and honestly the players knew that they knew if we just clean up one or two things we are this we are literally one play away from winning these games instead of losing yeah now obviously Brad Holmes and Dan Campbell have knocked it out of the park when it comes to draft picks however it's not so much about drafting Talent which is important of course it's more about drafting players who are compatible with the rest of the team compatability is more important than coachability Talent sometimes can be overrated I'm sorry to say it if you get the right people I think you're you're breeding success that's how I view it having the right guys you know in terms of like when we first first got here you know we kind of broke it all the way down to the stugs but retaining the right guys and acquiring the right guys and I put my faith in people more than anything else it it's a people business and I just I believe that it's about building a foundation of players who hold the same mental toughness as Dan Campbell and then adding pieces that are compatible to that core and I knew that we could add people that were just like them well what happens if guys don't believe anymore and they don't put in the work and they don't really care anymore and and fortunately we built it that way to where we don't have guys like that either guys are willing to come to work well yeah part of that it's got to be too like you can't just turn guys into that a lot of them have to come like that it's like you can't have a locker room full of guys that aren't that way and then make them that way right so like you probably had to prioritize like the sort of guy that was coming in here who was going to be able to withstand everything the first year and a half was going to present our core now we're on year three with a core the core group of guys are that way and and everyone kind of conformed to that but yeah you can see they kept bringing in that type of guy over and over and over again and you can feel the culture of the team building it's just a bunch of guys that man they want to they want to better themselves they want to learn from the game they want to learn about the game but they want to grow together it's easy to collect Talent do they have the intangibles do they have the character do they have the what we call the football character the self-efficacy the passion for the game the I mean all do they have those components to be the right guys and that that that's that's what the and we do things a certain way here top to bottom bottom and everybody believes in it and knows it and when your cores that way that's what gives you hope we're a young hungry team with the right veterans that we have that I think are battle tested and ready to go we've acquired some pieces Brad acquired some pieces that we feel like are going to fit us and what we're about in fit the core the core group of guys like you mentioned I mean you know we can kind of police ourselves in a lot of ways now um we know when things are screwed up and we don't need them to tell us we can get it fixed hey let us run that again the point is compatibility is important it's highly important as a result of that compatibility mixed with everyone having that shared Vision A brotherhood is formed and one man's strength is another man's weakness and vice versa we know how to cover for each other being around uh the Brotherhood and watching these guys grind and the blood and the sweat and the tears and the I try to be myself I try not to coach speak you know that culture that he's built there is really uh what keeps sustaining you guys this is what's on my mind this is how I feel and I want them to feel my emotion but I'm fortunate to be around a number of great men and women in this building so uh and and to be able to coach those guys is an honor I want them to know when I speak they feel me speak uh otherwise I shouldn't be saying anything so the crew that he was building from the very beginning was a you know a blue collar Bunch probably pretty like-minded people they brought in and he was a part of that he hired a bunch of EX players hey we're going to be doing this thing together man all we got the right dudes in this room we got the right dudes and the right coaches well I like I like what we have I mean I I certainly I I just yeah I I do and there again on paper I feel really good about our unit Dan's the greatest leader I've been around and and has cultivated this culture we have and um our belief in each other I got a tremendous amount of respect for golf so you know when he says something like that that means something to me he knows like no these are the guys who are are kind of in my image they're going to be successful in our program we're built handle some some stuff and uh and we did that today against a very good opponent right and they love football they play football and that's what they respect and they respect their teammates and not anything else hell yeah and when you have an identity that is really all anybody that is a failure is trying to search for when you're able to care more about the person next to you than your own about yourself uh you can do some pretty special things and that's where we're at with this group there's nothing that would tell me that our guys won't put in the work and be ready to go um and do what it takes it feels like they're pretty much a unified one big unit over there it feels like they've done it right from the ground up I didn't learn anything I got verification on what I already knew and this is a resilient team uh it already was a resilient team and we added pieces to that resilient team so now it's almost like you can watch some players and it's like that he'd be a good lion like he'd be a good lion I got a lot of really really outstanding people around me I'm fortunate unfortunate and that's a special group of men back in there I've got an unbelievable staff now I I believe it with everything and all that comes with it man it's just the best so on top of that Brotherhood and that shared Vision you mix in Dan Campbell's passion and his ability to get to know the people underneath the helmets and the pads put your ego in the back seat and let let's get in the boat and let's all roll the same direction because when uh when we all win you'll win individually I think being a good leader involves being a good listener to me we owe everything to this game and the game speaks for itself man I got a plan I swear to you all I think about is you guys that's all I think about man I'm a big Mind of a matter person I do believe you can Will things to happen in some regard like if you are a really positive thinker uh I believe that positive things can happen to you and and those around you begin to grow from that they feel your energy that's all I can think about is you guys there's blood there's sweat there's tears I just need you to trust me that's all please don't ever disrespect this game because it is in my opinion it's the greatest it's the greatest sport that you can possibly play man it's a team sport here's what you never lose is that competitive Spirit right that man what that drives you and makes you who you are he has his passion um for football has his passion just for for grinding through adversity but I just I respect the hell out of it and to me we we owe it as players coaches anybody that's associated with to give it everything you've got cuz it is an unbelievable game man I love the game man and I love people that give it all they have to it too yeah how many times a week does Dan Campbell cry what's making you emotional right [Music] now when you see your players give all that they have and uh and you lose that way it's tough I'm I'm pretty ecstatic man I uh you know this is um this is special you know you don't want that for them this started a long time ago you're built for this I was proud of them and I love the fight they have in them and I love the grit you you're about to cry I know I just get emotional talking about I love it I mean that's I it makes me so pumped when you talk about football so when it comes to the vision the compatibility the passion the Brotherhood Etc it all kind of stem from Dan Campbell's top down approach and here's here's what I know about winning teams when it starts at the top and it works its way down it goes right into the locker room Dan Campbell believes that if you can get the owner the managers all the coaches all aligned and Rowing the boat in the same direction with the same vision that will trickle down to the locker room and when it's functional up top and it's flowing and man we're efficient and we're moving and everybody knows there's one voice those guys feel it and and that's how they play and they grow they have pride in what they're what they're a part of this thing has started exactly where it should start to have success I started with Sheila seemed to me that the whole organization need to somehow be on the same page for this to work and Brad and Dan are perfect examples of that but man when you got a vision you have a clear picture of where you want somebody to be or what you want it to look like Brad's got that man and I'm I'm that way too he's an outof the-box thinker no different than I am what is it that stands out to you well just their collaboration which was part of the culture change I wanted to have happen here they listen to each other they talk to each other and I think the combination together is really spectacular it's Sheila Ford Hamp if you want hope she's the one who's bringing the Hope CU this all started with her she wanted us to work as a team up top like a legitimate team up top there's no secret you got to get good people around you who are all pulling in the same direction it's team it's all about team there's no ego everybody in this organization now feels valued everybody feels when they come to work that they're a part of what's Happening Here let's do this thing together where everybody knows we're all in the same boat we're all rolling the same way knowing that those players downstairs they they'll they will feed off of that and they'll understand that and they'll fall fall right in line like then it'll go down it'll trickle down to where it's supposed to and those guys are going to have pride in where they're at who they play for how they're going to play Whenever you think about a GM and a head coach being on on different pages you can kind of tell by the way an organization operates from the outside you might not be able to hear it from behind the scenes you might not know what's going on behind the scenes but watching an organization you could tell whether or not everybody's on the same page I'm so pleased and certainly could never do this alone I have a lot of support and man that's the biggest killer of any team is when it's not working at the top and I felt great about our leadership and I obviously still do Dan Campbell's leadership and coaching philosophies turned the Detroit Lions program around a program that has been hopeless for decades and he took them all the way to the NFC Championship Game [Music] [Music] [Music] what are you most proud of Dan about this group this season just what they are what they represent and uh look not everybody can come here you not everybody can play for us uh but that group can and they do things a certain way and they respect the game they respect their teammates and that's what I'm most proud of I'll go to war with those guys any day we didn't quite have the horses we got now but those guys you talk about laying it on the line and uh going toe-to-toe with anybody and willing to fight to the end I'll never forget those guys one of these teams is moving on to Super Bowl 58 in Las Vegas in two [Music] weeks I just uh I appreciate guys that lay it on the line maybe you're outnumbered maybe you're not the most talented and uh maybe uh the odds are against you and nobody believes in you and uh and I respect the hell out of those guys that'll fight you know and uh and that's what that's what we're about that's what we're about man that that's how we that's how we roll [Music] here even though they lost the NFC championship game I believe that Dan Campbell's impact goes beyond on the team I believe that we all share his same vision and that we all feel like we're a part of his Brotherhood and for the first time in a very long time the future looks bright for the Detroit Lions thank you very much for watching I really hope you enjoy the video please do me a favor and like And subscribe do all that stuff I appreciate it until next time cheers

Channel: Mike Zarka

Views: 68,688

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Id: 8UUR5dALosk

Length: 22min 56sec (1376 seconds)

Published: Sat May 11 2024