The Detroit Lions Are Building A Winning Culture | Sports Illustrated

this has been two years so now you can tell the truth what do you think of like the biting kneecaps thing and on the way up we're going to bite a kneecap off all right and we got down tonight you remember the narrative back then was that the Rams were dumping salary right like and I I mean you know that like the first time I heard it yeah there were some dark times in that first year but we knew it was going to be a hard road but no I never lost faith and I think that to me what makes that easy to say that is because of working with this guy and having a guy like golf all three of us are going to year three and I do think we're turning a page [Music] we're here with Lions general manager Brad Holmes Lions head coach Dan Campbell Lions quarterback Jared Goff and you know guys I was actually thinking about it like how over A month's time you guys all came together obviously the two of you knew each other but you two getting to know Dan um you know Jared I'll start with you like you know you're coming off a TV went to a Super Bowl with you can be honest about it now a couple years later like what was your initial feeling for what the lines were and what needed to happen here to to turn it around yeah you know I knew there was work to do but um it was always something I was you know an opportunity something I was excited for and um knew that you know there was some stuff that Brad had to do to build it back up and Dan obviously involved there as well but um I was excited to be a part of it really it really was and and we're getting to the point now where we can kind of you know um work with some of those parts that we've built here and and I'm very excited about it Brad why did you believe in him because I you know it's I mean you remember the narrative back then was that the the Rams were dumping salary right like and I I mean you know that like no the first time I heard it um so like what did you what do you see in Jared that was you guys were telling people like this isn't that's not what this is um and you had the institutional knowledge of having been with him for you know six years in Los Angeles like what really kind of made you believe that this was the right guy to start the program with yeah well obviously um when when Jared came out even even as an underclassman he was very young as an underclassman and you know you look at you know not trying to get too deep into the whole draft process when you know we took them number one overall but we just saw so much upside with them and he was continually getting better and then he had some early success and then you know um you know those those those last couple years last couple years like after the Super Bowl it's like didn't make the playoffs but then made the playoffs and so when we got here I knew that he still had growth and he still had upside he was still a young quarterback and he was still very talented and then talking with Dan in our conversations about you know how he's going to approach you know Player Development and how he's going to run to run the team uh I just know that he's very talented he had a lot of upside uh he's been through a lot and I will say this like I think for all of us of when we first got here you know um we all had something to kind of prove in in a sense like Jared had already had success but then you know it was like that narrative came out about when the when the trade happened and you know you know when Dan first got got here you know I mean I don't know if he was like the hot name I don't know if I was the hot name and all that I think we all kind of had to prove something and and that's that that's how we are but I never forget when I first talked to Jared after the trade went down it's it kind of happened like all at once and it was late at night and you know talking to Jared and Jared was he gave me the response of that's what I would expect is that he was a little bit surprised but within about three minutes he was like [ __ ] let's just go man I'm making a single winner you know what I mean and he he knew the work that he had to do so um I just thought it made a lot of sense and Danny I guess you're the greatest exposure to him was in the NFC championship game right am I wrong about that we played each other uh three times during that span over whatever that was three or four year period and that was uh Power powerful exposure and I told Brad this we were talking about it and uh he was like you know I think we I think we can get golf I just remember when you're on the other sideline and we had New Orleans that was a hell of a defense now and had it built up Uber talented man and uh and those guys it was aggressive it was and man you knocked the crap out of this guy and I mean he's back on his feet making throw after throw after throw and I just remember that's what always came away with is like this guy you can't break this guy and he just keeps making plays and uh and I knew we were no we weren't a slouch over there defensively and so it just always impressed me and the thought of being able to add him is our guy our signal caller I'm like absolutely why wouldn't we if we can um so like for you like you know there's that whole initial reaction right like Brad said like okay let's go right when did that become like believing in what they were doing here because I know as a player there's all right like I want to buy in because I want to have personal success and then there's actually like believing in what someone's doing how long did it take you to see like that this was gonna work you kind of have to have some sort of blind belief to begin with regardless um and and that was a huge part of it if they want me I want them like we're just we're going to go do this together so that was the beginning and then I think as that first year went on um Dan and I had a lot of conversations Brad and I had a lot of conversations and just getting to know them and getting to feel comfortable and just trusting them and and them trusting me building that relationship and it takes time and I think you know we're to the point now where we we all kind of trust each other and have a good relationship and hopefully continue to build it was there a point um like a game a practice a meeting whatever yeah there were some dark times in that first year speaking to Dan's leadership being able to stand in front of the room every week and and speak to us from the heart and and really keep doing it it gets hard man it gets really hard and I don't think in the moment you realize how hard it is until you're kind of out of it but I think when he would when he would do that you know it gives you a lot of respect for the guy and a guy that I'll fight for what kept do you like believe in Dan what you were doing is right because I know it's hard you know like obviously that first year you come out of it you have a second pick in the draft so second worst record in the league and then you start last year one in six were there ever was was there ever a point that shook you that said like maybe I do need to kind of like look back and stuff or did you really believe in what you were doing all along We Believe from honestly look it's I know it's easy to say it you know but no I never not one time did I lose faith in what we were doing where we were going the vision that we had man we we talked about this before we even started that year we knew we felt good about our quarterback but and we had some we had a few pieces but we knew it was going to be a hard road yeah and we knew we were going to need some things to go our way in 21. like you know things were really going to have to go our way because otherwise it was just going to be hard as long as we could just stay confident keep building keep developing we keep drafting we keep but we knew it was going to be a hard Road um but no I never lost faith and I think that to me what makes that easy to say that is because of working with this guy and having a guy like golf running your offense uh Sheila is your owner like I feel I feel good man I feel like we're all in this together I really do man I don't feel like you know anybody's being isolated and all right now you're you're out in the boat by yourself um and when you have that that always leads to confidence why like why did like like what was it like that you know like without having like the results in the field like what was it like was there stuff happening behind the scene where it was like I guess the smaller victories right like instead of like it in winning 35 to nothing on Sunday everybody can believe in that right like like why was it that you like kind of like why was it that you were able to kind of keep that conviction well I know I know for me it was and I I think golf can attest to this when you lose a number of games we did and the guys come back in on Wednesday like like nothing happened like man you you just assumed 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 mean we were doing all the way up to the end of the year I mean special teams we're doing all these one-on-one drills out there where it's compete drill guys are grinding through it and nobody's batting high and nobody's pouting nobody's moping they just kept going and they believed that the next game was the one the next game was the one if we just clean up a couple of things and you know towards the end of the year we start playing better football um we started playing together we and and so you never felt like I think the fear is always 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 and uh it doesn't mean it doesn't hurt doesn't mean that it doesn't sting but it doesn't affect the way you your approach is and and how you 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 right like 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 yeah and I mean we were just talking a little bit about you know Jared being the right guy to come in well I mean uh there are some of the NFC Championship Game and um one of the things that unless you were there uh I mean how would you rate in terms of loud I mean it's it was so that's a component as well as he played and you know the hits he took and kept coming back it's like I know that that dude is a physically and mentally tough guy so he was the right guy to go through what the journey that we knew we were about to go through he like we knew like okay this is going to be a little tough it's going to be a little tough we knew that he was going to be able to take that you know and so when it got dark last year about like the one in six we looked at it because look it's reality we're like look we're we're big on accountability self-assessment all that and we look like it's working and Dan kept saying we just need to get that one win we just need to get that one win we're very young on defense very young on defense 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 you know around that when we got that one win they just kept taking off but we had the right guy because he's wired the right way to go through those dark times and we got the right guy leading and that's what he kept saying the whole time when everybody else thought the whole world was falling me and Dan the whole time was like no it's right it's right and it's accredited to Dan mentioned it's a credit to ownership you're like Sheila having the patience of like I trust these guys I know it's worth you know what I mean and and you just got to stick with it but it's a culmination and I do want to ask you about that but like first like what what he was getting at like did you notice like and these guys are saying you are the right type of guy to be the guy talking in the Huddle right like the guy who's kind of leading the team did you notice something and you've seen teams built before did you notice something about the type of guy that was coming into the locker room was there something that a lot of guys come in and had in common yeah I think like Dan said it was from from the starters all the way down to the guy the third stringers to special teamers to you know everyone it was all guys that showed up on Wednesday without batting an eye every single week and it was and if you weren't that way we didn't we didn't want you here and in the The Core group of guys are that way and everyone kind of conformed to that but yeah you could 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 last year one in six what's going on in the locker room yeah it's again it's the same we kept showing up on Wednesday and I think you know to be a little bit more specific we were I felt like we were playing good football in those first handful games we just couldn't get that play in the fourth quarter to win and ultimately that is the difference in this league but like he said as we knew as soon as we made that one play whatever that was it happened to be in the Packers game late in that game we got that win and it's like okay now we can go then we won the Chicago game then the Giants game and and so on and so forth but um getting that feeling uh especially for the young guys here of of you know making that play late in the game to kind of seal it to finish it to push one more yard to finish the game I think was the difference you were part of a team that I had to learn how to win in Los Angeles right like because they hadn't won in a long time like where did you see the the guys on the team learning how to win last year was there I mean outside of just the obvious which is that Packer game like you said was there like something where you could point to and say like that's when it really kind of like came on for a lot of guys I think that's it yeah I think it's that Packer game and and making plays in the fourth quarter when the game's kind of in Balance gonna go either way and and like I said you know specifically for these young guys I think of Kirby in that Packers game having three interceptions and then Jerry you know running down that last plays and he was covering Sammy Watkins and like being there to make the play like those little things you know weren't happening before and then they started to happen more and more often and then you get the W and you go okay there it is and like you said once you get that first W start to roll a little bit so you played for parcels and you you know came up coaching under Sean Payton and I think those guys are very much like every season is its own entity every game is its own energy you turn the page but like I look at the situation you guys are in and it does feel like if this works out this year like that some of the momentum might have carried over from last year like do you see it as we can carry over momentum from from where we're going and do you look at this as like so many good things happen at the end of last year like yes we turn the page but like I don't want them to forget like all the stuff that happened at the end of last year yeah I mean there there certainly is some of that um you know and and I do think we're turning a page um but I think the reason it feels that way too is they're again we're going into year three together you know it's for all of us all three of us are going to year three same with Decker same with rag now saying our core now we're on year three with the core and we do things a certain way here top to bottom and everybody believes in it and knows it and when your core is that way that's what gives you hope it's like okay here we go and so what have we done we've we've acquired some pieces Brad acquired some pieces that we feel like are going to fit us and what we're about and fit the core and and that's what gives you hope as to okay here we go now I've said it before say it again we have to go earn it we have to put all the work in with all the focus has to be on all the little things again because if we don't then no we'll be you know you'll win seven games or whatever maybe eight I don't I don't know and and but otherwise if you want to do something special we got to start back over with the work with the right guys um that were here part of the core and the guys that Brad's uh acquired I know we're three four days in the camp but was there a point like what you're talking about Dan is there was there a point in the spring or even you know over the last week where you're like okay like two years ago this is what we were talking about now it's TurnKey and now it's happening like is there any good story that you have is something that wouldn't have been automatic two years ago that maybe is now an easy one for me right now is how efficient we're just simply getting in and out of the Huddle yeah getting lined up getting you know motion timing getting where we're supposed to be and guys are on their p's and q's consistently right now through through the first four days of training camp and even in the spring a little bit and that's you know year two of an offense that'll happen but a year ago I couldn't have said that and and certainly the year before that but now you feel like okay you know the 11 guys in there know what the hell is going on and everyone is dialing for you Dan is it any moment any Story YouTube Red like any story like that you can think of from the Springer the first few days out here where it's like that's what I was looking to build that's what we've that's what we've been talking about funny enough that he brings that up because I'm going to piggyback off of that because I totally agree with what he just said because one of the things we're in practice number three yeah and I don't know if we've repeated a play yet because uh somebody's not what you know and I 21 it was like every third play we were blowing the way all right now it doesn't mean there's not still mistakes but it is we're so much more efficient man uh and on top of it and and okay so now that's the floor and we go up from there whereas you know a while back it was you know because you are you're building from scratch everybody we're all new we're all trying to work together just the overall efficiency of how we're running as an organization and how we're evolving as an organization I mean just improvements that we've made just top down as just you you see it on the field with the players you see it you know just inside the building just we've done a lot of stuff and we we listen to our players we listen you know a survey you know I want the players to fill out a survey and say this is what's it okay we're listening to them and we're going to make those improvements because you know so it's it's a top-down thing but out to your point of when do you see it starting to turn and like these guys are learning is I even take a little bit further like the Green Bay game yeah it all came together it's like oh but some of those Hard Road winds up in up in New York like those that like when the game was right there on the line and Dan talks about it all the time about man where's your heart rate at when when is when it's critical when the game's on the line and it goes back to like we're never saying the right guys having the right guys you know in terms of like when we first got here you know we kind of broke it all the way down to the studs but retaining the right guys and acquiring the right guys and it's easy to collect Talent like that I talked to Scouts about that all the time that that's the very coherent easy part but 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's that's what the course is like what you're talking about then it becomes a players program right like it's like then like that's naturally what you're like and Dan you're a player like naturally that's like what the goal is right is like what you're preaching then now all of a sudden you've got like you know missionaries over here you know like that are out preaching that in the locker room right like that this the the survey right like where now it really like belongs to you guys not to them as much right yeah like the the core group of guys like you mentioned I mean ragno Decker Pinay Jonah vaitai uh myself obviously St Brown's in year three um and then defensively you go angeloni you go Alim Hutch will have his way this year Trace curb all these guys that have like been a part of this culture building that yeah like you know you know we can kind of police ourselves in a lot of ways now and um we know when things are screwed up we don't need them to tell us we can get it fixed hey let us run that again that type of stuff and it's it's always good when it gets to that point but it takes a lot of work so it's been two years so now you can tell the truth what do you think of like the biting kneecaps thing and the up downs and all of that when you were when you first yeah wait a minute they said you know the defense does 40. Goff said the offense is doing 100 tomorrow that's right yeah that's right the the kneecap thing I mean he's passionate man and we see that come out every day and uh you know it's it's funny to laugh at now but it's it's passion and I say that about him all the time like people think he's he's a meathead and maybe maybe a small percentage of him he does he does but he's damn smart man and and we're lucky to have him as our head coach is it uh like you were you sitting right there when that press conference happened oh yeah oh yeah you know what's funny is that I was hearing that Narrative of he's just a meathead and all that kind of stuff and I'm sitting here like because I know him know him so I'm sitting here like I'm in interviews and all that stuff and I was like no he's not he's he's very smart he thinks outside and I was like damn it I should have just not said anything let everybody just think that you know what I mean yeah um so are you still gonna do up downs with them no we already did them oh you did them today all right okay okay um the best way to say it is I finished it's gonna be the best way to say it so like last thing would be just kind of like looking ahead now and um how does The Challenge change now Dan like how is the challenge with expectations now and Jared I'm gonna ask you about this too because you went through it in LA where it was like you guys kind of came out of nowhere in 17 and then it flips right where does The Challenge as a coach change now with what you're dealing with what going from maybe no one expecting it to now you know you're there yeah well look our standards have have uh have risen you know I mean it's it's uh you know we we expect certain things now that we're at this point um you know we know for us to get to where we we got to last year man it took a certain amount of work and that's a credit to to everybody and you know our players to push through it and keep believing but the bottom line is man is it good as it was we didn't get in and the whole point is to get into the tournament and not just get in is to know once you get in that you're there to compete and make waves not limping and and so to me that's what everything that we're doing is for and about and what we started three years ago is to have a team that's ready to go in and bang away with the big boys in the tournament and and so that's that's where the goal and the vision is now the challenge is that we still have a lot of young guys on this team and that's great but we just got to keep everybody centered and that's one of his jobs is to keep everybody centered the young guys on this team and keep them focused on the job at hand and what's right in front of them and like I like I said you went through it in LA so you saw the challenge flip right like from coming up and yeah like we had to break through to now we got to maintain it and we gotta yep we gotta become we got to become what we've been talking about for yeah yeah and I think we have we have the players we have the coaches we have the pieces in place to do whatever we can dream of this year but all the work we're doing now all the work throughout the year at some point we're going to hit adversity at some point we may lose two in a row three in our who knows how do we fight through that and get back on a winning streak and um all those little things are are still yet to be seen but we have the right people here to do it and so you said like you've been looking to have a group that competes with the big boys he kind of answered it already but like do you think you have that group right now when you looked out there on the field this morning I like I like what we have I mean I I certainly I I just yeah I I do and they're again on paper I feel really good about our unit now we just started camp we got a long way to go and there's nothing that would tell me that our guys won't put in the work and be ready to go and do what it takes but we just started we just started okay so this is the other side of that then there's got to be some level of excitement for all of you guys in getting to play in the Thursday night opener right like in that you've gone from where you were and what you guys inherited and what you were seeing coming here to now you guys are going to Arrowhead to play against the Chiefs in the Thursday night opener is there at least have you allowed yourselves to have like a little satisfaction over the uh like of that that we've cleared enough hurdles now where the NFL is putting us on the Marquee yeah I mean I I think it's uh you know we've been talking about the hype train and all that and what's being created in the off-season and I do think it's it's in a sense deserve because the way we ended the season and the way the last game was and all that kind of stuff and the pieces that we added and I and I understand the excitement again I'm proud of our fans like I'm I like they our fans deserve that the city deserves that but in the day it's like okay well then let's see you know I mean like it's not just talk about and say okay all right like we're on the right way and we're we're heading the right direction let's see it you know and so that that's what I love about it and you know um we we have the faith I know you're talking about just like is this the right group to go out there and do it like yes but at the end of the day I don't think it'll ever be good enough I don't care if you have Hall of Famers and Elite starters all over your offense defense from like this league is too hard to ever get complacent to think that it will ever be good enough so we just got to just keep concentrating on what we have to do and that's that's that's really the core of it we just worry about us and doing the work and that's been the message and that's what we'll keep doing and then I mean being on that Marquis like guy like to some degree be satisfying right uh yeah I mean I I think for me more than anything and I'm serious when I say this there's there's streets first of all I haven't been the I haven't been out to Arrowhead in a number of years and it's a special place to play it's awesome I mean the atmosphere um it's electric it's different and so I'm excited for our guys to go out there the guys who've never played out there it's it's it's pretty cool that's one two is man Thursday night and then we got 10 days to the second game yeah so I love that yeah you know I I that that I love and number three is we get to play The Champ you know we get a shot at the champ and uh who wouldn't want a shot at the champ and you've got some pretty interesting history with Patrick Mahomes the last time you guys played I mean it was borderline scene it was a game that changed the league you know so that's gonna be pretty cool like kind of coming full circle you know what I mean like in and and going and face and going up against Patrick in the opener yeah that was you know I don't know five years ago now and it was a fun game and um one that obviously everyone remembers but um you know it's always the cliche quarterback but I'll be playing his defense he'll be playing ours you know I I I know he's a hell of a player and and uh it'll be an exciting game for us I think to piggyback off what they're saying just getting the opportunity to take your shot at the champ in week one is is a lot of fun and it's a good opportunity and like you've proved a lot of people wrong too it feels like too like this is a good you think so I think so I don't know yet a lot of work to do all right Brad Dan Jared thanks fellas appreciate thank you guys thanks appreciate it

Channel: Sports Illustrated

Views: 98,533

Keywords: sports illustrated, sports, football, NFL, Detroit Lions, Lions training camp, Dan Campbell, Jared Goff, Dan Campbell interview, Jared Goff interview, Brad Holmes interview, Brad Holmes

Id: 4x-Ix4q3eGo

Length: 26min 2sec (1562 seconds)

Published: Fri Aug 04 2023