Allen Park — Dan Campbell has been focused on changing the Detroit Lions’ operating procedures this offseason, a sentiment that reached a fever pitch in Allen Park on Friday.
Asked if there was anybody who stuck out through the first few days of Organized Team Activities (OTAs), Campbell firmly planted his flag once again.
“There’s been a lot of guys that have done really well, for two days in pajamas,” Campbell said.
And then: “But I’m done with the hype of the pajama party in May.”
Around the press room in Allen Park, Campbell has developed a reputation for being almost too honest. Ask him about a sensitive topic, and he’ll deliver a company line about how he can’t say too much before dropping a, “Now, here’s what I will say…” and giving a well-thought-out answer. Last year, at the NFL’s annual league meetings, he declined to say which team the Lions were scheduling for joint practices because another team had previously taken umbrage at his announcing it early. Even when he does hold back on what he’s really feeling, he usually gives away the subtext with his body language.
Over his first few years, and even into the Lions’ most successful seasons, he would go viral on social media for the affectionate nicknames that he gave to players. Defensive tackle Alim McNeill was “Twinkletoes” and “Buttercup.” Former Lions wide receiver Josh Reynolds was “Praying Mantis,” a “Spider of Death” and a “Freaking Serpent,” all within the span of a few sentences.
While he’s always been extremely serious about football, one cannot help but notice the continued shift in tone as players begin taking the field for spring workouts.
Friday, when asked how defensive tackle Levi Onwuzurike looked after all of last year with a knee injury, Campbell made a similar remark to the one that downplayed the “pajama” party. Onwuzurike had a breakout season in 2024 and signed a one-year deal to return to the Lions last offseason, but his contract tolled after he was placed on the reserve/PUP list before training camp. Now, he’s back practicing with the team and could be a critical piece of the Lions’ interior pass rush next season.
“I like where Levi’s at, alright? And I’ll leave it at that,” Campbell said. “He’s working, he feels good. I’m not hyping anybody up, not in May. It’s not worth it.”
When Campbell first came onto the scene in Detroit, he was lambasted for his gregarious personality, which didn’t seem to be a fit for the serious and difficult nature of the job he was tasked with: restoring the pride of a franchise that was a perennial loser for six decades. There had been enough laughing at the Lions’ expense to that point; they didn’t need a head coach adding fuel to the fire. Detroit went 3-13-1 in Campbell’s first season.
Then the Lions appeared on HBO’s “Hard Knocks,” made a miraculous midseason turnaround, and ended the 2022 season with a winning record. The narrative about Campbell had changed. He didn’t just have a big personality — he turned out to be caring and smart, things that resonated with his players and the fan base. Then the winning really started. He was empowered to be himself.
Campbell’s stated goal in 2023 was to win the division. Detroit did that, won two playoff games, and then lost to the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Championship. His stated goal in 2024 then became to get the No. 1 seed. Detroit did that, went 15-2, and then lost in a shocking upset to the Washington Commanders in the NFC divisional round.
His stated goal in 2025 then became to “just get in.” Detroit didn’t do that, finished in last place after ending the season on a 4-6 stretch, and Campbell has since vowed to do everything humanly possible to ensure they don’t have a similar result next season. This heartbreak — which so many predicted after former offensive coordinator Ben Johnson departed to become head coach of the Chicago Bears — seemed to change him. Surely, it embarrassed him.
Friday in Allen Park, it felt like Campbell was showing his scars.
“The better you do, the more you do, the more hype, the more you’re doing this, you’re doing this, this player gets paid, this coach, this, whatever, this coach moves on now and it’s all this other stuff that has nothing to do with what got us to that point,” Campbell said. “… Let’s just get back to the business of what it’s about, football first and foremost, and it’s about the guy next to you. That’s it. That’s it.”
This is a man who’s spent 26 years as an NFL player and coach without a Super Bowl. He got to one in his second year as a player for the New York Giants, who were blown out by the Baltimore Ravens in Super Bowl 35. He hasn’t been back. The ultimate team player, the ultimate players’ coach, still without the ultimate team prize.
This is a man who’s immensely prideful, one who puts every shortcoming on his own shoulders. He’s taken the Lions to their greatest heights since the 1950s — but be it doubt, or humiliation, or something entirely different that’s creeping into his mind, it seems Campbell is finding it difficult to be the same person he once was, even in citing a desire to get back to an older version of himself and the team.
And this is not inherently a bad thing, even though hyping up a veteran defensive tackle in May likely didn’t contribute to the Lions’ shortcomings over the last three seasons. It’s just the nature of being a coach with legitimate Super Bowl aspirations who keeps coming up short and cares a whole lot.
Ultimately, we won’t know where all this is going until September, when the Lions start their 2026 season. This change in demeanor could be the extra juice Detroit needed to win the Super Bowl. It could also drive the Lions further into a tailspin, as the coach changes too much of the original formula and becomes something he’s not — or, at the very least, something he hasn’t been.
There’s also the possibility that his reluctance to, say, praise Levi Onwuzurike before an OTAs practice on May 29 doesn’t matter much at all.
But after a full offseason of promising changes, Campbell’s Friday press conference officially rang in the new year and new him.
nbianchi@detroitnews.com
@nolanbianchi
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Dan Campbell shows his scars as Lions get back on saddle at OTAs
Reporting by Nolan Bianchi, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
