Justin Rogers asks Dan Campbell about the importance of retaining coordinators Ben Johnson, Aaron Glenn. More videos at detroitlions.com.
Justin Rogers asks Lions coach Dan Campbell about the importance of retaining coordinators Ben Johnson, Aaron Glenn. More NFL videos at detroitlions.com.
Indianapolis — Some NFL coaches have stopped coming to the annual scouting combine, but not Dan Campbell. The Detroit Lions’ leader still finds plenty of value in the event, particularly the ability to sit down with a number of prospects for allotted 20-minute interviews.
It’s these one-on-one sessions that, in many cases, are more important than the drills that are the focus of the televised portion of the event. Sure, there are truths that are confirmed or revealed through the athletic testing, but most of that information has been previously established through film study. For Campbell, and many of the league’s decision-makers, they want to get to better know these potential employees before committing a draft pick and a four- or five-year contract to them.
“You’re gonna be able to see them work out, you’re gonna see the combine, the pro days, watch the tape,” Campbell said, “but to be able to just kind of feel their personality, their (football intelligence), the problem solving, things of that nature, that’s the real benefit, I know, for me.
There’s plenty of homework that goes into each prospect interview, but Campbell likes to ad-lib during these brief sessions. It’s an easy way for the coach to see how the player reacts to uncomfortable or awkward situations.
“You want to know what happens if you throw a wrench into the cog, how they handle that,” Campbell said. “I think it helps a little bit. Look, I bring this up every time. So much of this process this time of the year, we only get 20 minutes with them, in the informal interviews), too. So, you only have so much time. But what you can do is eliminate the guys that you know (don’t) got it.
“Jack Campbell last year, we knew with him in 15-20 minutes, OK, he can figure ball out, he loves ball, he knows it, he can problem solve,” Campbell said. “So, you can check him off the box. Let’s go on to the next one. So, just to be able to check some of these guys off, OK, we know these guys got it, we know they understand it, and there’s something about them mentally, that way you can start focusing on the other (stuff).”
Campbell answered questions from reporters for nearly 20 minutes at the combine Tuesday morning. Here are some of the other topics he addressed.
After spending the last few weeks of the season fielding hypotheticals about potential departures from his coaching staff, Campbell said there’s immeasurable value in being able to retain both of his coordinators, Ben Johnson and Aaron Glenn.
“The core of the staff, no different than the core of the players, has been together now since ’21,” Campbell said. “To me, that’s very important. This is the second year in a row that I didn’t think I was gonna be able to have them back, between (Johnson) and AG and some of the other coaches and it’s worked out. We’re fortunate, and I just think you’re so much further along with what you do and you’ve evolved so much over a three-year period when you’re all together.
“For example, Ben knows exactly what I’m thinking,” Campbell said. “We’re to the point now where he knows exactly what I want, how I think, just like I know how he thinks. And AG and (special-teams coordinator Dave) Fipp. So, there’s so many things that you can skip over these steps that have already been done through a three-year period and you’re just so much more efficient, so much better. And it happens with the players too. They know what we expect. So now, we’re out of 101. You’re in the 401, and that’s the beauty of the continuity of this staff.”
Asked if he had expected Johnson to remain on staff after getting so much interest for the league’s head-coaching vacancies, Campbell paused and admitted you never know how those situations will develop, but said he’s confident the coordinator is making the right decisions for himself.
“I know this — he’s more than capable of being a head coach,” Johnson said. “He’s qualified. By the way people have hired in this league before, he’s more than qualified. But here’s what I love about Ben: Ben’s not going to do anything he doesn’t really want to do or that he doesn’t feel like he’s ready for. I’m glad we got him back. He’s one of us.”
As free agency nears, and fans eagerly await to see which pieces the Lions will add to the roster, Campbell emphasized the benefit of drafting, developing and re-signing your own players is that you know everything about them. And no matter how much due diligence you put into the process, you can never know everything about the character, effort and abilities of an outside free agent. So, the bigger the name, the bigger the cost, the bigger the risk.
Overall, Campbell said he’d prefer to have quality depth across the roster than a star at a given position.
“(General manager) Brad (Holmes) and I both believe depth is important,” Campbell said. “More so than maybe this is the guy you can check the box, true starter, but then you’ve got nobody else to follow (him on the depth chart), we would rather have the depth. Because in this league, everybody gets hurt — that’s just the nature of it. We’ve gone through it for three years. It’s very important for us.”
Speaking of depth, Campbell spoke glowingly about the re-signing of linebacker and special-teams standout Jalen Reeves-Maybin.
“I think it’s huge,” Campbell said. “JRM was one of those guys that, he was a core player for us, and he’s the best special-teams player in the league. …to be able to get him back again last year, and the production he had, all that he could bring for us as a core player, but also, defensively, there are some things that he can do on defense for us. He plays in dime, helps in third down, can rush, can cover. To be able to get him re-signed was huge. He’s a vital part of what we do. He is part of the foundation, in my opinion.”
Campbell was asked about the perception quarterback Jared Goff is incapable of winning a Super Bowl and the coach pushed back against the notion.
“Look, I get it because it hasn’t happened yet, just people saying that, but I don’t get it because take the NFC Championship game, I thought he played a good game for us,” Campbell said. “He gave us a chance to win that. I just feel like, man, since he’s been here, I’ve seen a quarterback that’s gotten better and better and better, and has grown every year, and I would say has gotten better under pressure every year and really just rose to the challenge. He’s more and more confident, he’s more comfortable.
“I’ve said this before — to me, Jared Goff is a winning quarterback,” Campbell said. “You can win in this league with that guy. You can’t say that for a lot of guys. I’m glad that he’s here, I’m glad that he’s ours, and you could argue he’s grown more than a lot of players that we’ve had. People maybe don’t always see that, but he really has, man. For a guy who has been in this league and has continued to improve, it’s a credit to him.”
Campbell provided some reflections on the team’s NFC Championship loss. In hindsight, he admitted he regretted his late-game decision to run the ball, forcing the team to use a valuable timeout after San Francisco came up with the stop near the goal line. That allowed the 49ers to kill the remaining clock after recovering an onside kick minutes later.
Looking at it from a bigger picture, Campbell said he expects the impact of the loss to carry over into next season, as a source of motivation.
“To me, you should benefit from every loss,” Campbell said. “I think if the losses don’t motivate you to not lose again — and, for sure, not lose an NFC Championship game — then something’s wrong. To me, that’s the ultimate. You just don’t want to have that feeling anymore. You should do whatever it takes not to want to feel that. Absolutely, we’ll benefit from that.”
Campbell offered an optimistic outlook for wide receiver Jameson Williams, who finished the season on a high note, after a sluggish start, coming off his four-game suspension for violating the league’s gambling policy.
“All we asked of him was growth,” Campbell said. “Just get better, just get a little bit better and become one of the guys, somebody we can rely on in this offense. Just do your job. That’s exactly what he did. And you could see by the end of the year. We really felt like he started to come into his own. He is going to push to be a full-time starter now. That’s what we’re looking for. We’ve said it before; everybody grows at a different rate. Maybe it’s taken him a little bit longer, but he is developing and he is growing and he is certainly one of the team. The kid’s come on. We’ve got high hopes for him. We see him continuing to grow, as long as he gets back and puts the work in like we believe he will — because he’s shown that — he’s only going to get better, better and better.
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