ALLEN PARK, Mich. — Dan Campbell’s had a few days to process his team’s 45-31 loss to the Washington Commanders. The film told him the Lions lost as a team. He experienced several stages of grief. But in typical Campbell fashion, he’s moving forward.
“Everybody’s got a hand in that,” Campbell said of the loss. “Everybody’s got a hand — including me. We definitely did that together. We earned that loss together. But listen, all we can do is move forward and you brush yourself off. I’ve already gone through the loss of a family member feeling to anger yesterday to now I’m back on my feet, ready to roll. I can look at the mirror and say, ‘You know what, you failed, man. What are you gonna do about it?’ So, that’s where we’re at.”
At his end-of-the-season news conference, Campbell put a bow on a disappointing final game while discussing what’s next for the team. Here’s what we gathered.
Campbell’s assessment of the game and its key moments
Campbell told his players and coaches to remember the feeling of this loss, to replay the mistakes they made in their heads so they never forget it and come back better for it. He plans to do the same. On Monday, he answered questions about some of the lingering topics and mistakes that led to the season-ending loss.
Turnovers: “The turnovers created the issue. All of a sudden, you’re down a couple of scores and now you’re out of what you really feel like you could do. You really want to dissect it into more than what it is? Here’s what it is: we turned the ball over and then we get behind and then we turn the ball over and we get behind. And so, we couldn’t overcome it.”
On not using Jahmyr Gibbs more: “I mean, you always want to give him more carries. You know, you come out of the game like that and he’s had the carries he has, but we were pretty balanced. We were pretty balanced when you take away the — now we’re in gotta-go mode. We’re in two-minute mode, you know. You take that out, you’re left the 40 reps and you’re balanced. So, it was really — we were having success really no matter what we did, we felt like. We could run it, we could throw it, explosives and then we turned the ball over.”
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On the third-and-1 strip-sack out of an empty formation: “Look, we were ready to go for it on fourth,” Campbell said. “…We just — we liked the matchup with Saint on (Commanders linebacker Bobby) Wagner and it’s a play we’ve run 50 times this year, something? And it just didn’t work out. It was the perfect storm. It was, you know, just a little bit of a slip, Goff has to choke the ball and he moves up, we get beat in protection on three steps — not seven steps — three steps, so it happened fast, and then disaster, you know? …I don’t worry about it. I’m not second-guessing that. If we were going to do it all over again, I’d do the same thing. And I know that’s a hard pill to swallow, but it just didn’t work out for us.”
At the end of the day, the Lions made far too many collective mistakes to pull out the win. It’s the reason they’re where they are. And now, the offseason is here.
Campbell on the impact of Ben Johnson, Aaron Glenn
The elephant in the room Monday morning was the impending departures of Campbell’s two coordinators, Ben Johnson and Aaron Glenn.
“I would expect to lose both,” Campbell said. “But I haven’t been told anything. I just — I’ve got a feeling, but I’m prepared to lose both.”
The two have been with Campbell from the beginning. Johnson was a holdover from Matt Patricia’s staff. He and Campbell worked together in Miami with the Dolphins. It was an easy choice to retain him, then promote him to offensive coordinator when the Anthony Lynn hire didn’t pan out. The Lions have been a top-3 offense since. Glenn, meanwhile, was brought over from New Orleans to run the defense and be a culture setter. Detroit’s defense was a top-5 unit when healthy this year, and Glenn’s ability to lead a locker room is just as strong as Campbell’s — perhaps making him a better head coach than a defensive coordinator.
In many ways, Glenn and Johnson were perfect matches with Campbell. Glenn and Campbell are cut from the same cloth, and Glenn acted as an extension of Campbell for the defense and in overall team meetings. Johnson was always eager and willing to be aggressive, and was never conservative or scared of the situation. The staff collectively had a bad game vs. the Commanders. But it shouldn’t take away from the work they did turning this franchise around the last four years.
With the expectation that both will leave, things will undoubtedly look a little different. Johnson is one of the best offensive minds in football, and coached the Lions to 33 points per game this season. The Lions built this defense for Glenn’s man-heavy, aggressive scheme. For a brief time, we saw what it could look like with the horses to run it. But it appears it was short-lived.
If they’re not back in Detroit, you have to think Campbell will be left wondering “what if?” for years to come. If it happens, it’ll be on him to find the right fits to replace them.
Wouldn’t be the first time he’s done it.
“Does it hurt to lose those guys? Absolutely,” Campbell said. “They’re a part of what we’ve been here. I mean, they’ve been here for four years. They’re one of the major reasons why we’ve been able to get to where we’ve been. Man, we came out of the dump and got to where we’re at. So, man, I will forever be grateful for those guys, and our team will. And is it a loss? Absolutely it would be a loss. But yet, man, we move forward. This train rolls on, and I’ll find the next best guys for us.”
How Campbell could look to replace his coordinators — if necessary
Campbell was asked if losing his coordinators would impact the Lions’ Super Bowl window. He wouldn’t go there.
“It can’t, right?” Campbell said. “Can’t allow that to happen. That’s my job, is to replenish and find the next man up and the guy who’s gonna give us the best chance to have success on both sides of the ball. So, we’re not gonna allow that to happen. I’m not.”
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We could be witnessing Campbell’s greatest challenge yet during Detroit’s ascension: replacing two coordinators without sacrificing what got them here.
So what will Campbell look for when replacing his coordinators? He laid out some of the prerequisites for the job.
“The easy thing to say is, you want the best candidate, OK? That’s one way to say it, but that’s also like saying, ‘Give me the best player.’ Give me the right player, give me the right coach, give me the right coordinator, that’s really what I’m looking for. I’ll just give an example, a guy like (Lions run game coordinator/defensive line coach) Terrell Williams, I’m fortunate that I believe he’s the best, but he’s also the right guy. They happened to go hand-in-hand. But I think we’ve got guys on staff that I think are more than qualified and would be outstanding in those roles, but that does not mean that I’m not looking outside either.”
Who these replacements are as people and how they’re wired is just as important in Campbell’s mind as the systems they’ll run. Don’t expect him to hire someone who’ll disrupt the things they’ve built, but rather someone who can fit in seamlessly and add to the collection of voices the Lions have assembled. That doesn’t rule out an external hire — it just has to be the right one. It’s the same way the Lions operate in free agency and the draft.
That said, some of Campbell’s comments suggest the team looking internally.
On a potential OC search: “I’m going to be involved no matter what because I think that’s best for our offense, but also Goff. This thing is set up for Goff to have success with our playmakers, St. Brown, our running backs, the O-line, the whole deal, Jamo. And so, I want to keep that in place, I want to keep our terminology in place and I want to make sure that Goff is comfortable because he’s playing at a high level.”
The Lions have some coaches on staff who know what they’re all about already. Running backs coach Scottie Montgomery has interviewed for OC jobs in the past, and has been a head coach and a play-caller at the college level. Tanner Engstrand took over the tight ends room when Johnson was promoted to OC, then moved to passing-game coordinator, where he’s worked with Johnson and Goff. He has also interviewed for OC jobs. Maybe quarterbacks coach Mark Brunell, wide receivers coach Antwaan Randle El or offensive line coach Hank Fraley get a look. They’ve got some options on staff.
On a potential defensive coordinator search: “I want to play man — we want to play man. I’m going to pressure a little bit. So, these things are not going to go away. We are what we are, but ultimately, it’s always going to be about, ‘How do we put the players we have in the best position to have success, which in turn gives us the ability to have success?’”
If the Lions go with an internal hire, you have to think Kelvin Sheppard would be at the top of the list. He’s a culture-setter like Glenn in many ways and is a proven developer. Lions DBs coach Deshea Townsend interviewed for the 49ers DC job this offseason, so maybe he gets a look as well. Would Terrell Williams be interested in running an entire defense? He’s a respected defensive line coach. But he could be comfortable in that role.
That said, this could be where an external hire is made. Campbell has a lot of connections around the league. Unlike the continuity he craves on the offensive side to keep Goff comfortable, you might not need that on defense.
It could open the door for a coach like former Bengals DC Lou Anarumo to come to Detroit. Anarumo was the Dolphins’ DBs coach and interim defensive coordinator when Campbell was interim head coach in Miami. The fit could be a strong one because of that familiarity — not only with Campbell, but others on staff. Williams was also on that staff in Miami. Sheppard was a linebacker there. Anarumo told Sheppard he would be a coach one day — years before his playing career was over. Have to think he’d appreciate the chance to learn from Anarumo in Detroit.
Maybe a recently fired head coach like Dennis Allen or Robert Saleh gets a call? Allen and Campbell were together in New Orleans, and Glenn was Allen’s DBs coach. He coordinated some great defenses over there. Saleh, of course, is a native of Dearborn, Mich. — a short drive from the Lions’ practice facility. He was a candidate for the Lions’ job that went to Campbell, and ultimately took the Jets job. New York’s defense ranked top five in yards allowed from 2022-24, and Saleh also had success as the 49ers’ DC prior to landing with the Jets. He’s been interviewing for head coaching jobs this cycle, but if he doesn’t get one, maybe he comes home to work for the Lions.
It’ll all depend on what Campbell wants. He said he won’t be in a hurry, as he searches for the best fit.
“I want what I believe is going to be as close to what we have been as possible, and we don’t lose what we’re about and our identity,” Campbell said. “We’re going to stay true to who we are, and if you’re somebody that doesn’t feel comfortable with that, then no — this isn’t the job for you.”
(Top photo: Junfu Han / USA Today)
