ALLEN PARK, Mich. – Linebacker and special teamer Grant Stuard always goes home feeling worked. Light days don’t exist at the Meijer Performance Center, headquarters of the Lions. Even when practices are short, the mental load is heavy. Every one of Detroit’s assistant coaches upholds the standard Dan Campbell sets, according to Stuard.
“You’re not going to get in the meeting room,” Stuard told me at his locker, “and be like [pauses] ….”
The veteran linebacker and core special-teamer begins to impersonate a disgruntled player.
“‘I know the head coach said this, but ….’ “No, no, no,” Stuard shook his head. “Everybody is on the same stuff in this joint.”
After three years with the Colts, the 27-year-old joined the Lions in free agency and quickly realized this: Detroit’s success isn’t really about Campbell’s belief. It’s more about the ecosystem in place that incentivizes the team to do the work necessary to believe in itself.
“If he sees a guy give low effort but they’re making $30 million a year,” Stuard said, “he’s not going to not say something because, ‘Oh they’re making $30 million. Let me not check him in front of everybody.’ No.
“The standard is the standard. That’s what I can appreciate.”
It’s a culture that explains Detroit’s continued success under Campbell.
Despite the departure of star coordinators Ben Johnson and Aaron Glenn in the offseason, the Lions haven’t lost a step, remaining a Super Bowl contender in 2025. They’ve won five of their past six games entering Sunday’s matchup with the division rival Minnesota Vikings (1 p.m. ET on FOX).
Look beyond the imposing figure and the colorful quotes about biting kneecaps. The Lions, once a broken franchise, feed off Campbell’s intellect and authenticity.
“When you’re in this business and it’s such a long season, [don’t] get caught up in the immediate moment and just take it for what it is and try to be as consistent as you can every day. I’d like to believe that’s what [the team has] drawn [from me],” Campbell said earlier in October. “It’s a new day. Fix what needs to be fixed. And nothing’s as bad as it seems to be. Nothing’s as good as it seems to be. Just take it for what it is.”
Dan Campbell keeps his eye on all aspects of his squad and holds everyone to the same exacting standard. (Photo by Allan Dranberg/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
‘He doesn’t go anywhere without direction’
Dan Skipper made it clear with his words and mannerisms that we — anyone outside the team facility — really miss out when Campbell works the drawing board.
He’ll unveil a new wrinkle in the offense, for instance. Sometimes, that wrinkle will involve a 6-foot-9, 334-pound offensive lineman lining up as an eligible receiver on a trick play. At first, as a player, you’re just trying to keep track and take it all in.
Then you realize why it’ll work.
“I don’t know that I want to be in his mind all the time,” Skipper, the veteran tackle said, chuckling. “Seeing it, it’s just like, ‘I don’t know.’ You go up there on game-planning days, and you start seeing some of the s— that he’s written down. ‘OK, well if you do this and this and this, and they show us this, this and this …’ I mean, you turn on the tape and it works out and it shows up on game day. There’s a lot of nuanced things that come to fruition. He’s very impressive when it comes to that.”
Dan Skipper runs in a touchdown catch against the Bills last December. (Photo by Mike Mulholland/Getty Images)
Every Lions player I spoke to raves about Campbell’s smarts, how calculated he is.
You can’t hide from him as a player. He watches every rep from every practice on offense, defense and special teams. He knows the intricacies and responsibilities of every position, not just tight end — the position he played in the NFL for a decade.
Stuard calls his attention to detail “holistic.”
“He doesn’t go anywhere without direction,” defensive tackle DJ Reader told me. “He always has a plan and where he wants to go. It helps us as players see the vision a lot clearer. He doesn’t just go out there and throw stuff up on the board and be like, ‘This is what we’re going to do.’ He’s always got in-depth detail about why we’re doing what we’re doing.
“I think that’s huge, because as a player, you don’t want to just be lost and led to something you don’t necessarily believe in. When you hear him talk about it, you hear how smart he is, how in-depth he is, how much he’s truly been thinking about it. That gives you another respect for it.”
Several Lions players say that Campbell has a knack for knowing when to say things and how to say them. When to push buttons and when to back off. When to address personal matters or keep it to football.
He’ll cut down the practice reps if necessary, cognizant of where the players are at physically. After Detroit’s loss to Kansas City in Week 6, Campbell pointed out some of the mistakes the team made on film. But it wasn’t in a way of “calling guys out,” according to linebacker Alex Anzalone. It was more of, “You can do better than this.”
“He’s very high in emotional intelligence,” Anzalone told me.
Reader recalls a time when Campbell approached him on the sideline during a game.
“I remember complaining about a call,” the 10th-year veteran Reader said. “He’s like, ‘Well, D.J., what are you going to do about it?’ I had to like check myself in the moment like, ‘Damn, what am I going to do about it? I can’t just sit over here and complain about it.’
“He’s just one of those people that you can tell when he’s your coach, he’s got your back, and he’s going to fight ’til the end for you. I think that’s super dope.”
Lions defensive tackle DJ Reader appreciates that Campbell, while he expects a lot from his players, still has their back. (Photo by Stephen Maturen/Getty Images)
‘He’s always going to shoot you straight’
When I initially asked Skipper what stands out to him about Campbell, the first thing he mentioned was the coach’s honesty.
“The truth isn’t always easy to hear,” Skipper said. “When you know where you stand with someone, it gives you an inherent level of respect.”
Skipper then paused for a few seconds.
“There was a time when he told me I’d never be back here, that he didn’t see me coming back to play here,” said Skipper, who’s had several stints with the Lions. “I end up coming back and everything else, but it was tough to hear, right? … That was the truth at the time. Obviously, things changed, and I ended up back here, but that’s just how he is. He’s always going to shoot you straight. You’re never going to have to ask where something sits. You can ask him directly, and he’ll give you a direct answer.”
Like his communication, Campbell’s expectations are straightforward.
“Not every team has their star receivers blocking. Like, Saint (Amon-Ra St. Brown) is going to go out there and put you in the dirt, you know what I mean?” Reader told me. “Jamo (Jameson Williams) is going to try to put you in the dirt. Our starting tight end, (Sam) LaPorta, is going to put you in the dirt.
“You just don’t have that at every position on most teams, Reader continues. “I think that’s what makes this place special. A lot of people say that and expect it to happen, but they’ll call a play and take a guy out. [They’ll say,] ‘I don’t want him in harm’s way on this.’ Not in his case. He’s like, ‘No, you got to get it done.’ … That means something to me.”
That’s the Campbell standard.
Ben Arthur is an NFL reporter for FOX Sports. He previously worked for The Tennessean/USA TODAY Network, where he was the Titans beat writer for a year and a half. He covered the Seattle Seahawks for SeattlePI.com for three seasons (2018-20) prior to moving to Tennessee. You can follow Ben on Twitter at @benyarthur.
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