Getty Dan Campbell on the field before a Dolphins game.
The Detroit Lions are pushing toward an agreement with Dan Campbell to become their next head coach, and Wednesday that news got a little closer to reality.
According to Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network, the Lions had finished off a deal with Campbell to become their head coach. Perhaps more notable than this was the fact that the contract was going to be a six year pact with the team moving forward.
The team itself revealed that Campbell would be their next head coach shortly after that, officially putting an end to their coaching search after it began shortly after Thanksgiving Day.
Campbell makes his way to Detroit after a successful run as the assistant head coach and tight ends coach for the New Orleans Saints. Six years is a major commitment to a new coach, but it’s very clear that the Lions are all-in on what Campbell brings to the table as the team’s next boss and will be committing to him moving forward.
Dan Campbell Gets Larger Contract Than Matt Patricia
Interestingly, Campbell takes over the Lions and will get a bigger commitment from day one than Matt Patricia ever received from the team. Patricia started on a five year deal with the team, but didn’t make it past year three in Detroit. Campbell gets an extra year on his first deal with the team.
Six years! So Dan Campbell gets a longer contract (by one season) than Matt Patricia.
Campbell’s extra year might be notable in the end in terms of him getting plenty of time to impact his vision on the team. The Lions might have thought that this will be a big job for Campbell, hence the longer deal. The hope for fans is Campbell’s tenure plays out much better than Patricia’s did and he can stick out the contract with success.
Dan Campbell’s Career Stats
Campbell, a four-year letter winner at Texas A&M, started his NFL playing career with the New York Giants as a third-round pick in 1999, where the journeyman tight end stayed until 2002. From 2003-2005, he played for the division rival Dallas Cowboys before signing with the Lions in 2006. After three seasons in Detroit, Campbell finished his career in New Orleans in 2009, helping the Saints win Super Bowl XLIV.
Following that, he retired and broke into the coaching ranks the Miami Dolphins as a coaching intern in 2010. The following season, he was promoted to the team’s tight end coach, where he served from 2011-2015, later taking over as the team’s interim coach after the firing of Joe Philbin. He led Miami to a respectable 5-7 record after taking over a bad situation. In 2016, he re-joined New Orleans, where he’s worked under future Hall of Fame head coach Sean Payton ever since.
As a player, Campbell was solid, hauling in 91 passes for 934 yards and 11 touchdowns in his decade-long career, including 330 yards and four touchdowns across 19 games in Detroit. Last with the Lions in 2008, he would know all about the situation he is now walking into and what must happen for change to come.
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