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Dan Campbell has the 7-2 Detroit Lions on track for an NFC North division title and is garnering Coach of the Year buzz, but one insider wrote that Campbell could potentially leave Detroit for a job at his alma mater.
The Athletic’s Bruce Feldman broke down a list of candidates to replace recently fired Texas A&M coach Jimbo Fisher, predicting that Campbell could be a “big wild-card wish candidate.”
Though Feldman cast some doubt on whether Campbell would cut out on an NFL contender he helped build from the ground up, he noted that Campbell’s name is starting to circulate in connection to the job.
Dan Campbell Would Be a Big Get for Aggies
Feldman wrote that Campbell would be everything the Aggies are looking for in a head coach, especially after he helped turn the Lions from an NFC doormat into a potential Super Bowl contender.
“The 47-year-old Texas native played at A&M,” Feldman wrote in a story published November 12. “Campbell epitomizes everything we suspect the school would want in a head coach, and if you’ve watched any clips of him in front of his team, you’ll see why. He has jumped into what was an abysmal franchise and has that city thinking there’s finally a Super Bowl in its future.”
Feldman added that it would be very difficult for the Aggies to persuade Campbell to leave the Lions, and it would likely take a significant financial commitment beyond what the Lions could offer.
“Could A&M lure him home despite all that he has done and is doing in Detroit, getting all the buy-in he has gotten?” Feldman wrote. “It would seem doubtful that he’d walk away from all that. As one source said Sunday morning, ‘The timing for him (with A&M) is horrible.'”
Campbell is in the third year of a six-year deal, according to ESPN. His salary is not known, but Fisher was making about $9 million a year at Texas A&M.
Timing Is Right for the Lions
Though the Aggies are a storied college football program in search of direction, the Lions are on a very different trajectory. Campbell has helped the team live up to the lofty expectations to start the season, as the Lions were predicted to win the division and host a playoff game for the first time in two decades.
Campbell’s praise grew even louder on November 12, when his gutsy fourth-down call with 1:47 remaining helped the Lions win a shootout with the Los Angeles Chargers. With the game tied at 38 and the Lions facing a fourth-and-2 from the Chargers’ 26-yard-line, Campbell elected to keep the offense on the field rather than send Riley Patterson out for a 43-yard field goal.
The Lions converted the first down, ran down the clock and kicked the game-winning field goal as time expired, leaving Justin Herbert and the potent Charger offense no chance to answer.
Jared Ramsey of the Detroit Free Press noted that the call earned some widespread praise for Campbell.
“The energy surrounding the Lions from fans is palpable,” Ramsey wrote. “The back-and-forth win against a playoff team from last year was proof Detroit is built for the biggest moments and ready to return to the postseason.
“Even though there were mistakes, fans recognized this was the type of game old Lions teams would fumble away, not win with clutch playcalling. It was also another strong performance by traveling Lions fans, who took over SoFi Stadium with Honolulu blue.”
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