Detroit Lions

Detroit Lions' Dan Campbell is the new fun coach in the NFL

Published Jun. 3, 2021 5:04 p.m. ET

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Don't let the whole kneecap-biting thing cloud the truth – Dan Campbell is a really fun guy.

Campbell is the new head coach for the Detroit Lions, and since he's landed in the role, he's been the best thing to happen to NFL coaching in quite some time, at least from an entertainment standpoint. 

On Thursday, Campbell was back to being amazing, when he wore a racing helmet to Thursday's news conference after he was named the grand marshal for the upcoming Detroit Grand Prix. 

"Hello, I know I'm a little muffled, but I figured I would start with this," Campbell said. "I wanna thank the Detroit Grand Prix for allowing me to be grand marshal on June 12. … It gives me a chance to go out and see some of our fans who I know will be out there, but then just watch a good race, man, around some good people. So, I'm pretty excited about it."

Campbell then took the helmet off, said, "Now I'll open it to questions," and put his trademark Lions hat on because he's perfect.

Campbell is so great mainly because the Lions are entering a new era, looking to move past the previous era, and their new coach is taking a lot of the attention away from his franchise's lack of success. 

The Lions are coming off of a 5-11 season in 2020 and they are 14-33-1 over the past three seasons. Their most recent winning season was a 9-7 campaign in 2017, and Detroit hasn't won a playoff game since 1991. 

Detroit is 0-8 in eight wild-card appearances dating back to 1993, and that 1991 postseason victory came in the divisional playoffs against the Dallas Cowboys, in Lions legend Barry Sanders' third professional season.

But back to Campbell and the current Lions. 

The new Lions head coach produced one of the best opening press conferences in professional coaching history. 

He started with this:

"I can sit up here and give you coach-speak all day long. I can give you, ‘Hey, we’re gonna win this many games.' None of that matters and you guys don't wanna hear it anyway. You've had enough of that s---. Excuse my language."

This man doesn't play games. 

Then he started talking about how no tooth or kneecap will be spared once his Lions are locked in.

"We're gonna kick you in the teeth. All right? And when you punch us back, we're gonna smile at you. And when you knock us down, we're gonna get up and on the way up, we're gonna bite a kneecap off. All right? And we're gonna stand up and then it's gonna take two more shots to knock us down. Before long, we're gonna be the last ones standing. That's gonna be the mentality."

Perfection. 

Who wouldn't want to play for this guy?

One former Lions legend recently talked about playing alongside Campbell – future Hall of Famer Calvin Johnson. 

Campbell played tight end for the Lions from 2006-2008, and In a recent interview with ESPN, Johnson spoke specifically to the toughness that Campbell possesses. 

"He was playing with one arm," Johnson said. "But he was still out there starting and playing against beasts out there, but still sustaining. So mad respect to him, and I know the guys are going to respect him."

Going back to Thursday's press conference, Campbell also talked some football in the midst of celebrating his duties as grand marshal for the race. 

First, he addressed what he's seen from his new quarterback, Jared Goff, during the offseason, saying that some of Goff's throws have been "wow."

He also addressed the rumors that the Lions are considering acquiring former Los Angeles Rams and Atlanta Falcons running back ⁠—and former Goff teammate ⁠— Todd Gurley.

After spending five years with the Rams, Goff was famously traded from L.A. to Detroit after the 2020-21 season, and Gurley spent the 2020 season in Atlanta, after spending one season in St. Louis with the Rams before the franchise relocated to Los Angeles, where Gurley played for four more seasons. 

Campbell, if anything, is supportive of his players and his potential players, as evidenced by his praise of Goff and his straight-shooter response to the inquiry about Gurley. 

But again, Thursday was not about the players. It was about Campbell, and Twitter was cognizant of that fact:

Dan Campbell: the news conference gift that keeps on giving. 

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