Feeling ‘Indebted’ to Sheila Hamp, Dan campbell

 

The Detroit Lions’ organizational renaissance has been tied to the new leadership overseeing the organization.

 

In addition to head coach Dan Campbell and general manager Brad Holmes, a central figure in the team’s recent success is team owner Sheila Hamp. After taking over in 2020, Hamp made the difficult decision to fire head coach Matt Patricia in her first year and organized the search committee that would ultimately bring Campbell and Holmes to Detroit.

 

Reflecting on the last four years during a recent appearance on Billy Liucci’s LiucciCast for TexAgs, Campbell explained the strong feeling of gratitude that he feels toward Hamp for his opportunity. He acknowledged her desire to be involved in all aspects of the organization, with her influence extending to the football department and more as she’s changed the culture of the organization.

 

“Sheila is the one that I answer to and the one that gave me this opportunity. Everything started with her here, and I’m indebted to her. Really, from the organization to what goes on at the stadium, everything, ticket sales to the football department, health and safety,” Campbell said. “All of it, she wanted to do things different. She wanted everything to run like a team, literally, she wanted to run like a team. That’s what we were charged with, I don’t want any toxicity in this. I want everybody to feel like they’re a part of it. Your job is not minute, whatever you do is gonna have a huge impact on our success here. So that’s what it really — ‘How can we be all-inclusive here and everyone has a voice?’ And I just carried that because that’s who I am, and ultimately that’s what they were looking for.”

 

Campbell also credited Hamp and the Lions’ search committee for truly identifying their desired candidate. Through his time taking head coaching interviews while coaching with the Saints, the coach learned that though some teams said they were interested in his style, they wound up hiring different types of candidates.

“I’ve had about seven of these, I’ve had like seven head coaching interviews and they all start the same way, ‘We’re looking for a leader of men. We don’t care about this or this, we want a leader of men. We want somebody that can stand in front of the room, they can command respect. They’re good dudes off the field and they play hard on the field.’ All this stuff, and at the end of the day I’m like, and it’s no disrespect to anybody who’s been hired because they’re good men too,” Campbell said. “But there’s so many times like, ‘No, you’re not hiring what you’re talking about. What you’ve got is an unbelievable offensive coordinator.’ And he’s probably gonna be a head coach, but you’re going off of X’s and O’s, or offense or defense or whatever, and you’re not going off of what you’re saying you’re going off of. And Sheila, to a T, she knew what she was looking for and she took a shot on me.”