Notes: Hall of Fame coach Jimmy Johnson gives Dan Campbell his flowers

Taking over a franchise and completely rebuilding things from the ground up sounds good in theory, but in reality it is an extremely difficult undertaking. Just ask Hall of Fame coach Jimmy Johnson. Way back in 1989 when Johnson first took the job as the head man for the Dallas Cowboys, the team was coming off of a 3-13 season, and things would get worse before they got better. Johnson’s team would win just one game the following year before turning a corner in his second season at the helm. Sound a bit familiar?

In the case of Dan Campbell and the Detroit Lions, Campbell won just three games in his first season as coach, before posting a 9-8 record in his second. Now, with the team making strides, national pundits are beginning to take notice, including Johnson. Tim Twentyman of DetroitLions.com has more on how Johnson is impressed with the job Campbell has done thus far.

“I think Dan Campbell has been impressive because early with Dan you saw the team play extremely hard and they were a very physical team,” Johnson told detroitlions.com at the Super Bowl. “In fact, I made the comment on FOX NFL Sunday, I said, ‘Man, they play hard, they are well coached, but they don’t win.’ Well, all of the sudden that hard work and that effort started paying dividends and they started winning games.”

With the way things are trending, I think we can expect the Lions to be a very trendy pick to win the NFC North next year. What a world we live in.

You can read the entirety of the article from Twentyman here.

And now, onto the rest of today’s notes:

• Add Jamaal Williams to the list of players who want to be back in Detroit for the 2023 season.

• Hall of Fame Lions receiver Calvin Johnson joined Bleacher Report to talk parlays, the Lions’ trending in the right direction on the field, and how things are progressing with his own relationship with the franchise.

• In more Calvin Johnson news, he will be among the stars playing in the NBA's All-Star celebrity game.

• This saying gets used way too much these days, but please—inject this content directly into my veins.

• Penei Sewell mic'd up at the Pro Bowl games? I haven't even watched this yet and I already know it is going to be pure gold.

• Lions’ team reporter Dannie Rogers has you covered with Pro Bowl coverage.