Notes: How Brad Holmes, Dan Campbell turned Detroit Lions into NFL’s darlings

At this point, you are likely aware of everything that preceded the current regime for the Detroit Lions. Before general manager Brad Holmes and coach Dan Campbell, there were countless attempts to rectify the longstanding issues surrounding the franchise in Motown. Colton Pouncy of The Athletic takes a look at how the duo flipped the Lions’ fortune around in only two years.

Coach after coach, executive after executive—each came into Detroit with their own vision for how they wanted their team to look, and each time, the results fell short of the perceived concept.

Then owner Sheila Hamp conducted her first coaching/general manager search, and she decided she would be doing things a bit differently. A thorough search and process landed them on Holmes and Campbell, and in 2021—the duo began the process of getting this team where it needed to be.

Throughout the interview process, both Holmes and Campbell displayed the passion that makes them who they are today. Just ask Pro-Bowl right tackle Penei Sewell.

“There are clips that I see online of that pick when it happened,” Sewell said of Holmes’ display of excitement after drafting him seventh overall in 2021. “To see him react like that to pick me, I was like, ‘Oh, it’s on.’ If he asked me to go swim 200 miles, I’d swim 200 miles. I’d go as far as he wants me to go.”

Pouncey’s article details how thorough of a search ownership went to land Holmes and Campbell and how the duo managed the wasteland they inherited. You can read the entirety of the article here ($).

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

• Eric Woodyard of ESPN discusses how the Lions are ready to fix their slow starts from the past two seasons.

• 1,000 rushing yards and another 500 receiving? Lions’ running back Jahmyr Gibbs thinks it’s doable. Michelle Steele of ESPN has more on the rookie’s expectations for himself headed into 2023.

• Curious as to what Lions players are saying about Chiefs’ All-Pro tight end Travis Kelce potentially missing Thursday’s game? Dave Birkett of the Free Press has you covered.

• Worth noting as we get closer and closer to game time...

• Looking for some Lions’ wallpaper for your phone?

• Lions’ wide receiver coach Antwaan Randle El is a finalist for the Senior Bowl’s 75th Anniversary Team.