Dan Campbell sees potential for Lions to have a quick turnaround

With the Cincinnati Bengals as evidence it can be done, Dan Campbell believes the Detroit Lions can turn things around quickly too.

It feels like a long time ago in a lot of ways, but the 2020 Senior Bowl teams were led by the coaching staffs of the Detroit Lions and Cincinnati Bengals. The Lions, with a different coaching staff of course, are back at the Senior Bowl this week. Meanwhile, the Bengals are enjoying a week of relative rest before heading to Los Angeles for Super Bowl LVI.

A quarterback the Lions could end up with in April’s draft has drawn a comparison to Bengals’ quarterback Joe Burrow. During a media session on Wednesday in Mobile, Lions’ head coach Dan Campbell said thinks his team can turn things around quickly like Cincinnati has.

“You definitely look at that,” Campbell said. “It’s living proof that it can be done.”

“When I got to New Orleans in ’16, they’d been 7-9 for a few years in a row,” Campbell said. “Then they hit on some draft picks, man. Mike Thomas, and (Alvin Kamara), and (Erik) McCoy and (Marcus) Davenport and (Marshon) Lattimore, and (others). All the sudden, man, you draft well for a couple years, and you can totally flip the script. With what’s already there, you add a couple free agents, and if you do it right in the draft, you can catch lightning in a bottle.”

Dan Campbell knows NFL stands for “Not For Long”

The Saints were in a different place when Campbell arrived on Sean Payton’s coaching staff in 2016 than the Lions were a year ago, or where they are now. But after this past season’s 3-13-1 record, with a better run of play down the stretch, Campbell seems to know progress has to be shown in the win column next season. Otherwise he won’t be long for his job, and the Lions will be looking for yet another coach to lead a turnaround of fortune.