Dan Campbell met with Lions owner Sheila Ford Hamp during the bye week, and he says his job status has not been put into question.
When Brad Holmes and Dan Campbell took over in Detroit, it was clearly going to be a tough rebuild. The roster had been torn down by Matt Patricia and Bob Quinn, and the length of the contracts given to the then-new head coach and general manager reflected a commitment to a plan.
At this point, 22 games in, Campbell has a 4-17-1 record as Lions head coach. He has arguably cost the team one or two wins with poor game management decisions, so going into the Week 6 bye it was not too ridiculous to say his seat was not yet hot, but indeed getting warmer.
The success of the New York Jets and New York Giants in particular early this season, totally fairly or not, has reflected poorly on the Lions’ 1-4 record so far.
Campbell said he talked to Lions owner Sheila Ford Hamp about the state of the team during the bye week.
Dan Campbell essentially says he is not on the hot seat
Campbell said he noted to Hamp where the team needs to improve all-around. What was her reaction?
"I would say that she understands,” Campbell said. “She’s very supportive, but she’s frustrated, I mean, and she should be. We all believe we should be better than where we’re at. But I do know that she’s all in, and I know that she believes in what Brad (Holmes) and I are doing.”"
In terms of having his job status put into question, Campbell would not have said so if Hamp indicated anything that way or if she layed down any sort of ultimatums. Not that she should have given an ultimatum to win “X” number of games the rest of the season, as an example.
Campbell is not a reliable authority to, in so many words, say he’s not on the hot seat. If things go badly from here on out, and the Lions are legitimately staring the possibility of a 1-7 record right in the face, a currently warm seat will get plenty hotter.