Over the last five seasons, no team has gone for it on fourth down more than the Detroit Lions (186). Dan Campbell has taken his foot off that gas pedal just a bit over the last two seasons, but the Lions still had the 10th-most fourth down attempts in the league last season (31).
While he has honed his fourth down aggression, that part of Campbell's coaching acumen is never going to change. He's going to be fairly, shall we say caffeinated, in those situations, even if he's going to reduce his coffee intake moving forward.
Right or wrong, Campbell would rather lose staying true to himself and believing in his players than win being something he's not. Critics of his fourth down approach will always exist, and be ready to pounce whenever it doesn't work.
Results-based criticism is easy when you're not the one to make decisions. Analytics often back Campbell's fourth down decision making, but that will never be noted by said critics.
Dan Campbell catches a harsh stray from former NFL general manager
On a recent episode of "Inside Football", created by former ESPN host Trey Wingo, Wingo, Pro Football Hall of Famer Cris Carter, former NFL coach Marvin Lewis and former Arizona Cardinals general manager Steve Keim previewed the NFC North for the 2026 season.
During the Lions segment, prompted by Wingo for the front office perspective on how the Lions can get back on track this season, Keim played the role of general manager Brad Holmes and offered what he would say to Campbell.
"If I'm Brad Holmes, one of the first things I'm going to say is 'Danny, I'm like, I love you. But right now your balls are bigger than your brains. Like, we don't have to play like that.' You know what I'm saying? Let's play within the system. Let's do the right things. And more than anything, I think the one thing that's going to be a telltale sign for the Detroit Lions this year is, quite frankly, I think that they've got to feel embarrassed the way they finished the season last year. So, what are you made of? Are we really that team that was ascending or are we now all of a sudden just the old Detroit Lions again?"
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This from a former general manager whose two head coaching hires, not counting Bruce Arians, who surely said he'd take the job more than Keim having any real role in the hiring, were Steve Wilks and Kliff Kingsbury. After Arians left, the Cardinals were 31-50-1 over Keim's final five seasons at the helm.
In 2022, the Cardinals had more fourth down attempts (41) than the Lions did (37). Was Keim telling Kingsbury to tone down the aggressiveness, especially when it wasn't successful (18 conversions)? Let's say doubtful on that. But then again, the Cardinals went 4-13 that year and made changes at GM and head coach afterward.
What we absolutely know is Holmes will never say to Campbell what Keim hypothetically said he would. Maybe there are generally ongoing conversations about Campbell's fourth down process, and ways it can be honed, but they would never stretch to lame insults from Holmes or anyone toward the head coach.
And if Keim would say such things to the head coach, maybe that's why he's no longer employed by a team, and he never will be again. Never being poached by another team over more than a decade with the Cardinals before he became general manager seems to be telling on that front, too.
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