Perhaps more than any head coach in the NFL, Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell operates with a lot of gut feeling. He operates with an intelligence he continues to prove over time. But some of the decisions he makes come with a feel for a situation, and in the case of going for it on fourth down no fear of the consequences.
Alongside Aaron Glenn and Ben Johnson, Campbell has lauded special teams coordinator Dave Fipp as a head coaching candidate. When asked if his stance about not wanting to be a head coach has changed when he talked to reporters on Thursday, Fipp confirmed it has not as he prefers his role working very closely with players.
With Campbell as the most recent example in his career, Fipp knows what a good head coach looks like though.
Dave Fipp notes area where Dan Campbell is unique
Campbell has shown himself to be leader, a master motivator, etc. But Fipp also noted something extra and rare he feels Campbell brings to the table.
"I'm super fortunate to work for the guy, I love him to death, I think he's an unbelievable coach," Fipp said. "But one of the things that he does very best is that he knows how to win a game and he’s not worried about what anyone thinks, and he knows exactly who the other team is and exactly what it’s going to take. He’ll come in during the week and say, ‘This is how I see it going down.’ And damn near every time it’s exactly like that and it’s like, 'Damn.'"
"His ability to to kind of predict how the game is going to go early in the week is better than any coach that I've ever been around," Fipp said.
During his press conference later on Thursday, Campbell was informed of Fipp's comments regarding his clairvoyance.
"I don't know about all of that," Campbell said. "I try to, like anybody else, you watch game after game after game of the opponent, you know yourself well enough to understand where you're at and what it's going to take and where your matchups are at, and I think you just do your best to foreshadow where you think the game is going to go."
Campbell brushed off his ability to foreshadow how a game will go as a product of preparation and knowing his team as well as he does. There's a lesson everyone can use in there somewhere.