The Detroit Lions moved to 3-1 on the season with Monday night's win over the Seattle Seahawks, and they're one of nine teams in the league with at least three wins through four weeks. The win also pushed Dan Campbell's record as Lions' head coach to 27-27-1.
A .500 mark doesn't sound all that exciting. But since a 4-19-1 record to start his tenure, as Campbell inherited one of the worst rosters in the league and had to build a foundation, the Lions are 23-8 and have become one of the best teams in the league. Including a 2-1 playoff record, Campbell is above .500 (29-28-1) as Lions' head coach,
Campbell getting to a .500 regular season record early in his fourth season obviously stands out a lot in the realm of Lions' history. Since the franchise's last championship in 1957, that lackluster history is well-documented and does not require further elaboration.
Campbell is the sixth Lions' head coach to last at least three seasons and have at least a .500 record. He is also just the second full-time Lions' head coach in the last 50 years to have a .500 record, joining Jim Caldwell (36-28 from 2014-2017).
Gary Moeller was 4-3 as the Lions' interim coach in 2000, but he doesn't count in this context.
Dan Campbell on track to become best head coach in Lions' history?
Buddy Parker, George "Potsy" Clark and George Wilson each won an NFL Championship as Lions' head coach (two for Parker), with better winning percentages than Campbell currently has. Joe Schmidt, the Hall of Fame Lions' linebacker turned fairly successful coach (43-34-7 regular season record over six seasons), might also rank above Campbell in the hierarchy of Lions' head coaches right now.
In terms of sheer wins among Lions' head coaches, Campbell has some work to go before he tops Wayne Fontes (66 regular season wins). The winning percentages of Parker (.667) and Clark (.665) will be tough, if not impossible, to surpass.
But if Campbell delivers a Super Bowl win for Detroit, or dare we say multiple Super Bowl wins before he's done, he will automatically be regarded as the best head coach in Lions' history.