Detroit Lions news: 2024 NFL Combine, Day 2 roundup
The value of coaching continuity
The Lions will have both of their coordinators back next season, as Ben Johnson and Aaron Glenn both wound up not getting a head coaching job after it seemed possible both could be gone.
Campbell talked about that continuity, which will last at least one more season.
"The core of the staff, no different than the core of the players, has been together now since '21," Campbell said. "To me, that's very important. This is the second year in a row that I didn't think I was gonna be able to have them back, between (Johnson) and AG and some of the other coaches and it's worked out. We're fortunate, and I just think you're so much further along with what you do and you've evolved so much over a three-year period when you're all together."
Campbell went on to offer the example how Johnson "knows what I'm thinking" and "what I want" from the Lions' offense.
Jalen Reeves-Maybin called a core player by Dan Campbell
News broke that the Lions rewarded linebacker Jalen-Reeves-Maybin with a record-setting two-year contract for a core special teamer on Monday night. So Campbell was naturally asked about it, and what Reeves-Maybin means to the team, on Tuesday morning.
After calling the move to re-sign Reeves-Maybin "huge", Campbell spilled his full thoughts.
"He was one of those guys that he was a core player for us and, and he's the best special teams player in the league and to be able to get him back again, he was somebody who was here in ‘21," Campbell said. "And then he was a free agent, goes to Houston, and then to be able to get him back again. Last year and the production he had all that he can bring us as a core player, but also defensively. There's things he can do on defense, plays in dime, helps on third down, can rush, can cover. But to be able to get him re-signed was huge. He's a vital part of what we do. He is part of the foundation in my opinion.
It's definitely unique for a coach to call someone who is primarily a special teamer a "core player." But the Lions prefer to retain and reward their own when it's appropriate. Coming off earning a Pro Bowl nod as a special teamer, while also playing well in the defensive snaps he was asked to take on, Reeves-Maybin earned the rich contract extension he got.
The Lions officially announced Reeves-Maybin being re-signed through the 2025 season on Tuesday afternoon.
Full faith in Jared Goff
Campbell has professed faith in quarterback Jared Goff several times, and he did so again on Tuesday.
So I've said this before: To me, Jared Goff is a winning quarterback. You can win in this league with that guy, and you can't say that for a lot of guys. So I'm glad that he's here. I'm glad he's ours. And you could argue he's grown more than a lot of players we've had. People maybe don't always see that but he really has man for a guy who has been in this league a little but has continued to improve, it's credit to him."