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Colin Cowherd has advice for Dan Campbell

Lions head coach Dan Campbell drew some ire for his fourth down aggressiveness in the NFC Championship Game against the 49ers. Analytics showed, with the lackluster track record of kicker Michael Badgley from those distances of note, it was essentially a coin-flip proposition to go for it the fourth down or kick the field goal from a win probability perspective. If it's a coin flip in that kind of situation, we know Campbell will go for it more often that not-if not every time.

But there is balance to that kind of aggressiveness, and Campbell has struggled to find it at times. Over his first two seasons as Lions' head coach, there was nothing to lose by being so aggressive on fourth downs.

Last week on his radio show, "The Herd", FOX Sports' Colin Cowherd had some advice for Campbell.

"Detroit is an excellent young football team. I like Dan Campbell, a former player, but he often coaches like one -- reckless and too emotional," Cowherd said. "He has created a tough, cool, alpha vibe, but the general needs to be above the infantry to make stoic, strategic, unemotional decisions. Dan Campbell lives for every play. That's what players do, that's not what leaders should do. And what's concerning with Detroit, they've got the alpha, the tough and the aggressive. Reckless has never hoisted trophies in this sport. There's a line, I get it, between aggressive and reckless. Doesn't it feel like Dan crosses it regularly?"

"Detroit now needs to move into the next phase. Work smarter, not always harder. And I loved the first phase of Detroit — from awful to alpha to good, a stacked roster,” Cowherd explained. “They were here for the moment and earned every inch of it. But it’s time now to pivot to what Kansas City does in big games. Efficiency, not losing your mind. There are phases in life, there are stages, chapters."

Campbell's fourth down aggressiveness is firmly rooted in how much he believes in his players, which is not surprising. But as Cowherd suggested, there's an evolutionary process teams go through. The Lions were a cute and fun story last season. After reaching the NFC Championship Game the next step in the evolution is here.

Campbell will not change his style, and nor should he. But being more calculated with his aggressiveness is his next step.