In the immediate wake of Texas A&M firing head Jimbo Fisher, Bruce Feldman of The Athletic offered Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell as a potential candidate for the job. Campbell is if course a Texas A&M alum, and a Texas native.
"The 47-year-old Texas native played at A&M. Campbell epitomizes everything we suspect the school would want in a head coach, and if you’ve watched any clips of him in front of his team, you’ll see why,” Feldman wrote. “He has jumped into what was an abysmal franchise and has that city thinking there’s finally a Super Bowl in its future.”
In a broad sense, Texas A&M's search for a new head coach would not be complete without at least reaching out out to Campbell. The assumed answer would be no, but they have/had to find out. Most Lions' fans would say no they shouldn't even bother, but that's not reality.
Dennis Dodd of CBS Sports reported Tuesday night that Texas A&M did indeed go through back channels to guard Campbell's interest. And as expected, they were told he's not he's not going anywhere.
Detroit Lions coach Dan Campbell is not expected to be a candidate for the Texas A&M vacancy, sources told CBS Sports on Tuesday. After backchannel communications were initiated by the Aggies, it was made clear that Campbell would be staying in the NFL with the Lions.
Dan Campbell clearly addresses Texas A&M rumors
During Campbell's press conference on Friday morning, Justin Rogers of the Detroit News asked if Texas A&M approached him about replacing Fisher.
Most coaches would give a canned answer to speculation tying them to another job, even an opening at their alma mater. But we know that's not how Campbell rolls.
"Maybe. But that’s all good. Certainly I know some people there, and I love my school. That’s my alma mater. I want to do anything I can to help them but coach for them, and I’ll do that.”
Dodd's report from earlier in the week left no real room for ambiguity regarding Campbell's candidacy for the job at Texas A&M. The Lions' head coach couldn't play it totally coy when asked about it, since that's not how he's wired. But he did put the rumors to bed directly, himself, and as expected.
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