Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell did not always envision himself being a coach when his playing career was done. It's also fair to say he would not be in the job he's in right now if not for his mentor, Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton.
After spending the final season of his playing career with the New Orleans Saints, albeit missing it entirely due to an injury, Campbell came back to New Orleans on Payton's staff in 2016. After five seasons as the Saints' tight ends coach, Campbell landed in Detroit as the head coach.
Counting that final season where he didn't suit up at all, Campbell had 11 seasons as a player. Payton overlapped with him for eight of them, going back to his time as an assistant coach for the New York Giants and Dallas Cowboys.
So in terms of people in football who know Campbell the best, Payton would clearly be No. 1 on the list.
Sean Payton knows why Dan Campbell seems to lament the value of OTAs
Speaking to reporters at OTAs late last month, Campbell refused to get hyped up about any players who have looked good in unpadded practices.
“There’s been a lot of guys who have done well for two days in pajamas,” Campbell said. “There’s some that are learning through it. But I’m done with the hype of the pajama party in May. It’s about the mental, it’s about the movement skills, all that other stuff doesn’t matter. We’ll find out in training camp who’s who.”
Campbell has said similar things in the past, in reference to players being in pajamas during unpadded, no-contact OTA practices. Two years ago, the Lions lost one of their final OTA practices due to a violation of league rules pertaining to no-contact being allowed during that time on the calendar.
I'm sure Campbell was heart-broken to not have to conduct an unpadded OTA practice in mid-June, when mandatory minicamp was actually done at that point two years ago. But rules are rules, and the Lions took their "penalty."
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Despite not being a star, as he never had 25 receptions in a season, Campbell had a longer career than the majority of players. He lasted that long because he embraced a role as primarily a blocking tight end who would do whatever was asked of him, and he had to earn his spot on a roster each and every year.
Players like Campbell was don't get a chance to differentiate themselves during OTAs.
During a recent appearance on Trey Wingo's podcast, Payton talked a lot about Campbell. Wingo brought up the recent "pajamas" comment, and the Broncos' head coach thinks he knows why Campbell seems to dislike this time of year.
"I love Dan. I had the good fortune of being with Dan when we drafted him at the Giants", Payton said. "I was a coordinator, and then he joined us at the Cowboys and eventually the Saints as a coach. One of his great skill sets as a player, and there were many, you're seeing it now as a head coach. Man, he was a trench blocking, blocking tight end, physical. I'm sure he hated this time of the year, because everything that he did well was not defined in OTAs. I don't know that (former Giants' tight end Jeremy) Shockey would have the exact same opinion as Campbell."
OTAs have some value, but the sheer nature of the practices make them an unideal tool when it comes to real assessment of football players.
Campbell has simply created his own funny way to describe those practice sessions, rooted in his years as a player who had to grind for everything he got. Payton, better than anyone, knows what that looked like.
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