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Lions hire Dan Campbell as new head coach
By: Mike Stiles - Thursday, January 21, 2021

(courtesy of Getty Images)

(ALLEN PARK) – New Detroit Lions coach Dan Campbell received a six-year contract from the team, according to sources. The Lions announced Campbell's hiring on Wednesday but did not disclose terms. Campbell, the New Orleans Saints' assistant head coach/tight ends coach, replaces Matt Patricia, who was fired in November after less than three seasons with the Lions and a 13-29-1 record. The Lions will now try to reset after finishing last in the NFC North the past three seasons. Campbell is expected to bring fellow Saints assistant coach Aaron Glenn with him as defensive coordinator. Glenn has a few other suitors, but Detroit is the favorite, the source told Fowler. The 44 year old Campbell, who has never been a coordinator in the NFL, is viewed as a motivator and someone who can bring a team together, rather than an X's-and-O's guru. The Lions had been searching for people they considered unifiers as they identified qualities they deemed important to building a winner out of a franchise that has one playoff win in the Super Bowl era and claimed its last division title in 1993. Campbell doesn't have much experience as a head coach, just 12 games as an interim head coach for the Miami Dolphins. But the Lions clearly saw enough to pair him with recently hired general manager Brad Holmes. Without experience calling plays on either side of the ball, whom Campbell brings in as coordinators will be paramount to his success. Campbell played 10 seasons in the NFL, including the final three years of his career for the Lions.



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