Lions coach reveals one of Dan Campbell’s secret superpowers

On By Littum

Allen Park — Detroit Lions coach Dan Campbell is a man of many skills. He has been called a born leader, a visionary, a master motivator.

But according to special teams coordinator Dave Fipp, one of Campbell’s underrated superpowers is his ability to see the future.

“His ability to predict how the game is going to play out early in the week is better than any coach I’ve ever been around,” Fipp said this week.

There are several examples of this during the season, but one stands out in particular. Ahead of Detroit’s Week 7 win over the Minnesota Vikings, Campbell said the Lions would have to “take them down to the wire” to find a win, saying teams have let the game get away from them in the fourth quarter, where the Vikings thrive; the Lions won on a last-second field goal, 31-29.

“I’m super lucky to work for the guy, I love him to death, I think he’s an incredible coach,” Fipp said.

“But one of the things he does very well is he knows how to win a game and he’s not worried about what anybody thinks and he knows exactly who the other team is and exactly what it takes. He comes in during the week and says, ‘This is how I see it going down.’ And damn near every time, it’s exactly like that, and it’s like, ‘dammit’.”

Campbell didn’t get into the weeds too much when talking about his plan for the Washington Commanders in Saturday’s divisional round game at Ford Field (8 p.m.), but he was flattered by Fipp’s comments, saying it’s important to know your own team, know the opponent and prepare the players for every possible situation. Simple things, but often overlooked.

“I don’t know about all that,” Campbell said when informed of Fipp’s comments. “I try, like everybody else, you watch game after game after game of the opponent, you know yourself well enough to understand where you are and what it’s going to take and where your matchups are and I think , you just do your best to predict where you think the game is going to go.”

Primetime players

With their Week 18 win over the Vikings, the Lions improved to 11-2 in primetime games under Campbell. With another primetime showdown in the divisional round, Campbell said his team seems to play its best when the lights are brightest.

“A lot of times, two things happen, and it happens in these kinds of games, it happens in the playoffs,” Campbell said. “Either you crumble — it’s too much, and some guys crumble, teams crumble because it’s just too much pressure, you can feel the lights, the bright lights. Or you’ll feel so bad that you’ll go out of the norm , and you start trying to play instead of just doing your job that got you 15 wins.”

Detroit was 6-0 in primetime this season, including the division win against the Vikings.

“Just do your job, the guy next to you will do his, one more time, that’s all,” Campbell said. “And we’ve been good at that, and I would foresee us doing it again. I think we enjoy it, we embrace it here, we love the atmosphere, we love everything about it, and I just feel , that we thrive in this.”

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