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Why People Follow "Meathead Football Guy" Coach Dan Campbell

And What You Can Learn From It

February 10, 2024

It’s Super Bowl Weekend and we’ll be taking bites into a lot of stuff - hopefully not any kneecaps.

I want to take a bite into why “Meathead Football Guy” Coach Dan Campbell is a guy that people follow.

And why you can even call him a genius.

I’m a Leadership & Performance Coach and Consultant, founder of Unlock Performance and I believe we are all better together.

This is Together UP!

Dan Campbell. Source Yahoo Sports

Upon initial inspection, talking about biting people’s kneecaps is not considered “leadership.”

Apparently, that’s frowned upon! 

I disagree, but not for reasons you might think.

Looking at and listening to The Head Coach of the Detroit Lions, it’s understandable why people would instinctively take the bait and label him as a “Meathead Football Guy.”

But I see the two most important characteristics a leader can possess - authenticity, and brilliant communication.

Why It Matters:

People follow Dan Campbell.

Here’s how he announced himself to the world.

Dan Campbell Introductory Press Conference Jan 2021
“Here’s what I do know, is that this team is going to take on the identity of this city.

And, this city’s been down, and it found a way to get up. It’s found a way to overcome adversity. So, this team’s going to be built on: we’re going to kick you in the teeth, all right, and when you punch us back, we’re going to smile at you and when you knock us down, we’re going to get up. And, on the way up, we’re going to bite a kneecap off. And, we’re going to stand up, and then it’s going to take two more shots to knock us down. And, on the way up, we’re going to take your other kneecap, and we’re going to get up and then it’s going to take three shots to get us down. And, when we do, we’re going to take another hunk out of you.

Before long, we’re going to be the last one standing. That’s going to be the mentality.”

- Source Sports Illustrated (RIP)

The “experts” laughed.

They proclaimed it a disaster. Lightning-rod ESPN sports personality Stephen A. Smith called it “the most bizarre press conference I’ve ever seen.” (You can enjoy the passionate proclamation for yourself with the video when you arrive at the end).

We now have a body of work and the Detroit Lions not only won their first playoff game in 30 years, but reached the NFC championship game.

So you can call Dan Campbell whatever you want - I’m sure he doesn’t care.

I interviewed my friend Will Yeatman, an NFL veteran, who (I didn’t even know) was coached at tight-end by - you guessed it - Tight Ends coach Dan Campbell during their shared time with the Dolphins. I interviewed Yeatman to refine my understanding of the NFL players’ views of practicing live with full contact, but was in fact surprised when Yeatman proclaimed Campbell to be “A Genius.”

That only further solidified my admiration for Campbell’s leadership abilities.

His style does one thing that will consistently put the people around him in a position to succeed. He communicates.

Going deeper, he communicates authentically.

He simply, says the thing. 

He’s not trying to look like someone else.
He’s trying to be himself.

His authenticity makes it easy for people to follow him.

In fact he does two things particularly well:

  1. He says what he’s thinking. His point of view is anchored.

  2. He addresses what others are thinking out loud.

What is powerful in both is:

  1. He doesn’t let non-verbal cues build up around him and let personal narratives develop within individuals.

  2. He sets a foundation for those issues, on top of which there can be discussion. He creates a space for future dialogue.

With his authentic and vulnerable approach, you find yourself thinking - “I may not agree right now, but he has a point of view, and we can work with that - I’m going to see how this plays out”

The danger here, is where nuance is lost on leaders.

I see it ALL. THE. TIME.

It’s in the blind spots.

It’s where “being direct” gets confused what looks and sounds more like -
“If any of you are gonna complain about the way I do things, you can leave now. - there’s the exit”

You’ve definitely seen it. It’s an approach that shuts down all forms of communication - idea generation, connection, trust. Soon comes the festering ROT of personal narratives, eroding trust, gossip, and whispering in the corners of locker rooms and offices.

The impact is those whispers lead to departures, underperformance, and misery.

The nuance is in the authenticity and love that Campbell displays which makes his communication powerful.

And It is why looking a little deeper is worthy of your time.

In fact for a tough-looking meathead football guy, you could even call him a softy.

The impact of all of these nuances is vivid in his speech to his team during pre-season in his first year. In the NFL, the view on going live, full contact in full pads has evolved. In the clip here, you’ll see how Campbell addresses this masterfully.

What I took from this.

  1. “I had a couple of people look at me like ‘wtf why are we going live.’” 
    - He gets it up and out in front.

  2. He then explains his point of view.
    - Laying out the reasons, creating the foundation for the point of view.

  3. He quickly becomes incredibly genuine and begs his team - through a special kind of vulnerability - to just trust him. 

He anchors the issue. It is now set - and ready to build off of.
He said the thing.

He increased the likelihood (I’d say dramatically increased) that someone can feel comfortable walking into his office three weeks later and say - “Coach, I know your view on going live is important to you, can we talk through it because I think the guys aren’t responding how you want them to.”

Silence is poor communication.

Silence = People Telling Their Own Stories = Friction


This wasn’t a flash-in-the-pan one-time example. He was again masterful after a heartbreaking loss in the NFC championship.

2 ½ years after this pre-season speech the Lions lost a heartbreaker. A loss where his decision-making and “football guy/meathead mentality” were brought right back into peak attention because of his aggressive play calling that some argued cost them the game.

In his post-game meeting with his team, he once again said the thing. He anchored things and said what no one else wanted to admit at that moment.

He told the guys that this may have been their only shot.

“I told those guys, this may have been our only shot. Do I think that? No. Do I believe that? No. However, I know how hard it is to get here. I’m well aware. And it’s gonna be twice as hard to get back to this point next year than it was this year. That’s the reality. And if we don’t have the same hunger and the same work — which is a whole ‘nother thing once we get to the offseason — then we got no shot of getting back here.

Dan Campbell Post Game NFC Championship Press Conference Courtesy of NBC

Why I think this is brilliant.

Instinct is to see “hunger and same work” and say YEAH!! You gotta work hard!

I see it in the bond he created.

He’s embracing the suck. And in so doing, bonding everyone together and anchoring that moment in one message.

It SUCKS to be in that spot, and yes. for many in that room that may have been there only shot at getting to a super bowl.

He says it.

And with that, he draws each person feeling that pain closer to each other and immediately injects perspective.

The leader, Coach Campbell. instinctively needed to say the thing. This is Dan being Dan. Coach Campbell leading the only way he knows how.

Only two weeks later, as of the writing of this, and you can already see where this nuance of anchoring became even more beautiful.

Aidan Hutchinson (Star DE for the Lions) shared that the next day in meetings, coach Campbell built off of that anchor that he had set.

❝

"I think he - as we all were - emotional after that game. I don't know if he meant those things completely because in our exit meetings the day after, he's like, ‘We're going to the Super Bowl next year!’ Like, ‘Screw it!’ Like, ‘I don't care what it takes!’

Aidan Hutchinson - Interview Via Yahoo Sports

Coach Campbell is already building off of that flag that he put in the ground.


Great, he talks out loud - why is he different?

This “Meathead Tough Football Guy” exhibits his true toughness by asking how he can help.

This is where he sings.

“You have to be willing to listen to these (guys), and I feel like there needs to be more of working relationship with your athletes, certainly at the NFL level. These are grown men that we’re dealing with. Like I always approach it as we are working together. Now, rookies are a little different, but once you’ve been trained a little bit, we’re working together.

Now how do I make your job easier? That’s my job. How do I pull the most out of you? That’s my job as a coach. And your job is to use me as a resource, player. So what do you need from me? How can I help you? Let me ask you this: What makes your job easier, player X? Would you rather do it this way?’

“You have to have some flexibility in the way that you coach and deal with players… You have to be willing to open yourself up to players. You have to be willing to put yourself out there.”

- Dan Campbell

Leadership is Communication

And your performance is driven by your people.

Because we’re better togther.

Together UP!

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Bonus Coverage:

Clip:
STEPHEN A. SMITH and Co. ON ESPN’s FIRST TAKE - Reacting to his Introductory Press Conference.

Added bonus: His post-game NFC presser- short clip via X (The artist formerly known as twitter)