Dan Campbell emerging as strong favorite to become the new Lions head coach

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The Detroit Lions head coaching search took a couple of dramatic turns on Friday. A day after the team hired Rams director of collegiate scouting Brad Holmes as the general manager, it appears the leader to be the new head coach is Dan Campbell. The former Lions tight end is the assistant head coach and TE coach for the New Orleans Saints.

Campbell had an initial interview via Zoom with the Lions earlier this week. He is prohibited from meeting in person while he’s still active in the postseason.

Any hiring with “Danimal” cannot be made official until Campbell’s Saints are eliminated from the playoffs. New Orleans faces Tampa Bay in the NFC divisional round this weekend. But all signs point to Campbell, namely a report from NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero,

#Saints assistant head coach/TEs coach Dan Campbell has emerged as the favorite to be the new #Lions head coach, sources tell me and @TomPelissero. No in-person interview can be conducted until their season has ended, so it’s all on hold officially until then.

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 15, 2021

Earlier in the day, two potential candidates canceled interviews with the Lions. Titans offensive coordinator Arthur Smith is poised to become the head coach for the Atlanta Falcons. Todd Bowles was also scheduled to interview with the Lions on Friday, but he canceled his trip.

#Buccaneers DC Todd Bowles was slated to interview with the #Lions today for their head coaching job but the sides talked today and decided to cancel, sources say. Indications were he wasn’t going to be their next head coach anyway so they punted on it.

— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) January 15, 2021

In addition to those two candidates being out of the picture, early presumptive front-runner Robert Saleh accepted the head coaching job with the New York Jets.

It’s still not a done deal with Campbell, and his timeline with the Saints prevents anything from being done until at least Monday. The Saints-Buccaneers game is the final game on Sunday night.

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