‘Hard Knocks’ analysis: Lions’ Dan Campbell an unstoppable ‘freight train’ in season premiere

ALLEN PARK — The director of “Hard Knocks” told MLive they wanted to spread around the spotlight this season. They wanted to show the assistant coaches more than ever because, well, the assistant coaches are more interesting than ever. They wanted to shine a spotlight on the offensive line because, well, it figures to be one of the best in the league. And hey, maybe they’ll get some more love in the next four episodes.

But in the season premiere that aired on Tuesday night, Dan Campbell stole the show.

Hell, he did it before they even had a chance to roll the opening credits.

“What are we? What makes us what we are? And what we’re going to be? I think it’s that right there,” Campbell told his players, gesturing at G-R-I-T written in big letters across the wall of the meeting room. “It’s our core foundation, man. Grit. And what does it mean? In a nutshell, I think it means this: We’ll go a little bit longer, we’ll push a little harder, and we’ll think a little deeper and a little sharper. To me, it means we’ll play anywhere. We’ll play on grass, we’ll play on turf, we’ll go to a (expletive) landfill. It doesn’t matter. Doesn’t matter if you have one ass cheek and three toes. I will beat your ass.”

Welcome to the Dan Campbell Experience, America.

He wasn’t done yet, either.

“There are a number of teams as it equates to — just bear with me, all right? — as it relates to the ocean,” Campbell said. “There are a number of teams that just barely get to the water. You got to get in the water to compete. A number of teams, that’s all they get to. Then a number of teams are in the shallows, and they come in a hurry, and they are all over your ass. They are all over your ass, and they strike and move, and they strike and move, and they’re dangerous, man. You just got to get a hold of them, though. If you can just get a hold of them, and you start dragging their ass out to the deep, dark abyss, you can drown ‘em. And that’s what we got to be. That’s who we have to be. Because that’s our domain. That is our domain. Because we’ll tread water as long as it takes to (expletive) bury you. We’ll go as long as it takes, because we can, and we choose to. That’s who we are. That’s who we choose to be. Now it goes without saying that teams that are dangerous in the shallows and the abyss are probably top four or five in this league. That’s who they are, and that’s what we’re working to.

“Last thing I’m going to say — and I’m keeping this brief — the last thing I’m going to say is this: There is no light at the end of the tunnel. There is no light. There’s a song Metallica has, ‘No Leaf Clover,’ and it says man, when it comes to the soothing light at the end of your tunnel, it’s just a freight train coming your way. If you see a (expletive) light, it’s just a freight train. Just put your head down and go to work. It’s about to be fun, man. It’s about to be fun.”

Listen, Dan Campbell was always going to be a star of this thing. He was one of the biggest draws of bringing “Hard Knocks” to Detroit in the first place. The man is a quote machine. You heard him at his opening press conference. A year-and-a-half into the job, it’s hard to look at the man without thinking about kneecaps.

But there’s so much more to Campbell than figuring out which of his opponent’s body parts he wants to have for an afternoon snack. There’s so much more to the man than viral clips about freight trains and toes and ass cheeks. There is a lot of substance too. More of that will be fleshed out in the coming weeks, although the first episode featured one of his greatest strengths: Authenticity.

The thing you always hear about Dan Campbell is nothing is for show, and everything is authentic. That’s a big reason why players respond to him. They can smell the bull you-know-what from a mile away. And before you ask, yes, I am speaking from some experience here. Matt Patricia was a nightmare on so many fronts, although his fake strong-man antics — his smartest-man-in-the-room complex; their words, not mine — turned off players before that man ever coached a down in the NFL. In some ways, that thing was over before it started. By this time in his first training camp, Patricia had already told Darius Slay, in the middle of a team meeting, to get off Odell Beckham’s private parts for — and I swear I’m not lying to you — an Instagram photo. That relationship never recovered.

Now contrast that to what we’re seeing and hearing every day about Dan Campbell. Contrast that to what we’re seeing and hearing inside those meeting rooms on “Hard Knocks.” Check out that scene from the Miami Dolphins locker room, where Campbell was interim head coach in 2015, barking at his guys: “You guys were (expletive) gritty man.”

Gritty, man. That quote is from seven years ago. Tonight, they’re leading off “Hard Knocks’ with it. And it isn’t for show. It isn’t mugging for cameras. It’s the same stuff he’s been saying forever. He’s him. He’s authentic. You might not like it, he might not always say the right thing, he’s probably not padding his resume for a job in the Ivy League, but he always speaks from the very bottom of his heart. And in a tough business filled with a lot of phonies, that goes a long way.

Just listen to linebackers coach Kelvin Sheppard from “Hard Knocks.”

“I’m not going to lie to you, I thought about cutting my hair,” said Sheppard, who wears long dreadlocks.

Campbell’s response, per Sheppard: “Absolutely you’re not. You’re Kelvin Sheppard. I’m hiring Kelvin Sheppard. I’m hiring Shep. I’m not hiring the guy you think is supposed to fill that position.”

Players feel that approach.

“Players know a fake when you see one,” defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn said. “So you have to be authentic and you have to be yourself. Regardless of who that is, just be yourself. That’s one thing Dan shows all the players. Like it or not, he’s going to be himself, and it does not matter. There is no up and down with this man.”

I don’t know how many games Detroit will win this season. I don’t know if this thing will ever work out. But I do know these are good things that help build culture, help build something, and at least gives this rebuild a shot to work. And that’s something you couldn’t say about the last guy. Not even for a day.

Some more observations:

— One more juxtaposition between this guy and the old guy, while we’re at it. Patricia had disdain for a lot of stuff, notably every time he was reminded of the long, sordid history of this franchise. Every time he was reminded of the winless streak at Lambeau Field, that man winced. Every time 1957 was brought up, he winced. He wanted nothing to do with the history of this club. “Every week is different,” he’d say.

Now you’ve got a guy who literally has this painted across the back wall of the team meeting room:

1992: LAST PLAYOFF WIN

1993: LAST DIVISION CHAMPIONSHIP

1957: LAST LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP

Dan Campbell isn’t running from anything. He wants his guys to embrace the history of this club, the losing, the never-ending mediocrity. He wants it to piss them off, rather than pretend like it doesn’t exist. Might be a small thing, but again, strikes me as progress.

— OK, fine, last one. Notice what happened when a phone went off during a press conference? Matt Patricia, who once chided a reporter for not sitting up straight, who once chided this reporter for playing a game during a four-hour break in the media room (seriously!), would not have taken that well. I remember a cameraman’s phone going off once, and I thought that guy might blow a gasket. And to be fair, it’s obviously disruptive.

When it happened in the Campbell press conference, that was actually the first presser of training camp. Big morning, big moment, you know? Yet Campbell not only took it in stride, but actually joked with the reporter about it.

“I’m not going to forget you, Colton,” he said with a smile. “Is that your alarm? You got up early, huh?”

— Shannon K. Furman, the director of “Hard Knocks,” told us on last week’s podcast they intended to feature the assistants more than previous seasons. Which makes a lot of sense, because these assistants are interesting. Furman and her team did a good job covering the basics we already know, about all the former players on this staff like Aaron Glenn, Duce Staley, Antwaan Randle El, Mark Brunnell, Hank Fraley and of course Campbell himself, who played three seasons in Detroit. There are more than 80 seasons worth of NFL experience on that coaching staff, which gives them a unique relationship to the players.

“You know the aches and pains,” Campbell said. “You know the routine. It’s knowledge of the game, motivation, communication. And these were guys I sought out because I believe they can do it all. I do believe they are exceptional.”

One thing that’s certainly exceptional about them: The dynamic between Glenn, the defensive coordinator, and Staley, the assistant head coach and running backs coach.

“Repeat after me,” Staley told the players during a team meeting. “Grit. Dream. Love. Do it again. Grit. Dream. Love. … Love. As men, here is where we have to graduate. It’s OK to tell the man next to you you love him. It simply means you care about him. And you got to get to the point where you love and trust the man next to you. You have to get to that point for us to get to where we want to go.

“AG,” Staley shouts across the room, “I love you man.”

Glenn: “Love you too, brother.”

Staley: “I want to (expletive) you up between the lines, but I love you.”

Good stuff. And believe me when I tell you, that’s every day. Every. Single. Day. Those guys are just jawing at each other, and “Hard Knocks” gave them a lot of screen time to go at it front of the country. Here’s betting they emerge as two of the stars of this season.

— We’ve heard a lot about rookie pass rusher Aidan Hutchinson on the field, and can already see what he can do. We know a lot less about what Hutchinson is like off the field. So I asked Dan Campbell about it the other day. And one of the great things about covering that man is, well, you never really know where he’s gonna go.

“He goes out there and he just works his ass off in practice,” Campbell said. “Then in meetings, he keeps his mouth shut until he’s asked a question. That’s exactly what you want in a rookie. He’s going to earn their respect. Now you guys will see, two nights ago he had (to sing) the song. It was the first one, we got him up there and his name and school, signing bonus and – I will say this, it was outstanding. He took a big step in respect of his teammates because it was a hell of a performance, just singing ‘Billie Jean.’”

The performance became the talk of camp.

“That man was money,” offensive tackle Penei Sewell said. “Butter. He scratched up a little bit at the beginning, but I get it. Jitters. But he killed it. That man killed it.”

Fourteen minutes into “Hard Knocks,” we got to see it. Hutch didn’t disappoint, either. He sang the tune acapella, then began to snap his fingers, before transitioning into an all-out, hip-swaying dance. Players began to clap along, and half of them where out of their seats by the end of it.

Clearly, the No. 2 overall pick has already endeared himself to the clubhouse.

— Fun fact: Aidan Hutchinson’s mother had a picture of Aidan Hutchinson as a child in her purse on draft night. He was wearing a Lions jersey from his flag football team.

“And look at what happened,” she said. Indeed.

— Hutchinson wasn’t the only rookie performance on “Hard Knocks.” Linebacker Malcolm Rodriguez, the sixth-round pick out of Oklahoma State, was also featured doing a convincing salsa dance. Hutchinson was the focus of Episode 1, but here’s betting the editorial decision to also include Rodriguez is a sign of things to come in future episodes. Which would make sense, because Rodriguez has been one of the biggest surprises of camp.

About 30% of sixth-round picks never even make it out of their rookie camp, yet that guy is already stealing reps with the first team. Seems like a long shot he’ll actually start the season opener on Sept. 11, but seems like a pretty good bet he’ll be somewhere in the rotation.

“Training camp is awesome because you get to hit people,” Rodriguez said.

— It’s always interesting to see what players say when they don’t realize the cameras are rolling, versus what they say in press conferences. For example, most players have said they don’t mind those padded covers they’re wearing over their helmets this year. Then you’ve got Michael Brockers near a hot mic saying to defensive line coach Todd Wash: “They say this (expletive) ain’t heavy. This (expletive) heavy as (expletive).”

— The “Hard Knocks” cameras did a good job capturing two of my favorite elements from training camp so far: Penei Sewell vs. Aidan Hutchinson generally, and Penei Sewell vs. Jeff Okudah specifically. That sound you heard when Sewell kicked out into the flat and then ran over the former third overall pick? Yeah, now imagine standing about 20 feet from it. You could feel that thing in your teeth, man.

Sorry. I think I’ve been listening to too much Dan “Freight Train” Campbell.

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