Grading Detroit Lions Dan Campbell for 2023 Season

In three short years, Dan Campbell has established a winning culture in Detroit, and transformed the Lions into one of the NFL's best teams.

Campbell and Detroit general manager Brad Holmes, both of whom were hired in 2021, had to endure plenty of losing to start their respective tenures In Motown, though.

Remember, the duo started 0-10-1 before it won its first game during the 2021 campaign. Plus, it began the following season 1-6 before turning around its fortunes and winning eight of its last 10 games to finish the 2022 season 9-8.

Even as the losses continued to pile up through the first year and a half of Campbell's tenure, Lions players continued to play hard for him, and support from the front office, including principal owner Sheila Hamp, never wavered.

It was an impressive showing of support from the players and Hamp in Campbell's ability to get Detroit playing a winning brand of football. And boy, did it pay off – and then some – this past season.

The third-year head man had a significant hand in the Lions producing a banner season in 2023. Campbell not only guided the franchise to its first division championship in 30 years; he also led the once dormant, irrelevant organization to its first playoff win in 32 years.

Then, on top of all that, he led the Lions to two consecutive playoff wins for the first time since 1957 – also the last time Detroit won an NFL championship. For context, this championship came before the start of the Super Bowl era, which came to form during the 1966-67 season.

Campbell & Co. came one win short of a franchise first: getting the chance to play for the Lombardi Trophy.

And sure, Campbell himself deserves some blame for the team's NFC Championship Game loss to San Francisco, a game in which the Lions blew a 17-point, halftime lead. He made two controversial decisions to go for it on fourth down in the second half, both of which ended up failing and swinging momentum in favor of the 49ers.

Yet, his 2023 campaign should hardly be remembered for just those aggressive play-calls that backfired for Detroit.

Instead, he should be remembered for all the fourth-down calls that did go right in both the regular season and the postseason (22-of-45). Whether or not you thought he was foolish for leaving his offense on the field as frequently as he did, there's no denying the fact that Campbell's aggressive ways helped the Lions get as far as they did in 2023.

There's also no doubt that he played a major part in re-energizing the Detroit fanbase and in instilling confidence in the fans that the Lions could hang with and beat the NFL's upper echelon teams.

Even without making the Super Bowl, this season will go down as one of the best in the 94-year history of the franchise. For that, it's hard to say that Campbell deserves anything less than an “A” grade for his coaching efforts in ‘23.

Grade: A