Carlton Davis told several stories to explain why Detroit Lions coach Dan Campbell is the best coach he’s ever played for.
Detroit Lions cornerback Carlton Davis is facing free agency in a couple of weeks, and it’s unclear if he’ll run it back for another season with Detroit. However, during a recent appearance on the “Slightly Decent” podcast, Davis made some comments that suggest he may want to come back. The Lions cornerback spent about four minutes talking about how much he loves Lions coach Dan Campbell.
It started with a story about Detroit’s Week 2 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. As you may remember, the Lions made a huge mistake at the end of the first half. With the clock running around 10 seconds, the Lions had to make a decision as whether to spike the ball to stop the clock or rush the field goal team on the field. The offense ended up staying on the field, but half the field goal team also came in from the sidelines. As Detroit spiked the ball, there were too many men on the field and a 10-second runoff ended the half without the Lions getting their chip-shot field goal. Detroit would end up losing 24-20.
This was a play that Davis said they worked on time and time again, and so he was shocked and impressed to see Campbell take so much ownership of the entire loss after the game.
“He went in the locker room. Bro, he was crying. He was like, ‘Blame your coach.’ he was really like, “Blame your coach. You can blame me. You can blame me,’” Davis recalled. “He took full accountability. I have never in my, what, 20 years of playing football have ever had a coach just say, ‘I lost the game for y’all.’ And there’s plenty of other plays guys could’ve made.”
Campbell also took those comments public, telling the media after the game that “their head coach cost them this week.”
But beyond that, Davis was also impressed with just how personal Campbell got with him over the course of the year and how Campbell will publicly give you praise when it is deserved.
“Dan, he’s the type to talk to you damn near every day: at practice, just walking through the locker room,” Davis said. “He literally sat me down like—he done did this a couple times during the season (where) I had a good game, and he’d come up to me like, ‘Boy, you’re playing your ass off.’ He’ll just say that to you. After the game like, ‘Boy, you’re more than just a cover corner. You’re physical, too!’ And he’ll say that in front of the whole team. He’ll praise you in front of the whole team. That’s the first time a coach has ever did that.
“And not just for me, for other players. And he highlights, ‘This guy is going crazy.’ Like, (Amon-Ra) St. Brown blocking. St. Brown will block the shit out of somebody, but that’s something that will go under the (radar). Everybody ain’t glorifying that. But he’s glorifying that in front of the team like, ‘This is what I’m talking about!’ So you know when you’re doing shit, he watches everything, but he’ll also give you your flowers, too. A lot of coaches, they don’t do that.”
I feel it’s important to point out that Davis has played under some iconic football coaches. In Tampa, he played under both Todd Bowles and Bruce Arians. At Auburn, he was under Gus Malzahn. But despite being with those coaches, none were better than Campbell to Davis.
“He a real one. He’s my favorite head coach—I ain’t gonna lie—that I done played for,” Davis said. “That’s why I was out there trying to break my jaw for him.”
You can watch the entire podcast here. It’s a three-hour show, so you if you want to jump to the Dan Campbell portion, it’s at the 48:50 mark.
