Copyright M Live Michigan
ALLEN PARK – When it comes to understanding how Dan Campbell is wired, few people in the Detroit Lions organization know better than Kelvin Sheppard. Before joining Campbell’s staff in Detroit as linebackers coach in 2021, Sheppard — now the Lions’ defensive coordinator — played under his current boss during their time with the Miami Dolphins. In Sheppard’s second season in South Florida (2015), the Dolphins fired head coach Joe Philbin after a 1-3 start. Campbell, then in his fifth year with the team and fourth as tight ends coach, was elevated to interim head coach. Sheppard saw firsthand what type of leader Campbell could be, and that belief carried over when they reunited years later in Detroit. “I probably have a more unique outlook on that than anybody in this building outside of Dave Correa because I saw it in 2015 when I was a player,” Sheppard said. “That’s when it really hits you. I know what those guys in that locker room are feeling because I felt it. Listen, I love Joe Philbin, but in the Miami Dolphins facility, all the lights were off — we didn’t pay the electric bill all year. And then when Dan took over, he paid the whole six months that were unpaid. Because guys had a fire. You went to practice with a purpose. “It just shows you the quality of a head coach — it’s not about being a guru (which Dan is), it’s about being a leader of men. Guys believe in what you’re saying and follow you. I wouldn’t be who I was if I didn’t get mentored and didn’t watch Dan Campbell every day for the last five years of my coaching career. But it was when I was a player, man — I knew, I believed. I believed every game we were going to win because of the way we prepared during the week.” Although the Dolphins finished 5-7 over their final 12 games to go 6-10 that season, Sheppard’s point about Campbell’s impact on a team’s mindset proved true. It also provided an early glimpse into the type of coach Campbell would become when given time and patience from his front office to establish a culture. That same belief carried into Detroit. In 2021, Campbell and Sheppard’s first season together, the Lions started 0-10-1 before finishing 3-13-1. A year later, after a 1-6 start, Detroit finished 9-8 following a vote of confidence from principal owner Sheila Hamp. Since then, the Lions have emerged as one of the NFC’s top teams — going 12-5 in 2023 and reaching their first NFC title game in over 30 years. Last season, despite a shocking early playoff exit at the hands of the Washington Commanders — their Week 10 opponent — they finished the regular season with a franchise-best 15-2 record. Sheppard reflected on how those early lessons under Campbell in Miami shaped his perspective once he joined Campbell’s staff. “That’s why I remember in 2021 starting off, you get some guys carried over from the last regime, and you hear the whispers — especially me, because they’re a little more comfortable talking to me — and I’m like, ‘Just believe in it, guys. Trust me.’ “The first day he took over in 2015, he told me and Mike Pouncey to go line up. He put a circle around us — that’s illegal to do now, I guess — and said, ‘Go.’ I’m like, ‘What do you mean, go?’ And it was mano-a-mano, and it set the standard for how we played the rest of that year. That’s just carried over here — him getting the ultimate chance, and you see the fruits of the labor of Dan Campbell.”
