ALLEN PARK, Mich. — You have to learn to walk before you can run. But after that? That’s when you really have to watch your step.
And that’s something for the Lions to keep in mind, now that they’ve made their way out of the wilderness and back to respectability.
The next step is more of a leap, really, and it is fraught with danger, as we’ve seen over and over again in the NFL. Including here in Detroit about a decade ago, when the Lions’ last full-scale rebuild was undone by some faulty wiring and the front office forgetting that age-old axiom: Measure twice, cut once.
Brad Holmes wasn’t here back then, obviously. Neither was Dan Campbell. But they’d both do well to consider what happened the last time the Lions were in a spot similar to this. And then remember what got them here, from a “dark place” — as Holmes called that 1-6 start to this season on the heels of their 3-13-1 debut in 2021 — to within a tiebreaker of making the playoffs.
Bottom line: It didn’t involve taking any shortcuts.
“We made a commitment to build this thing the right way,” Holmes said Tuesday, less than 48 hours after the Lions’ season-ending triumph in Green Bay. “And sometimes the right way, it’s the hard way. But it’s still the right way, and we stayed committed to it.”
Now they just have to keep that commitment. Because the temptations surely will be there for everyone going forward, from the front office to the coaches to the players themselves. And what is easy to say now, on the heels of that late-season success that saw Campbell’s team win eight of its last 10 games — including four on the road and three against playoff teams — gets harder to do when the expectations start to rise along with the confidence.
Just think back to that 2011 breakthrough season, for example, when the Lions — only two years removed from their historic 0-16 disaster — ended a 12-year postseason drought with a high-flying offense and relatively young defense.
Actually, think about what preceded it first, though. That was a 2010 campaign that saw the Lions finally starting to turn a corner under a second-year GM and head coach. After losing 40 of 44 games, Jim Schwartz’s team won four in a row to end that season on the upswing, even with their franchise quarterback, Matthew Stafford, on injured reserve.
Then came a pivotal offseason that saw GM Martin Mayhew spend conservatively in free agency — short-term deals for linebackers Stephen Tulloch and Justin Durant were the most notable signings — and act impulsively in the draft.
The Lions used their first four draft picks (including a trade up) to select three talented players carrying red flags for character concerns that ranged from a poor work ethic to failed drug tests. And what initially felt like a win-now haul — Nick Fairley, Titus Young and Mikel Leshoure — proved to be just the opposite in relatively short order. A year later, the list of issues involving those three included arrests, legal troubles, and outright insubordination in the locker room and on the field. And barely six months before he was fired as GM, Mayhew admitted that he “didn't do a good job in '11," adding, “I think I was overly aggressive. I learned a lot from that.”
Follow your path
So what can Holmes learn from that now? And what can these Lions do to avoid a similar fate as the Lions followed up that 2011 playoff berth with back-to-back losing seasons and another coaching change?
Simply put, it’s to keep doing what they’ve been doing.
All this light and hope we’re seeing now in the Lions’ immediate future was made possible by more than just an influx of talent. It’s also a reflection of the character and diligence and all the other intangibles that watermarked Holmes’ first two draft classes as GM, as well as some of his low-key signings in free agency.
To be fair, some of that already was in place. For all the collateral damage that can be blamed on the Lions’ previous regime, it should be acknowledged that Bob Quinn and Matt Patricia did leave behind some building blocks. Guys like Taylor Decker, Frank Ragnow and Jonah Jackson anchoring the offensive line, or Tracy Walker and Will Harris in the secondary. Role players like Jason Cabinda and C.J. Moore, too.
As for Holmes, the first-time GM who'd spent his entire career in scouting with the Rams, he took some flak for his initial free-agent signings in 2021. But you can see now what he and Campbell and the rest of the Lions’ staff were thinking when they brought in the likes of Alex Anzalone and Jamaal Williams and Kalif Raymond.
But you can also see why he said what he did Tuesday, when asked about flipping the switch from the regular season to the offseason on the flight home from Green Bay. ("Yeah, I was excited," he smiled. "I was like, ‘Man, it’s time to get players now!'") This next part is the part of the job he truly loves.
'The right guys'
And the early returns suggest it's where he thrives as well. The Lions can safely say they nailed their first two first-round picks in Penei Sewell and Aidan Hutchinson. But it’s the heart-and-soul additions like Amon-Ra St. Brown and Malcolm Rodriguez, and the production from Day 3 prospects like James Houston — Holmes raved about his relentless efforts to crack the lineup this fall — that should give the fans even more hope going forward.
"The young core, I think we’re a special group," St. Brown said. "And I think that's the biggest thing. Guys that are new to this team are gonna understand that this isn’t the old Detroit Lions. This is a new team, a new culture ... and they’re gonna have to come with that same energy if they want to be part of it."
There are no "ifs" about it, though, according to the head coach. And again, that's sort of the point.
“These are the right guys for us,” Campbell said. “They fit us, man. They fit the mold, and to us, you have to meet a certain type of criteria to be here. We don’t just strictly look at talent, and our guys have created that culture. They’ve embraced it, and it’s part of who we are, and it’s why we’ll always compete.”
Yet it’s also why they can’t cheat. It’s one thing to take a gamble on a premium talent like Jameson Williams, the big-play receiver coming off a torn ACL that Holmes traded up to grab in the first round last April. And for what it's worth, it’s not quite the same thing Mayhew did when he moved up to draft Jahvid Best back in 2010 despite his history of concussions.
But there’ll be other temptations this offseason, no doubt. And whether it’s the allure of spending big to fill a position of need in free agency, or the enticing prospect that’ll bring some extra baggage in the draft, it’s up to Holmes — and Campbell — to resist the urge, if necessary.
And while they can — and will, to borrow Campbell’s "Hard Knocks" line from last August — embrace the expectations, which understandably will include competing for the NFC North title and hosting a playoff game at Ford Field, they still need to act methodically here.
“I do think we’re just getting started,” Holmes said. “Last year, a foundation was laid, and a culture was put in place. But this year, I believe the standard is set. And that standard, it’s not going to be compromised, no matter what.”
