Lions Head Coach Takes Unique Approach To Tuesday's Practice

Ever since being names the head coach of the Detroit Lions, Dan Campbell has continue to make headlines, and on Tuesday, he did something that few coaches would ever do: he let his team run practice for the day. This was all part of his quest to empower the players on his roster, and allow them to grow within their roles as a part of the team that they believe is genuinely building towards being a good young squad.

So the Lions just went through an hour-long practice without any coaches on the field—save Dan Campbell, who was just an observer.

A true player-run practice.

Coaches provided the outline and the play script and let the players do the work.

— Jeremy Reisman (@DetroitOnLion) August 22, 2022

"It's their team," Campbell said in a text to Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated. "I want them to have ownership in it." After their second pre-season matchup of the off-season, this is usually a practice that's light to allow for recovery while the team builds, so it was the perfect opportunity to give this team a unique perspective on the practice.

Campbell was still around, but was the only coach on the field, simply there to observe how everything was going, and it seems to really have been something the players enjoyed. This is clearly something that will feature in an episode of Hard Knocks later on in the season, and potentially could be something that other teams adopt down the line.

Photo Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports