To break out of prison, you gotta go through the sewer
Detroit Lions coach Dan Campbell was recently asked how he turned around a franchise that’s been losing for decades.
Look, I wish I could put my finger on exactly what it was, but I can’t do that. All I know is — we stayed the course of what we believe in….
Over the last year and a half, it’s been like — not that I’ve ever been in prison — you’re in prison, and you’re plotting your escape. And you know who it’s going to work, you got it all planned out. But you got to have patience; there’s a certain time for everything to get to where it needs to be for you to make your break.
And we made our break. And you gotta go through the sewer now. So we’re going through the sewer now. But you’re going to come out the other end, and you’re gonna be free, and it’s gonna be good, and you know the life you’re gonna live. And that’s kinda where we got to. We’re not all the way there yet, but we stayed true to what we are.
And the guys never wavered — that’s the most important thing. We got really good guys on this team. They believed, and they came back every Wednesday, and just kept going. They just went back to work, back to work. So listen, there’s no magic pill, secret — we just kept going.
Dan Campbell, Lion King