Sean Payton on Why Dan Campbell's Success in Detroit Was Never a Surprise Sean Payton coached Dan Campbell three times as a player. At the Giants when they drafted him. At the Cowboys in free agency. At the Saints on the 2009 Super Bowl team — where Campbell got hurt in training camp and missed the entire season. And every single time Payton was around him he saw exactly the same thing. Refreshingly honest. Players gravitating to him. A personality so consistent and so authentic that you always knew exactly what you were getting. Dan Campbell's success in Detroit has not surprised Sean Payton for a single second. In this breakout from their full conversation Trey and Payton go deep on Campbell — the player the assistant coach and now the head coach who has become one of the most beloved figures in the NFL. Where did it all start. What did Payton see that made him so certain. And what is the story from the 2009 Super Bowl training room that tells you everything you need to know about who Dan Campbell really is. Here is that story. Campbell gets hurt in training camp and misses the entire season. The Saints go on to win Super Bowl XLIV. And at some point after the championship — exact timing unclear but the image is burned into Payton's memory — Campbell storms into the training room, looks around at everyone, and says: what a grind of a season. A grind. The man missed the whole thing with an injury. His team won the Super Bowl without him on the field. And his takeaway is that it was a grind. That chuckle. That sense of humor. That complete and total commitment to the team over himself. That is Dan Campbell. That has always been Dan Campbell. The coffee black double red eye no-nonsense guy who never tried to be anything other than exactly what he was — in the locker room as a player, in the meeting rooms as an assistant coach, and now on the sideline as a head coach in front of the entire NFL. Payton tried to hire him away from Miami when Campbell was under contract there. Could not get it done. When Campbell eventually joined Payton's staff as an assistant it took about five minutes to confirm what Payton already believed. This man was going to be an NFL head coach. Not maybe. Not if everything broke right. Absolutely. The lesson Trey and Payton keep coming back to — for coaches for quarterbacks for anyone in a leadership position — is that authenticity is not optional. It is the job. Players detect fake immediately. They always have. Eli Manning was quiet because that is who Eli Manning is. Dan Campbell is the coffee black double red eye because that is who Dan Campbell is. The moment you try to be something you are not the locker room knows. Detroit did not just get a head coach when they hired Dan Campbell. They got exactly the coach they saw in every press conference and every sideline moment and every sound bite that went viral. The real version. The only version. The one Sean Payton has known for twenty-plus years. That is Dan Campbell. And none of this has been a surprise. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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