'Our window is not closed': Why Dan Campbell, other NFL coaches believe Lions will be back in 2026

DETROIT -- When Dan Campbell arrived for the NFL's annual league meeting in March, no one would have guessed he was three months removed from one of his most disappointing seasons as the Detroit Lions' coach. Instead, those who saw him at the Arizona Biltmore in Phoenix were more preoccupied with his hair, which along with his goatee was considerably longer than anyone covering the team since 2021 could remember. "You know what? I just haven't cut it," Campbell joked. "I haven't cut it. I cut the sides, but I haven't." His relaxed look mirrored the calm confidence with which he discussed his team while answering questions from reporters alongside his coaching peers. He talked about his team heading into the 2026 season -- expressing his belief in the staff and the roster that he and general manager Brad Holmes had built. "We've been going. It's been fun. Been fun. Brad and I have been -- we've been back in the bunker just going at it," Campbell said. "It's been fun. It really has. Kind of a little bit of a rebirth, actually." His Lions were in need of the mini reset. They had won 15 games in 2024 and 12 the season before that, cementing themselves as one of the NFC's top contenders along the way. But in 2025, after losing both coordinators and eight coaches overall, they won just nine games and missed the playoffs for the first time since 2022. This offseason, some change was inevitable. The biggest: Campbell brought in former Arizona Cardinals offensive coordinator Drew Petzing to replace John Morton, whom the Lions fired in January after the first-time OC struggled to give Detroit an offensive identity. Detroit also put the finishing touches on a two-year renovation of the offensive line by moving All-Pro Penei Sewell from right tackle to left, adding Cade Mays in free agency and drafting tackle Blake Miller with the No. 17 selection. Otherwise, the team that enters the 2026 campaign is largely made up of the same nucleus that helped push the Lions to so much success. And Detroit has doubled down by locking down two of its young stars in running back Jahmyr Gibbs and linebacker Jack Campbell with lucrative contract extensions. Those signings followed new deals they've given to other homegrown talents over the past three years and raised their overall investment in extensions to more than $1 billion over that span. Dan Campbell said the commitment to the current roster, combined with the organization's recent track record of success, is why he and the Lions remain confident their championship window remains open despite last season's setback. "Our window is not closed. It's not closed. That was the whole reason why we did this. We fell short last year. But needed to get in [the playoffs], and now it's about the matchups, where you're playing and who you're playing," Campbell told ESPN of his team, which is favored by DraftKings to win the NFC North and have the fifth-best odds to win the conference. "We want to be able to do that every year, and sometimes, I'm just saying is what happens is, you want to go all-in for one player, well how do you know that one player doesn't get hurt? "Or how do you know the three players behind him don't get hurt and now you've got no depth. Whereas, let's just get a unit together that we feel like can compete every year and then it's about in that moment, we're making those plays and finding a way to win that game." And they are not alone in their assessment of the team. Asking about the Lions' prospects revealed a consensus from top coaches around the NFL -- from the Los Angeles Rams' Sean McVay to the Green Bay Packers' Matt LaFleur -- that the 2026 Lions are not the 9-8 team the league saw last season. Here's what the Lions and others around the league are saying about Detroit's Super Bowl worthiness in 2026. Part of the reason for Detroit's uncharacteristic 2025 campaign was the turnover on the coaching staff. After finishing 15-2 in 2024, the Lions most notably lost offensive coordinator Ben Johnson and defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn, who took head coaching jobs with the Chicago Bears and the New York Jets, respectively. Those two departures were big losses for the team. But an underappreciated aspect that contributed to its struggles last season was the sheer number of coaches Campbell had to replace. Campbell: "Well, you learn. But I don't think anybody necessarily tells you, 'Hey, be ready to lose [eight] coaches in one year.' Of course, that's the plan. You're going to lose some guys, you do it right and then the next guy, you can promote or you can go find guys. But when you're talking about [eight coaches], that's a tall task. But you owe it to the players, you owe it to the organization to find the best guy. "So, I feel like those pieces we added last year, for the most part, really fit what we're about and are good for us." McVay: "I think it's a champagne problem. When you end up losing coaches for the reasons that you're talking about with Dan, that means you're doing really well. People want to try to replicate. Or people in your building that are in leadership roles, they want to have them lead or take elevated steps in their career. "What I would say is it's a blessing. What I've really leaned into for us is what's been really fortunate is you get exposure to new people. New ideas." Glenn: "It's a really good problem to have because usually when you're losing coaches like that, that means you're doing well." LaFleur: "I do think that is a challenge, obviously. [Campbell] lost both of his coordinators, and there's a little bit of learning curve there and sometimes you have some growing pains, but I still think they're an elite team." In Johnson's three years as OC, the Lions established one of the NFL's most dangerous and prolific offenses. In 2024, his unit scored a franchise-record 564 points and led the league in scoring for the first time since 1954. Since 2022 -- the year Johnson took over playcalling duties midseason -- the Lions are tops in the NFL in scoring and total offense. While they still managed 481 points last season, they failed to establish an offensive identity outside of home run plays, and Morton, who replaced Johnson, was relieved of playcalling duties in November. In January, the Lions fired Morton and hired Petzing, who'd spent the previous three seasons as OC of the Cardinals. Campbell: "I feel like the addition with Drew Petzing is going to be great for us. I think it's going to get us centralized. Back to being centralized more on offense." McVay: "This league is so volatile, great coaches get let go every year and great coaches become available. And I think when you show your place is a developmental staff that'll invest in the human being and help them get to places that Dan and I were fortunate enough to get to, you attract high-caliber people and you've got to lean into it." The Cardinals ranked second in the NFL in rushing yards per attempt (4.92) and ninth in total rushing yards (6,399) during Petzing's three years of calling plays in Arizona. And while Detroit's average yards per carry remained steady from 2024 to 2025 (4.7 to 4.6), the team's attempts, rushes per game and rushes of 10 or more yards per game all dipped last season. Petzing, on what he wants from his offense in Detroit: "It needs to be physical, it needs to be tough, it needs to be difficult to defend and it needs to be multiple at times. "It's not going to all run through one person, it's not going to run through one personnel, it's going to change week to week. I think that's important in this league. Defensive coordinators, I think, do things at a really high level. They watch tape, they understand scheme. So, I think that's a big part of what we need to be on offense." Gibbs on Petzing: "He's nice. Smart. He's demanding of us, but he knows we can do it. He puts a lot on our plate, but like I said, he knows we can do it. We're smart, we're really good football players. I like him. He's cool. That's my dog." Campbell enters his sixth season with the Lions having helped lead the franchise to unprecedented heights in the Super Bowl era. Despite missing the playoffs last season, Detroit's 9-8 mark gave it a winning record for a fourth consecutive season -- the longest such streak in more than 50 years and tied for the second longest in team history. Cincinnati Bengals coach Zac Taylor: "This is his sixth year, so I would have complete trust that Dan and those guys have a great plan. We played them last year, and they're a great team from top to bottom. They certainly got the best of us, and I'm happy we don't play Detroit this year because I've got a lot of respect for Dan and Detroit and the job they've done there, and [quarterback Jared] Goff. ... I haven't studied them as much this offseason or going into next year, but I would imagine they're going to continue to have success." LaFleur: "Oh yeah, Dan Campbell's a stud. He is an unbelievable football coach. Got a ton of respect for him. What he's been able to establish here, the culture that they have. You know you better strap it up when you're going to play the Detroit Lions." Buoying Detroit's hopes in 2026 is a roster brimming with talent on both sides of the ball. Since 2021, his first year in charge, Holmes has drafted more players who have been named All-Pro (six) than any other GM or franchise over that span, according to Elias Sports Bureau. And Holmes, as part of his draft-and-develop strategy, has signed many of those players to extensions, ensuring the Lions -- projected by ESPN's Mike Clay to win 12 games this season -- will have its core group of stars together for years to come, which has contributed to the organization's strong sense that a Super Bowl in 2027 and beyond is a very real possibility. Lions president and CEO Rod Wood: "When you look at us top to bottom and I think we've got elite players in some of the most important positions. [Offensive tackle] Sewell, [All-Pro wide receiver Amon-Ra] St. Brown, [defensive end] Hutch [Aidan Hutchinson], and there's a lot of teams that would trade for that. ... [Sam] LaPorta at tight end, and Gibbs at running back, Goff at quarterback. So, you put it all together and I think that we've got a team that can compete. "Not to compare, but I don't think that too many people are assuming that the window's closed on the Chiefs, and they only won six games last year. So, it can come back just as fast as it went the other way, but I'm very confident." St. Brown: "I think Dan's 100% right. I think our Super Bowl window is still wide-open. I think our nucleus is still here. ... The guys that are important key players are still here. There's so many guys on our team that are core pieces that are still with us, so I feel like that changes that we've had, every team is going to go through changes. You win games, your corners, they leave and you've got to bring new guys. We've got more changes this year, and I think it's going to be good for us. "I think we, as a team, are going to be hungrier than ever because of what happened last year and how disappointed we were just as a team internally. We feel like we had way bigger goals than what we did last year and what happened. For us, it's like, we know what we got; we've just got to put it together and just keep working towards the biggest goal." Lions All-Pro linebacker Jack Campbell: "Yeah, it's no excuses, and I feel like everybody here knows that. Our roster has more than enough talent to get it done. We've just to go out there and do it, and it comes down to the players. "So, I don't know if that's pressure or whatever, but again, it doesn't matter. You've just got to be yourself. Each and every player is here on this roster for a reason."