Dan Campbell briefly interrupted Kelvin Sheppard\u2019s media session Tuesday, playfully suggesting that Lions beat reporters were asking soft questions of the team\u2019s new defensive coordinator. Before Campbell spoke, he had been observing Sheppard’s session as he passed by, grinning widely with clear pride.<\/p>\n
About half an hour earlier, during his own media availability, Campbell revealed that he and former Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn \u2014 now with the Jets \u2014 had been grooming Sheppard for this chance. For the last two years, they had been mentoring him and slowly increasing his responsibilities, knowing he was on a fast track to becoming a defensive coordinator.<\/p>\n
Sheppard understands that it\u2019s the belief in him that led to his promotion following Glenn\u2019s departure. While he values that deeply, he said the confidence and trust shown by the Lions\u2019 locker room \u2014 many of whom reached out to him after the promotion \u2014 means the most.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat means the most to me. Honestly, and it\u2019s no disrespect to anyone else, but the players are the most important to me because they\u2019re the ones who perform,\u201d Sheppard shared. \u201cYou can have all the philosophies and ideas you want, but it\u2019s about them. Without their belief in me, I\u2019ve got nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sheppard is particularly close with defensive players like (Aidan Hutchinson), (Alex Anzalone), and (Malcolm Rodriguez), so it wasn\u2019t a huge surprise when they reached out, though he was truly appreciative.<\/p>\n
After Sheppard’s promotion, several Lions defensive players posted congratulations on social media, expressing excitement to work under their new coordinator. However, he was taken aback when players from the offensive side of the ball \u2014 whom he doesn’t interact with often \u2014 also reached out, including the starting quarterback, whom he didn\u2019t even have contact information for.<\/p>\n
\u201cJared Goff, a guy I didn\u2019t even have his cell phone number, reached out,\u201d Sheppard said, laughing. \u201cHe texted me, saying, \u2018Hey, it\u2019s JG.\u2019 And I just replied, \u2018What up?\u2019 His outpouring of happiness meant a lot\u2014he said he thought I deserved it, and he was excited. I told him how thrilled I was to have him as the quarterback on the other side.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sheppard also heard from players like (Amon-Ra) St. Brown, (Jameson Williams), David Montgomery, and (Jahmyr) Gibbs. Though those players don\u2019t interact with him as much as the defensive players, it meant something special to him that they noticed his work.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen the offensive guys see it from afar, it hits a little differently because they don\u2019t interact with me as much as the Hutches and Anzo do,\u201d Sheppard explained. \u201cThey know me well and are like, \u2018That\u2019s just Shep, he\u2019s not worried.\u2019 But for the offensive guys to notice and acknowledge my work, that really meant a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Dan Campbell briefly interrupted Kelvin Sheppard\u2019s media session Tuesday, playfully suggesting that Lions beat reporters were asking soft questions of the team\u2019s new defensive coordinator. Before Campbell spoke, he had been observing Sheppard’s session as he passed by, grinning widely with clear pride. About half an hour earlier, during his own media availability, Campbell revealed […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":26939,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[378],"tags":[633,457,2726],"class_list":["post-26938","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-detroit-lions","tag-dan-campbell","tag-jared-goff","tag-kelvin-sheppards"],"yoast_head":"\n