While school is out, there's still some report card stuff to do. Today I want to evaluate Dan Campbell's performance and his progress as the Lions head coach.

In order to do that, I'm going to have to go back in time a little to when In was covering the Lions for Pride of Detroit. In year one I talked about the Dan Campbell experiment and some of the things we were looking for from him that year. In year two I did the same when I listed four things I wanted to see from Campbell in year two. 

As we head into year three, let's look back and see how much Campbell was able to accomplish in his first two years and see if that falls in line with expectations. I'll be handing out some letter grades too. Welcome to the parent teacher conference Dan. 

Handling the pressure

This was something that I was concerned about in the early going. Detroit is a pressure filled place. This a team that's been trying to find the right guy for my entire 37 year life. They just haven't been able to. Naturally anyone who takes this job is immediately under the weight of that pressure. 

Campbell has been as cool as it gets the entire time. He hasn't got uber defensive like Matt Patricia or given short answers like Jim Caldwell. He's been largely the same guy fur the duration of his time in Detroit. That's a good sign because it hasn't all been easy. 

Really the only time we've seen a demeanor change from Campbell was when he cried after losing to the Vikings in 2021. That was actually a moment that brought everyone more in on him than they'd already been. He showed how much he cared in that moment. Having a coach that cares over a coach that just wants to keep his job is always going to be a good thing. 

Grade: A

Winning the little games

In year two I was looking for the Lions to simply go out and beat the teams they're supposed to beat. I'd say it's fair to say that Campbell mostly achieved that in year two. 

The Lions went out and beat the Bears twice for example. They also beat the Commanders. Still, they should have beaten teams like the Patriots and the Panthers. 

It's not the end of the world. The Lions had a lot tougher schedule than we thought it would be last June. They managed to go get some of the wins they were supposed to get and that counts for something. But they need to get better at this in year three. 

Grade: B-

Win the big games

This is where Campbell and the Lions shined the most in 2022. They went out and won some big games against big opponents. 

They beat three playoff teams down the stretch of the season. One of those games was on the road. The Lions had lost 13 straight road games before that win. 

They also beat the Packers at Lambeau on national TV. That was by far the biggest win of the season. Knocking your division rival out of the playoffs and chasing their quarterback out of the division is a giant win in any book. 

While they didn't beat the Bills or the Eagles, they stayed in bot of those games in super entertaining fashion. The Lions really showed that they're for real in 2022. It's because of their success in this section that some are favoring the Lions to win the division and maybe even get to the Super Bowl.

Grade: A

Don't get lost out there

This one is tough. In 2021 Campbell and the Lions coaching staff bungled some stuff in the thanksgiving game against the Bears. The expectation was that the Lions would put that sort of stuff behind them. 

Campbell did that for the most part. But he made a major mistake against the Vikings when he opted to go for a a 54 yard field goal instead of punting the ball away. This gave the Vikings great field position and they marched down field for a game winning touchdown. 

Little stuff like that has to go away in 2023. Mistakes happen to every single coach. Nobody is exempt from them, but you have to make sure you're not driving that mistake into happening. 

Grade: C

Player progress

There's zero complaints to be had here. Players on this team got better as the year went on. That's all you can really ask for. Players getting better clearly helped the Lions record get better down the stretch.

The Lions also took players that weren't already good and made them better. John Cominsky became a big part of the team, James Houston went from a guy that we weren't sure was going to be ready anytime soon to a guy that finished second in sacks among rookies. Kalif Raymond became one of the more reliable receivers on this team. 

Campbell nailed it in this department. 

Grade: A

Year three is right around the corner and we will soon have new expectations and goals for Dan Campbell and the Lions. Until then, I've been impressed with what I've seen so far. Some little things need to be cleaned up, but otherwise this whole thing has been a success. 

Final Grade: B+