Dan Campbell played tight end in the NFL from 1999-2009, overlapping with a young up-and-coming coach named Sean Payton.
“I was in New York when we drafted Dan and was the offensive coordinator,” Denver Broncos coach Sean Payton recalled earlier this week. “When I ended up in Dallas, I was part of the reason we were able to sign Dan as a free agent to the Cowboys.
“Eventually, I signed Dan to the Saints. He got injured and that’s where his career ended. Then eventually, I was able to sign him as an assistant coach. He’s a close friend, a fantastic coach and someone I’ve always enjoyed working with.”
Campbell and Payton worked together as a player-coach duo with the Giants from 1999-2002, the Cowboys from 2003-2005 and the Saints in 2009.
“I would’ve never gotten to Dallas had it not been for him vouching for me with Coach [Bill] Parcells, so,” Campbell said during his Thursday press conference. “And it just, it grew from there. So, look, it goes without saying, I’ve got a tremendous amount of respect for Sean and everything about him. And probably the greatest compliment I can give to him is that he believed in me, always. And he gave me that shot as a player and a coach.”
After he hung up his cleats, Campbell transitioned to coaching and eventually became an assistant head coach/tight ends coach in New Orleans under Payton (2016-2020).
Campbell used that assistant head coach job as a launching pad to become the head coach of the Detroit Lions in 2021. He is now set to face off against his mentor when the Lions host the Broncos on Saturday.
“[W]e better be on our stuff because he’s going to come here to try to embarrass us,” Campbell told Justin Rogers of The Detroit News earlier this week.
They are good friends, but both coaches have one objective this week: win. Payton and Campbell will undoubtedly have a warm handshake after the dust settles, but it will be all business during Saturday’s game.
