Lions tab ex-Giant Campbell as coach

The Lions have landed the coach they coveted from the start of their search, agreeing to terms with Dan Campbell.

The Lions announced the agreement with the Saints tight ends coach on Wednesday, one day after formally introducing Brad Holmes as their general manager. Campbell will sign a six-year contract, according to a person familiar with the situation.

“With more than 20 years of experience as both a coach and player in the National Football League, Dan knows the rigors of professional football and what it takes to be successful,” team owner Sheila Ford Hamp said in a statement. “He will help promote the culture we want to establish across our organization, while also bringing with him high energy, a respect for the game and an identity with which everyone can align themselves.”

Campbell, who is from Clifton, Texas, was a standout tight end at Texas A&M and was drafted in the third round by the Giants in 1999. He caught 91 career passes for 934 yards and 11 touchdowns with the Giants, Dallas, Detroit and New Orleans.

Campbell, who played for the Lions from 2006 to 2008, is the first former player to lead the franchise since Hall of Famer and two-time NFL champion Joe Schmidt was Detroit’s coach from 1967-72. While Detroit did make Holmes one of four Black general managers in the NFL and team president Rod Wood thanked Rod Graves of the Fritz Pollard Alliance on Tuesday, the franchise followed a league-wide trend of hiring white head coaches.

The Lions were one of seven teams looking for a head coach during this hiring cycle and so far only the Jets did not pick a white man. The Jets hired Robert Saleh, the son of Lebanese parents.

Philadelphia and Houston, meanwhile, still have an opening for a head coach. The NFL has just four minority coaches: Pittsburgh’s Mike Tomlin, Washington’s Ron Rivera, Miami’s Brian Flores and Saleh, who is the first Muslim American coach in the league.

The 44-year-old Campbell, who also had the title of assistant head coach with the Saints, has 11 years of experience in the NFL as a coach and 11 as a player.

He was 5-7 as interim coach of the Miami Dolphins in 2015.