http://www.miamiherald.com/sports/nfl/miami-dolphins/article38488815.html
He's still a week away from coaching his first game, but in South Florida, Dan Campbell is already a star.
It helps, of course, that he's the anti-Joe Philbin.
If Philbin was the school librarian, Campbell is the gym teacher who challenges his students to chin-up contests.
His caffeine-infused introductory press conference launched countless memes and too many fake Twitter accounts to count.
The chiseled Campbell says things like, "I want those guys to puff their feathers up a little bit," and hopes his players get back to acting like "primates."
And fans, starved for that kind of machismo the last few years, lap it up.
But despite his candor, we still know very little about the Dolphins interim coach.
A few quick facts:
*** He and his wife Holly have two children -- Cody and Piper.
*** As a player, Campbell was a member of two teams that reached the Super Bowl (the Giants in 2000 and the Saints in 2009) but also was a part of the 2008 Lions squad that went 0-16.
*** In 2003, he was named to USA Today's All-Joe Team (given to the NFL's unsung heroes). He also was an Ed Block Courage Award recipient as a player.
*** He has a scar on his side from an appendectomy. Feeding into his tough-guy persona, Campbell missed just a week of practice due to the procedure.
Of course, all of this can be learned with a simple Google search.
To really get to know Campbell, talk to those who know him best: the players who spend every day with him -- particularly Miami's tight ends.
"He just understands the game," said Jake Stoneburner, who has two touchdown catches this year. "He played for 11 years. He gets what it takes to win. He likes the competitiveness and the toughness of the game and he takes it to the coaching side of it. But he also gets you as a player. He gets what we go through each day. Whether it’s mentally or physically, he understands it, so it’s also a good thing to have."
Great to hear. Hopefully the team can build some positive momentum going into the rest of the season.
He's still a week away from coaching his first game, but in South Florida, Dan Campbell is already a star.
It helps, of course, that he's the anti-Joe Philbin.
If Philbin was the school librarian, Campbell is the gym teacher who challenges his students to chin-up contests.
His caffeine-infused introductory press conference launched countless memes and too many fake Twitter accounts to count.
The chiseled Campbell says things like, "I want those guys to puff their feathers up a little bit," and hopes his players get back to acting like "primates."
And fans, starved for that kind of machismo the last few years, lap it up.
But despite his candor, we still know very little about the Dolphins interim coach.
A few quick facts:
*** He and his wife Holly have two children -- Cody and Piper.
*** As a player, Campbell was a member of two teams that reached the Super Bowl (the Giants in 2000 and the Saints in 2009) but also was a part of the 2008 Lions squad that went 0-16.
*** In 2003, he was named to USA Today's All-Joe Team (given to the NFL's unsung heroes). He also was an Ed Block Courage Award recipient as a player.
*** He has a scar on his side from an appendectomy. Feeding into his tough-guy persona, Campbell missed just a week of practice due to the procedure.
Of course, all of this can be learned with a simple Google search.
To really get to know Campbell, talk to those who know him best: the players who spend every day with him -- particularly Miami's tight ends.
"He just understands the game," said Jake Stoneburner, who has two touchdown catches this year. "He played for 11 years. He gets what it takes to win. He likes the competitiveness and the toughness of the game and he takes it to the coaching side of it. But he also gets you as a player. He gets what we go through each day. Whether it’s mentally or physically, he understands it, so it’s also a good thing to have."
Great to hear. Hopefully the team can build some positive momentum going into the rest of the season.
