Dan Campbell's Electric Locker Room Speech After Winning NFC North Goes Viral

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Cole Sullivan | Last updated Jan 6, 2025 10:28 AM ET

The Detroit Lions secured a massive, franchise-altering victory on "Sunday Night Football," with playoff implications on the line against the Minnesota Vikings. Head coach Dan Campbell’s team showed up in full force and delivered when it mattered most.

The Lions defeated the Vikings 31-9 to claim the NFC North title and the No. 1 overall seed in the NFC, earning a first-round bye and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. This marks the first time in franchise history that the Lions have clinched the No. 1 seed in the postseason and also the first time they've won the division in back-to-back seasons.

Following the win, as expected, Dan Campbell stole the show with his fiery and electric postgame locker room speech, which quickly made waves across the NFL and on the Lions’ social media.

"That was awesome. That’s a hell of a win, guys," Campbell said. "This has been three years in the making. You’ve got to work through it, grind through it, go through the downs to get to the ups of where we’re at. That was unbelievable, man—division winners back-to-back seasons and the No. 1 seed. That was a total team effort."

Check out the full speech:

That was awesome pic.twitter.com/76HYqmG4Mx
— Detroit Lions (@Lions) January 6, 2025

The video quickly gained traction, surpassing 500,000 views in less than seven hours of being posted on social media. It also garnered over 20,000 likes.

Dan Campbell went 3-13-1 in his first season as head coach of the Lions, but even then, he was building something. He was instilling a culture that had long been absent and getting his players to buy in.

Fast forward three years, and Campbell has done just that. He has transformed into one of the best head coaches in the NFL, and now the Lions are in search of their first Super Bowl in franchise history. With a week off to rest and prepare, they’ll be ready for the divisional round in two weeks.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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