Lessons Dan Campbell Learned from Bill Parcells

The timelines of Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell and Hall of Fame coach Bill Parcells intersect and weave together rather interestingly, as do the lessons Campbell has learned. 

As a player, Campbell was drafted by the N.Y. Giants as a tight end in 1999. Ironically, New York is where Parcells first became a head coach years prior. It is also where Parcells won two Super Bowls, back in the 1980s and early '90s. 

While that was way before Campbell arrived in New York as a player, the organizational roots are still noticeable. 

From there, Campbell went on to actually play for Parcells in Dallas in 2003, back when Parcells was the head coach for the Cowboys. 

Upon the completion of his playing days, Campbell's career once again intersected with Parcells, this time in Miami in 2010. This would be Parcells' final year of being the Dolphins' executive vice president of football operations. 

However, their brief time there together served its purpose. Campbell began as an intern on the coaching staff, before ascending over the next five years to tight ends coach and ultimately Miami's interim head coach in 2015 (5-7 record). 

From there, Campbell's path led him to working in New Orleans on head coach Sean Payton's staff.

Ironically, Payton is also a Parcells disciple and comes from his coaching tree. 

That is how it works in the NFL. It is one big fraternity. 

Campbell worked in New Orleans from 2016 until being named as the head coach in Detroit this past January. 

So, what lessons did Campbell learn from Parcells and those that were influenced by the Pro Football Hall of Fame head man (i.e. Payton)? 

Campbell told Rich Eisen on "The Rich Eisen Show" that he's got "about a million Parcells stories." Just that quote alone provides some insight into the amount of wisdom Campbell carries with him. 

Specifically, Campbell told Eisen that he learned how to build team comadarie, how to call the players out that deserved it and how Parcells was really into the psychological part of the game. 

Campbell even said, "Nobody could push buttons the way that man did."