Report: Matt Campbell initially agreed to be Detroit Lions coach

AMES, IA - DECEMBER 1: The Iowa State Cyclones new head football coach Matt Campbell address the crowd during a timeout in the first half of play of the Iowa State Cyclones mens basketball game against the North Dakota State Bison at Hilton Coliseum on December 1, 2015 in Ames, Iowa. (Photo by David K Purdy/Getty Images) | Getty Images According to a recent story from ESPN, the Detroit Lions were all prepared to hired Matt Campbell as their new head coach in 2021 . Campbell, the Iowa State head coach at the time, initially agreed to be the Lions’ new head coach, but eventually pulled out, per the story.

In 2021, Campbell initially agreed to coach the Detroit Lions before changing his mind; the Lions hired Dan Campbell instead, “Leaving Ames wasn’t something that I was looking to do or wanting to do,” he said. This is the latest development in a story that had conflicting reports almost immediately after Detroit hired Dan Campbell. At the time, there was certainly a lot of smoke regarding Matt Campbell and the Detroit Lions.

There is no debate as to whether he interviewed the job—he did—but what happened after has been disputed. A few months after the Lions ended up hiring Dan Campbell, there were reports that Matt had turned down an eight-year contract with the Lions worth $68. 5 million .

A few days after that, a conflicting report came out that Detroit never even offered Matt Campbell a contract , with a team source telling the Detroit Free Press that his pursuit never went beyond a first interview. Back during Dan Campbell’s introductory press conference, team president Rod Wood avoided questions about the team’s interest in Matt Campbell. “I’m not going to comment on any college coaches,” Wood said.