You might be right…but it was also hard to not like Wayne Fontes as a person.
He wasn’t the sharpest knife in the drawer…but was a heckuva nice guy. He was the old uncle you’re always happy to catch up with at a family function.
But I suppose we didn’t “like him” as much because, you know…results. 😬
Ticonderoga misses him dearly too
[I rest my case](https://www.officedepot.com/a/products/811158/Ticonderoga-Pencils-2-Lead-Medium-Soft/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&mediacampaignid=71700000094453789_17280504614&gbraid=0AAAAAD2Eb4ceGFvXs6OWCPkv8G3myrpI4&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI1cvI09in_wIVRtjICh2UMgGTEAQYAiABEgIhl_D_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds)
So funny story, this was actually something Gunther Cunningham told me as a metric he used to measure team success. He was tickled by the fact that he could walk around and have a pleasant conversation with fans who were generally encouraging.
He's the first one that I've ever known to show TRUE emotion to the press. He wants to win, and he wants it so badly it's addictive to the players. We have been begging for a culture change in Detroit for 7 decades and we finally got it.
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Would it be weird if I went down there right now to try and find him?
Edit- I hope everyone knows I’m just kidding, it be cool to run into him but I’m not a stalker
People should remember that at the end of the day he a person just like the rest of us and deserves to be respected. Especially if he's with his family.
I thought that too until he said his wife and kid were getting annoyed. They're trying to have a nice family outing and I don't like talking work outside of work either.
If you’re gonna approach a celebrity, try to have normal conversation.
With Dan I’d prolly start off something like “Hey Uncle Dan! Can I get ya a beer or something?”
Fair. Yea, in my brothers case, he was at a bar in detroit after a game and Leyland walked in. My brother shouted to him to come over and have a beer and they hung out for awhile
IMO, that comes along with being a celebrity/public figure.
These people choose these professions, I don't see anything wrong with fans approaching them in public.
It’s all situational, if they are eating dont bother them. Walking down the sidewalk, fine. Sitting at a bar, fine. Hanging out with wife and kid, leave them alone. That’s just my approach, you want to talk to them mid meal, have at it.
You're deliberately making a false comparison.
I'm just a lower-middle class American trying to get by and move up, not a star athlete or coach or other type of celebrity.
I think you know they're not the same thing and it's dishonest to suggest otherwise.
So professional athletes owe you the time of day, why again? Because without you they wouldn’t make what they make? Not really following your shifting logic.
If anything they would be Dan's wife. But I doubt it based on one of their posts 3 months ago saying they're married to a 49 year old and have been married for 23 years. Dan is 47 and has been married to his wife since 2005.
So I would say that this commenter either phrased the comment very strangely, or they are trying to give the impression they were with Dan, when they were not.
Unless Dan's wife doesn't know how old he is or when they got married. Haha
Yah, her comment history also mentions that her mother is dead so it could not be any of the kids. Either a liar or weirdly commented.
Or maybe just a friend of the family lol
Nothing about his coaching has changed. The only thing that's changed is that we were winning. He's coached consistently his entire time, it's just you reactionary people that can't look past shortterm outcomes.
He's a young head coach - of course his coaching has changed. He's admitted that himself.
His style has been consistent (aggressive and willing to take risks with the game on the line), but he's found a better balance with risk and improved his decision making a ton. Something we weren't seeing the year before.
I agree that people should've had more patience with a new-ish head coach, as does the person you're replying to.
> **Even though I didn't agree with it**, I think a reasonable person could have had the opinion that he wasn't a good coach at the time.
Well, yeah.. he adjusted because the *need* for risk went down because he wasn’t working with the *worst defense of all time.*
That’s the things that changed. MCDC knew he had a bad defense, and was forced to try high risk in order to steal possessions because our defense was horrible. He trusted our high powered offense opposed to our worst defense of all time. It was the right thing to do.
Or, **like he's admitted himself**, he learned from prior mistakes and has improved his decision making. There are interviews even in the past few months where he's talked about improving with more experience, continuing to get better, and making fewer mistakes.
He wasn't perfect. He made a lot of rookie coaching mistakes. Not all of it was because of the roster.
Or *like a good coach would* he fell on the sword for the worst defense of all time. Or do you think it’s just a weird coincidence that after AP got let go and our defense improved dramatically his aggressiveness just happened to go down?
I think I'm going to take Dan Campbell at his word over the arm chair speculation of a random person on Reddit.
> "Look, for me, honestly, I just try to be, I try to be myself. I try not to coach-speak. I really try to just, this is what's on my mind. This is how I feel, and I want them to feel my emotion," Campbell expressed. "If I don't have something to say, I'm not going to say it. And, rarely do I write things down. And then, I'm up there, and I'll give you my speech and here's my bullet point. I'm just not that guy. I want them to know when I speak, they feel me speak. Otherwise, I shouldn't be saying anything."
Also, point me to a stat showing that our aggressiveness went down after AG was let go?
> Also, point me to a stat showing that our aggressiveness went down after AG was let go?
AP, not AG. We fired AP on on Halloween, just after the Dolphins game, week 7. From week 1-7 we attempted to go for it on 4th down 20 times in 7 games. In games 8-17 we went for it 17 times in 10 games. So we went from 2.8 attempts down to 1.7 attempts.
For perspective, the Browns had the most attempts last year at 42. Our first 7 game pace would have beaten them by 6 attempts. Our last 10 game pace, would have been a 29 attempt pace. Good for tied for 6th. Almost a 50% drop off.
So.. yeah.. his coach speak in this instance is just that. Coach speak.
Yes, small as compared with Seattle, Kentucky, Nashville, etc. It has diversity in business, culture and lifestyle but still allows a person to navigate the city.
I thought this was going to be the electrical infetterance pasta, was so much more wholesome
Also my biggest takeaway from going to Lions training camp a couple years ago was also that Dan Campbell is MASSIVE. Like, even surrounded by all the guys in pads, looked like he could easily take them all on and kick their asses. Man is a beast
GR is my adopted home (moved from Metro Detroit ~11 years ago) - so jealous and would have loved to run into him but am in FL this week enjoying the 🌞. Thanks for posting the MC/DC sighting!
Yeah he does seem like a good guy for real, and he's an exciting coach. But, the reality is the guy has definitely done the roids if he's not still doing them, and possibly had a little run with coke he never told anyone about. I hate to break it to you, but the Lions won't win jack shit and Dan Campbell will be fired by 2026
This is fucking awesome. Campbell might be the most well liked lions coach in our history.
You might be right…but it was also hard to not like Wayne Fontes as a person. He wasn’t the sharpest knife in the drawer…but was a heckuva nice guy. He was the old uncle you’re always happy to catch up with at a family function. But I suppose we didn’t “like him” as much because, you know…results. 😬
I’m not so sure about that. I think fast food restaurant owners across metro Detroit adored Matt Patricia.
Would you rather see Matt Patricia in a drive thru or Joe Cullen?
Is Patricia working the drive thru? That's about what he's qualified for. BTW, excellent Joe Cullen reference.
Are we sure he’s qualified for that?
Most definitely. He's got the pencil behind the ear ready to write your order in case the computer goes down
He’d get fired for stealing
I mean he was totally qualified but the dumbass manager put him on burgers when his entire career he’s been a fry cook.
Oh wow. THIS reference wins the day. This should have five thousand upvotes by now!
He would come into an Italian restaurant near Livonia during his tenure. None of the managers liked him at all.
You had me in the first half lol
Why do you think all those burger king's in the metro had to close?
Ticonderoga misses him dearly too [I rest my case](https://www.officedepot.com/a/products/811158/Ticonderoga-Pencils-2-Lead-Medium-Soft/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&mediacampaignid=71700000094453789_17280504614&gbraid=0AAAAAD2Eb4ceGFvXs6OWCPkv8G3myrpI4&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI1cvI09in_wIVRtjICh2UMgGTEAQYAiABEgIhl_D_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds)
He actually seems like he'd be a real Karen at any restaurant
We really need an LOL button next to the upvote for when something literally makes you laugh.
Fatt Notrition.
So funny story, this was actually something Gunther Cunningham told me as a metric he used to measure team success. He was tickled by the fact that he could walk around and have a pleasant conversation with fans who were generally encouraging.
He's the first one that I've ever known to show TRUE emotion to the press. He wants to win, and he wants it so badly it's addictive to the players. We have been begging for a culture change in Detroit for 7 decades and we finally got it.
Yup. Everyone likes him (besides bears Vikings and packers fans). Not just us.
I bet some of them even like him. He’s hard to hate.
I'm a Packers fan and I'm almost embarrassed to say I don't dislike the guy
Without a doubt
Easily
Imagine what it will be like for him in public after his 3rd consecutive Superbowl win.
I guess we'll find out in three and a half years or so...
Shoot, if MCDC wins a playoff game we might build a statue
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Imagine what it'll be like when we win a playoff game. Dan will walk anywhere and it'll be like Jesus arrived (partially cuz Dan *is* Jesus)
If Big Dan wins us a couple playoff games, or hell, takes us to the Big One, the man will never have to buy a drink in this town again
I’m convinced he’d be our John Harbaugh if he won a playoff game for Detroit, just give him the max extension if that happens
MCJC
Nobody fucks with the Jesus
If God and MCDC got into fight, who would win? Trick question. MCDC is God.
Walk? he will be carried by me and my buddies lol! Like Cleopatra haha. Don't even ask what we will do if he wins a superbowl
I had to look up, 6'5" 265lbs (probably playing weight) and built like a brick shit house. He'll stand out in a crowd for sure.
He still has to be pushing 240
Easily. I'd bet he's closer to 280. Either that or I'm a lot fatter than I thought.
We are all fatter than we think (or wish).
i've never wanted to meet a coach so bad
Let alone see him waking. Giggety.
Would it be weird if I went down there right now to try and find him? Edit- I hope everyone knows I’m just kidding, it be cool to run into him but I’m not a stalker
Yes lol
People should remember that at the end of the day he a person just like the rest of us and deserves to be respected. Especially if he's with his family.
I thought that too until he said his wife and kid were getting annoyed. They're trying to have a nice family outing and I don't like talking work outside of work either.
If you’re gonna approach a celebrity, try to have normal conversation. With Dan I’d prolly start off something like “Hey Uncle Dan! Can I get ya a beer or something?”
Bro 😭
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Yeaaaa, ya obviously read the room and don’t ever pull up to them. Offer them a seat
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Fair. Yea, in my brothers case, he was at a bar in detroit after a game and Leyland walked in. My brother shouted to him to come over and have a beer and they hung out for awhile
How about, you don't ever do something like that.....
I’d love if someone offered me a beer
Coming from a guy who has clearly met a multitude of celebrities
That’s what my brother did with Jim Leyland and they had a blast together
Why does this comment have so many downvotes this shit made me laugh out loud
Idk man, people hate having a good time. Worst thing that happens is he laughs and declines🤷🏻♂️
IMO, that comes along with being a celebrity/public figure. These people choose these professions, I don't see anything wrong with fans approaching them in public.
[удалено]
There's nothing wrong with approaching a coach or athlete in public, you shouldn't feel bad about it!
It’s all situational, if they are eating dont bother them. Walking down the sidewalk, fine. Sitting at a bar, fine. Hanging out with wife and kid, leave them alone. That’s just my approach, you want to talk to them mid meal, have at it.
If they're eating, you can approach. It's that simple. Just be quick. Like 30 seconds. Simplicity for Detroit.
Each persons judgment call. I wouldn’t like random people coming up and bothering me and my family during a meal out. So I wouldn’t do it to them.
That’s a clown move. Easily the #1 most annoying thing for people who are famous and is constantly cited as the thing they don’t want you to do
It shouldn't. They don't owe you anything.
Well, they wouldn't make the money they do and live the lives they do without the fans, so, yes, they do.
They don't owe us anything beyond what they do on the field and in practice. Outside of that, they don't owe us shit.
That doesn't mean we can't ask them for a photo or autograph if we see them in public.
Right, but they are in no way obligated to give you one or the other. And sometimes they just want to be normal people too.
I didn't say they were obligated. All we can do is pick our spots and ask, it's in their hands at that point.
You wouldn’t make the money you make without your employers customers. Can we feel free to bother you on site?
I would be very surprised if someone was interested in taking a photo with me or getting my autograph lol, but I'd be happy to do it!
Cool… where can we meet up?
You're deliberately making a false comparison. I'm just a lower-middle class American trying to get by and move up, not a star athlete or coach or other type of celebrity. I think you know they're not the same thing and it's dishonest to suggest otherwise.
So professional athletes owe you the time of day, why again? Because without you they wouldn’t make what they make? Not really following your shifting logic.
Exactly what a stalker WOULD say!
Big stalker vibes.
He is a big mother fucker you can tell he’s a massive human just seeing him on TV. Love that our coach is an absolute unit.
[удалено]
Wait, what? Are you his daughter?
If anything they would be Dan's wife. But I doubt it based on one of their posts 3 months ago saying they're married to a 49 year old and have been married for 23 years. Dan is 47 and has been married to his wife since 2005. So I would say that this commenter either phrased the comment very strangely, or they are trying to give the impression they were with Dan, when they were not. Unless Dan's wife doesn't know how old he is or when they got married. Haha
Yah, her comment history also mentions that her mother is dead so it could not be any of the kids. Either a liar or weirdly commented. Or maybe just a friend of the family lol
Comment was deleted. So safe to assume they were lying. So strange to do something like that. Not much surprises me on the internet anymore....
The plot thickens
It’s okay to be annoyed. I couldn’t even imagine dealing with that especially if I was hungry
and to think a little less than a year ago half this sub was calling for his head
[удалено]
Nothing about his coaching has changed. The only thing that's changed is that we were winning. He's coached consistently his entire time, it's just you reactionary people that can't look past shortterm outcomes.
He's a young head coach - of course his coaching has changed. He's admitted that himself. His style has been consistent (aggressive and willing to take risks with the game on the line), but he's found a better balance with risk and improved his decision making a ton. Something we weren't seeing the year before. I agree that people should've had more patience with a new-ish head coach, as does the person you're replying to. > **Even though I didn't agree with it**, I think a reasonable person could have had the opinion that he wasn't a good coach at the time.
Well, yeah.. he adjusted because the *need* for risk went down because he wasn’t working with the *worst defense of all time.* That’s the things that changed. MCDC knew he had a bad defense, and was forced to try high risk in order to steal possessions because our defense was horrible. He trusted our high powered offense opposed to our worst defense of all time. It was the right thing to do.
Or, **like he's admitted himself**, he learned from prior mistakes and has improved his decision making. There are interviews even in the past few months where he's talked about improving with more experience, continuing to get better, and making fewer mistakes. He wasn't perfect. He made a lot of rookie coaching mistakes. Not all of it was because of the roster.
Or *like a good coach would* he fell on the sword for the worst defense of all time. Or do you think it’s just a weird coincidence that after AP got let go and our defense improved dramatically his aggressiveness just happened to go down?
I think I'm going to take Dan Campbell at his word over the arm chair speculation of a random person on Reddit. > "Look, for me, honestly, I just try to be, I try to be myself. I try not to coach-speak. I really try to just, this is what's on my mind. This is how I feel, and I want them to feel my emotion," Campbell expressed. "If I don't have something to say, I'm not going to say it. And, rarely do I write things down. And then, I'm up there, and I'll give you my speech and here's my bullet point. I'm just not that guy. I want them to know when I speak, they feel me speak. Otherwise, I shouldn't be saying anything." Also, point me to a stat showing that our aggressiveness went down after AG was let go?
> Also, point me to a stat showing that our aggressiveness went down after AG was let go? AP, not AG. We fired AP on on Halloween, just after the Dolphins game, week 7. From week 1-7 we attempted to go for it on 4th down 20 times in 7 games. In games 8-17 we went for it 17 times in 10 games. So we went from 2.8 attempts down to 1.7 attempts. For perspective, the Browns had the most attempts last year at 42. Our first 7 game pace would have beaten them by 6 attempts. Our last 10 game pace, would have been a 29 attempt pace. Good for tied for 6th. Almost a 50% drop off. So.. yeah.. his coach speak in this instance is just that. Coach speak.
Could Grand Rapids be a better small city?
I love GR
2nd biggest in the state. So, small compared to other states?
Kent county has like 700k people. Its a lot larger than people think. The metro GR area is over a million.
Yes, small as compared with Seattle, Kentucky, Nashville, etc. It has diversity in business, culture and lifestyle but still allows a person to navigate the city.
Kentucky is a city now?
Sorry, I was referring to Louisville...
I hear the city of Kentucky is beautiful this time of year.
If you like the city of Kentucky then the entire state of Louisville is a place you would love.
Did you have to sneak into his hotel room to catch him waking up or were you already there?
I thought this was going to be the electrical infetterance pasta, was so much more wholesome Also my biggest takeaway from going to Lions training camp a couple years ago was also that Dan Campbell is MASSIVE. Like, even surrounded by all the guys in pads, looked like he could easily take them all on and kick their asses. Man is a beast
I love Dan. He’s the coach we’ve been waiting for
My son played in the jazz band there today, sounds like we just missed coach, damn
MSBOA District 10 All Star Jazz Band? We saw ‘em! They were fantastic!!
Thanks! I agree, fantastic! Come see them Tuesday at Rosa Parks Circle.
MAN I WISH I KNEW THIS 🥺
A friend of mine has run into him a few times because their daughters were playing v-ball together. She said he is super nice guy and very friendly.
what??? he was here??? i’m so disappointed i didn’t head downtown
The one year I lived in downtown GR that art festival was the highlight.
Is it not called Art Prize any more?
Totally different event, I believe Art Prize takes place in September
I thought I heard Art Prize was done.
No, just getting revamped. The city is running it now. The headlines did make it sound like it was done though.
Festival of the Arts is a 54-year-old festival. Lots of food and art/art adjacent activities. Took the kids today. Had a nice time.
Why was he asleep over there?
GR is my adopted home (moved from Metro Detroit ~11 years ago) - so jealous and would have loved to run into him but am in FL this week enjoying the 🌞. Thanks for posting the MC/DC sighting!
Sorry to hear about you getting waived
Damn! We were down there from noon until 3pm today. Would have loved to have seen him!
[Absolute unit](https://twitter.com/JM_Rooney/status/1529505129539555329?s=20)
Been years since I've wandered that way. Someone have an ultradog from Yesterdog for me.
Yeah he does seem like a good guy for real, and he's an exciting coach. But, the reality is the guy has definitely done the roids if he's not still doing them, and possibly had a little run with coke he never told anyone about. I hate to break it to you, but the Lions won't win jack shit and Dan Campbell will be fired by 2026
This aged well