Detroit Lions owner Sheila Ford Hamp expressed her thoughts on the 1-5 start to the season to reporters during Wednesday’s practice. Hamp says she’s absolutely frustrated, but she truly believes they can turn this thing around.
“I know this is difficult. Our rebuild is hard, but we really believe in our process. We really believe in–we’re going to turn this thing around the right way, through the draft. It requires patience. It’s frustrating. Am I frustrated? Absolutely. Are the fans frustrated? Absolutely.”
Her time with reporters was short, but her message was clear. Hamp reiterated the absolute confidence that she has in Brad Holmes and Dan Campbell and emphasized that this process was a complete teardown and rebuild.
“I think we really are making progress. We’ve seen it. It’s just – this was a huge teardown and then turnaround. We’re only a third of the way through the season. We’ve got 11 more games to go, so I just don’t want everyone to push the panic button and give up the ship, because I think we’ve got the right people in place to pull this off.”
Sheila Hamp talked to reporters today because she wanted to send a message to everyone, especially the fans.
“The rebuild is hard, but we really believe in our process. We really believe we’re going to turn this around the right way…we got the right people in place.”
— Woodward Sports Network (@woodwardsports) October 26, 2022
In her first season in charge, Hamp began the teardown by firing General Manager Bob Quinn and Head Coach Matt Patricia. After a thorough search, she hired Brad Holmes and Dan Campbell. A decision she still has the utmost confidence in.
“We really had to take it down to the ground level. And it’s been not only on the football side but across the organization. We’ve put in a lot of new talent at the top. I really believe in the top leadership in this organization and I think we’ve got the people to do it, to carry this out.”
When Martha Ford and Sheila Hamp sat down with five reporters and told us they were giving Matt Patricia and Bob Quinn one more year to figure it out, but with an ultimatum. Patricia was 9-20-1.
Right now, Dan Campbell is 4-18-1.
Thoughts in the mailbag: https://t.co/kIZSKu3HAf pic.twitter.com/ld0QWzjqmg
— kyle meinke (@kmeinke) October 26, 2022
The 1-5 record has fans everywhere pointing fingers and coming up with off-the-wall scenarios for replacing personnel. However, this short conversation put any thoughts of Campbell or Holmes losing their positions to rest, at least for now. Hamp says while she hates losing, we have to be patient.
“No one hates losing more than I do, than my family does, but it’s just–we’ve just gotta go through it.”
The Detroit Lions will host the Miami Dolphins this Sunday at 1pm ET.
Photo credit: © Kirthmon F. Dozier via Imagn Content Services, LLC
Maddy Miller – Detroit Lions Beat Reporter
On Twitter: @madelynvmillerr
