The Super Bowl is Sunday.
The Lions are still not in it.
But Michigan Public sports commentator John U. Bacon still joined Morning Edition host Doug Tribou to discuss the game, staffing changes for the Detroit Lions, and the Red Wings' turnaround under their new coach.
Doug Tribou: Before we get to the big game, let’s talk about the Lions. Since we last spoke, head coach Dan Campbell has seen a lot of changes on his staff. Offensive coordinator Ben Johnson is now the head coach of the Chicago Bears. Defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn is now head coach of the New York Jets. If we listed all the other departures, new hires, and promotions, we’d be out of time.
How hard will it be for Campbell to duplicate the culture and success he’s built with so many new faces?
John U. Bacon: This is one of the hidden traits of great leaders, and that is the ability to reload with leadership. Because if you're any good at what you do, people are going to take your people. They're going to go somewhere else. They're going to become head coaches, in this case. So that'll be one of his tests.
But Campbell, he's been around the league his entire life. He's well known and he's got a very clear sense of what his culture is and what it isn't. I suspect he will succeed at reloading.
DT: This is the Chiefs’ fifth Super Bowl appearance in the past six seasons. They’ve won the last two. What can the Eagles do to slow down quarterback Patrick Mahomes and the rest of the Kansas City offense?
JUB: There's not much you can do other than don't give him the ball. So the key there might be the Eagles offense. Jalen Hurts is an excellent quarterback. Two years ago in the Super Bowl, he outplayed Patrick Mahomes, but they lost. So hang on to the ball.
Look, if the game goes down to the last two minutes and the Eagles are ahead within a touchdown and Patrick Mahomes has got the ball, the Eagles have lost. You can't let that happen. So the answer is going to be Jalen Hurts, in my opinion.
DT: Here’s another little prediction for you. If Patrick Mahomes throws more touchdowns than his total number of appearances in ads during the Super Bowl, the Chiefs win. [Laughs]
JUB: [Laughs] Great insight often ignored, Doug. So fans, watch the ads. What Doug is telling you is gospel truth. Watch those ads.
"There's not much you can do other than don't give him the ball."John U. Bacon on how the Philadelphia Eagles can stop Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes in the Super Bowl
DT: Let's turn to men’s college basketball. Tom Izzo’s Michigan State Spartans are ranked ninth in the nation in the latest Associated Press poll. They had been cruising. The Spartans won 13 straight games, but they’ve since lost two in a row to USC and then UCLA. What do the Spartans have to do to get back on track?
JUB: Look, you're going to lose some games. Not an easy schedule coming in. They've still got Oregon, They've got Purdue. They've got Michigan. I mean, you want to win the Big Ten title? That's how you're going to do it. But Izzo, this is not his first rodeo. He knows how to recover from a brief bad streak. And right now it's going be basically a three-way battle. Michigan State, Purdue and Michigan for the Big Ten title.
DT: And Michigan climbed back into the Top 25 this week. It'll be an interesting stretch as we head toward March.
Let's turn to the NHL. The Red Wings started out the season with just 13 wins in their first 35 games. Then they fired head coach Derek Lalonde and replaced him with Todd McLellan. Since then, Detroit has won 15 of 20 games, including seven in a row. What has McLellan done differently since taking over?
JUB: It's actually quite simple, and I love it. Derek Lalonde, the previous coach, had them doing all kinds of very strict systems. They're not called plays in hockey, but systems. Kind of railroad tracks that you have to follow in the offensive zone. So instead of responding and reacting and being aggressive, you're thinking too much and you're going too slow. So what did McLellan do? He said, Unleash the hounds. One of his first speeches was, you guys been playing this game your entire life. You know how to play offense. Go do it. And so he let them go.
A book called Let Them Lead, that reminds me of that book. Some high school hockey coach, I think, advocated this. I'm sure [McLellan's] read it, too, by the way [laughs].
DT: [Laughs]
JUB: But it boils down to a very simple idea. Boils down to: trust your people. He did. These guys can play. The last 20 games, they're the best team in the NHL. That's a turnaround.
Editor's note: Some quotes in this article have been edited for length and clarity. You can hear the full interview near the top of this page.
