Kenny Beckett deserves to be the starter of his first week in Pittsburgh; Quirky camp change in Detroit

Detroit coach of the year Dan Campbell took a different approach to training camp earlier this week. On Monday, Lions conducted Player Led Training With team leaders guiding their teammates through a series of individual drills and team periods. There were no assistant coaches on the field, as Campbell was watching from the sidelines.

Although the training schedule and scripts were provided by the coaching staff, the team leaders were responsible for overseeing the drills and making sure everyone performed to standards.

“Well, we were told this morning that the guys are going to go out there and run their own training,” Taylor Decker Monday said, via MLive.com. “These are the team scenarios we want to get done and you guys are going to go in there and run the show.” I think it’s great to do that. Because frankly, on match day, we’re there, we have to communicate, and we have to be responsible to each other.”

This type of unique arrangement promotes commitment, accountability and trust between players and coaches and is essential to performance at a high level. Moreover, it forces players to perfect their leadership and communication skills. Given the way today’s society often communicates via text messages or various social media channels, coaches should spend more time teaching their players how to talk to each other between the lines. Additionally, player-led sessions encouraged team leaders to be very clear and direct with their instructions and expectations.

“He just told us, he was like, ‘This is the practice – these are the periods we want to train for and the coaches will not be there.'” Decker said. “Just leave it at that. Well. Like I said, we come here and work every day. It doesn’t matter if the coaches are here or not. We know what to do and how to do it. Obviously we need coaches. But we shouldn’t We need them here so we can have a good job. Because we’re professionals. And I don’t need a fan to lead me to go. Very cool. I’ve never seen anything like that, so it was fun to get out here.”