Detroit Lions owner Sheila Ford Hamp gave a rare interview this week. In her conversation with Lions in-house reporter Dannie Rogers, Hamp made it clear she’s pleased with the direction of the team and the hires of GM Brad Holmes and head coach Dan Campbell.
One of the things Hamp stressed was adhesion to the long-term plan and vision shared by the front office and the coaching staff. That includes resisting temptation to chase after big-name free agents at this stage of the franchise overhaul.
“Sticking to the plan is often hard,” the owner said. “You have the temptation to go, ‘Oh, let’s go out and get this player’ or ‘Let’s do that.’ Well, that’s just not the way we want to build things. We want to build things with a solid foundation for the future so that we are consistently a terrific team.”
She also made it clear she will not interfere or intervene in the decision-making process. Hamp is engaged and actively assisting, but not interested in doing the job for Holmes or Campbell.
“I see my role evolving and changing in that I think we’ve got a great coach,” Hamp stated. “I think we’ve got a terrific general manager. I want to know and be involved with them and their thinking and seeing how they work, and then you let them do their work. But I have every confidence in them, and I would never meddle. You’ve set a vision.”
It’s a good interview to get a deeper feel for Hamp and her style as the Lions’ owner.