Unsettling Take From Dan Campbell
April 9th, 2026
New Bucs inside linebacker Alex Anzalone.
When fans think of tough-guy NFL coaches demanding aggressive play, most put Lions head coach Dan Campbell in their top-5 or top-10.
Right or wrong, that’s the perception of how Campbell runs his team and what he demands of players.
So with that in mind, the Bucs added two Campbell players in March for key roles: edge rusher Al-Quadin Muhammad and inside linebacker Alex Anzalone. However, Campbell said last week his 2025 team wasn’t “salty” enough and he’s focused on adding edgy players so the team can recover the swagger and fire it had a couple of years ago.
That stuck out to Joe because the Bucs believe Muhammad and Anzalone bring an edgy/fiery/nasty factor that’s been lacking on the Bucs. So why did the Lions let them leave?
“Everybody wants talent, I’ll always want talent, but it’s always nice to have a little bit of saltiness to you over the talent that lacks saltiness because that’s what we were in ’22, and a part of ’23,” Campbell said via ProFootballTalk.com. “We had talent, but we had some salty guys and we were highly competitive. We were willing to make it work, figure it out, so just getting a little bit of that edge back.”
Bucs fans should find out rather quickly whether Muhammad and Anzalone represent an upgrade from the defensive softness they’ve become too used to.
April 9th, 2026 at 9:31 am
What else is he going to say?
April 9th, 2026 at 9:37 am
The coaches have to coach it better, and the players have to play it better. Every time I hear that this season I’m doing a shot.
April 9th, 2026 at 9:38 am
Joe pities your liver.
April 9th, 2026 at 9:38 am
Or coach will get them salty. Like Evans, he was so salty from 3-28 he left. Thanks Coach. It’s a Bucs life
April 9th, 2026 at 9:44 am
said all last year BUCS have too many nice guys….
Bucs only had 2 bad@$$es on the team last year…1 went to san fran and 1 went back into retirement(JPP)
no sense of urgency, no “juice”….
just a bunch of nice guys with a “moxy” QB who gets himself hurt lol
GO BUCS!!!!!
April 9th, 2026 at 9:49 am
Let’s give them a chance before we start passing judgement.
April 9th, 2026 at 10:27 am
I think Dan Campbell was disappointed with the outcome of the season
The Lions were the overwhelming favorite to win the NFC
And they didn’t even make the playoffs, that’s a tough pill to swallow
But his words, are only words
They added Christian Izien, that addition puzzle me
April 9th, 2026 at 10:49 am
Braswell will add some salt this year.
April 9th, 2026 at 10:51 am
What exactly is he going to say? he’s probably very disappointed that he lost those two players.. when a team loses players it always sounds as if the coach let them go. What if the player wanted to go somewhere else which could be the case here?
April 9th, 2026 at 11:00 am
Todd the Charmin Dispenser will have them resembling cup cake bakers by October. Never fear.
April 9th, 2026 at 11:12 am
Red Skeleton Says:
April 9th, 2026 at 10:49 am
Braswell will add some salt this year.
_______
Salt?
More like Mrs. Dash!
😄
April 9th, 2026 at 11:26 am
Nothing worrying in that to me at all. Coaches these days rarely say anything worth writing down anyway.
Go Bucs!
April 9th, 2026 at 11:47 am
from a career standpoint – replacing Evans as best franchise receiver may never happen.. but on a singular season impact he is right. 1100 yards and 8-10 TDs can be found relatively easily. Finding ILB to get you 120 tackles, 12TFL, 4 sacks, 7 QA bits, an int, 5 pass deflects, 3 forced fumbles – thats an average Lavonte season and would be hard to expect even a guy like Sonny Styles to do that.
April 9th, 2026 at 12:06 pm
Doesn’t mean they didn’t also lose 2 guys that are Salty.
Anzalone was actually there in 22 and 23 but Muhammed wasn’t.
Im still convinced Hutchinson was the main reason Muhammed had 11 sacks.
QBs roll the opposite way with him on the field.
He had more chances.
Still way better than the current Braswell.
Wish we could trade for Lawerence with Mcollum, sign Diggs and draft Mesidor and Rodriguez.
Vea, Lawerence, Robinson, Kancey, Roberts and Nacho.
Diaby, Muhammed, Mesidor, Derek Moore 3rd Round, David Walker, Nelson.
April 9th, 2026 at 12:12 pm
Boise Bucs – please reconsider ss you’re probably going to die of alcohol poisoning by week 4.
April 9th, 2026 at 12:42 pm
Speaking of pity for livers and alcohol poisoning I thought I must have had one of those Alien xenomorph things in my chest last night. Something ripped it’s way out my chest and ran into the bathroom. I was expecting to find one of those Alien things, but it turned out to be my liver. Go BUCS!
April 9th, 2026 at 12:54 pm
His dumb play calling was a lot of why they lost games
April 9th, 2026 at 1:32 pm
Boise Bucs Fan Says:
“The coaches have to coach it better, and the players have to play it better. Every time I hear that this season I’m doing a shot.”
I’ll join you in that endeavor sir. Should be completely sh@t faced by week 2.
Maybe the Joe’s can get a few transplants on stand by!
April 9th, 2026 at 1:48 pm
Captain Campbell talks a tough game…and was a promising up and coming coach. His in-game strategy cost his team a trip to the Super Bowl and now their window is closing. Biting kneecaps is a fun sound bite but can only take you so far. Is he better than Bowles? Probably…but so are Rich Kotite and RV salesman turned head coach Leeman Bennett of Buc lore. That take might be hyperbole…like biting knee caps.
April 9th, 2026 at 2:41 pm
He lost a really good OC the year before. One who did really well in Chicago.
Hard to make up for that with just attitude unless you hire the perfect replacement. I’m thinking they didn’t.
Sound familiar?
April 9th, 2026 at 3:05 pm
Dan Campbell lost his DC and OC
Both coaches got Head Coach opportunities
They scored about 5 points less per game
And they gave up about 4 points more per game
That’s a real big difference in the NFL
April 9th, 2026 at 3:21 pm
You don’t think Campbell wore on a few guys as well? They were there when they were ‘salty’ so they changed?
April 9th, 2026 at 4:07 pm
They’ll be plenty salty once Bowles has them confused in coverage.
Worst HC in the NFL.
April 9th, 2026 at 4:55 pm
Lions were 9-8 on 2022, so I’m not too worried if that’s what the extra saltiness got them…
April 9th, 2026 at 8:26 pm
What the lions lacked was BEN JOHNSON
April 9th, 2026 at 8:32 pm
And they still got knocked out in the playoffs!
April 9th, 2026 at 8:41 pm
Campbell 2′-2 in playoffs. Bowles 1-3 …Fire both of them!!
April 9th, 2026 at 9:47 pm
I’ve been drunk passing out puking since 3&28. Any thing new happening with the Bucs? Just woke up. My liver hurts.
April 9th, 2026 at 9:59 pm
Both are over 30 cast offs. One’s best football is behind him and the other had a fluke year he will never repeat and he gets pushed around against the run. Detroit had all kinds of problems on defense last season. If they could still play at a high level they’d still be Lions. And mark my words, I know one is a Florida guy but they’ve both been in cool weather and controlled environments most of their careers. The humidity here will dehydrate them and then comes the hamstring pulls and IR. Just like last year’s big signing bust.
April 10th, 2026 at 12:23 am
Maybe his team is tuning him out too, and he just needs fresh ears who haven’t heard the spiel before.
April 11th, 2026 at 12:02 am
Once upon a time,
Draft best player available regardless of position.
The end
As always Go Bucs
April 11th, 2026 at 6:44 pm
Dan Campbell’s record doesn’t say much more than Bowles. Both could be interviewing in the offseason if they put out another average product.
April 11th, 2026 at 9:27 pm
I’m on the middle of your last podcast and expecting that just because Bowles cursed and got angry after the debacle of his defense on TNF that will resolve anything, we are lying to ourselves. Why, because nothing changed. Bowles with a good roster on a terrible division an 8 and 9 coach. Players know it and fans know it. His best season was with Liam Coen and of course no surprise.
Liam Coen with less talent and not with his established coaching staff, he won 13 games.