When it comes to some of the toughest head coaches in the league, Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell is not someone you want to mess with. However, if it came down to a wrestling match, Buffalo Bills head coach Sean McDermott is confident in his ability to take Campbell down.
That’s because McDermott was a wrestler when he was younger, and a damn-good one, too. He started at a very young age and was a two-time National Prep School champ and an All-Catholic selection at LaSalle College High School in Philadelphia.
“My wrestling background, that’s been a big part of me and my life and growing up and really helped shape me into the person I am today,” McDermott said after the Bills hired him. “There’s a lot of life lessons you learn through wrestling.”
When asked recently if there was any coach outside of Campbell who could beat him in a wrestling match, McDermott showed supreme confidence, saying he could beat the Lions head coach.
“No. And Dan Campbell couldn’t, either,” McDermott said with a smile on the Centered on Buffalo podcast. “Let’s just set that straight right now.”
“No,” McDermott added. “Listen, this would be like me saying to you as a center and a player that was extremely confident in his own abilities, ‘Hey, you’re going to go up against Aaron Donald.’ And I guarantee if I would’ve said that to you, you would’ve been like ‘So.’
“Same thing. Winners mentality. Until someone shows you that they’re better than you, you have to believe that you’re better than them.”
Both coaches keep in good shape, so that’s a wash. Campbell would have the size advantage over the Bills coach, but McDermott’s background in wrestling would even the playing field.
But Campbell’s background as a player in the NFL would help him, also. We like Campbell to win in this hypothetical one-on-one, but that would be one hell of a match, and one we’d pay to see. Just take our money and let us watch it.
Unfortunately, we’ll never get to see it, but the two head coaches will let their players do the battling when the Lions and Bills meet on Sunday at Ford Field.