ALLEN PARK >> Detroit Lions linebacker Jack Campbell knows his answer isn’t the most interesting.

But it’s the truth.

Campbell, a first-round draft pick in 2023 who was an All-American as a senior at Iowa, saw his game take a leap as a second-year pro in 2024. His consistent presence in the middle of a Lions defense that lost starter after starter was valuable, and his overall defensive grade from Pro Football Focus last season (78.7) ranked 11th in the NFL among linebackers who received at least 200 snaps. Campbell started to rise during the back half of his rookie season, and he carried that momentum into and through 2024.

How does he ensure he maintains his positive track?

“I would say to continue to improve — I’m going to give you a vague answer — on everything,” Campbell said last month during organized team activities (OTAs). “Just sticking to who I am. … Keeping the same routine. Never too high, never too low. Being consistent. It’s the same little mundane things. I feel like people don’t really figure that out, but it’s the little things that you do over time, and it gets you to where you want to be.”

New linebackers coach Shaun Dion Hamilton, who was previously an assistant coach at the position, said one of the biggest areas of growth for Campbell has been the way he sees the game. There’s more thinking during his preparation, but “you see less thinking out there” when it’s game time. That allows Campbell to play with more confidence, and thus more speed.

“The game is slowing down for him,” Hamilton said May 15.

Campbell, who said he is “all good” after undergoing a “little” hip procedure after the end of last season, will have some new challenges in 2025. The only defensive coordinator he’s ever known in the NFL, Aaron Glenn, left in in January to become head coach of the New York Jets. Replacing him is former linebackers coach Kelvin Sheppard, who the Lions have spent years preparing to take over in Glenn’s vacated spot.“It’s been good for me, especially me coming in (as a rookie and) having to work with him so closely to now having him as the coordinator,” Campbell said, when asked about the benefits of his former position coach now running the show on defense. “I feel like it just allows me to kind of know what he’s going to be thinking going into a game week, so, yeah, I’m really excited about that.”

Campbell said he’s also “excited to learn about the new stuff” Sheppard has to offer. There will be overlap with the previous coordinator — Sheppard learned much of what he knows while coming up under Glenn, and the scheme is designed to accentuate what Detroit’s current personnel does well — but there will be inevitable tweaks.

Those changes will keep Campbell and his defensive teammates on their toes. Wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown recently expressed similar excitement regarding new offensive coordinator John Morton, who doesn’t plan to change much about what former OC Ben Johnson ran, but will tinker and add some new concepts.

Learning new details breaks up the monotony of the offseason: “We’ve been so accustomed to certain things for so long that you kind of get used to it, and then when something new happens, it kind of wakes you up and gets you ready,” St. Brown explained June 5.

“We’ve got a new coordinator, so it’s been good to — not start from a new foundation, but we were kind of taking some stuff back and adding some stuff,” Campbell said. “… My base foundation is already laid, so just continuing to think back and think on all the lessons and experiences that I learned from my first two years to bring them into Year 3. Because you can’t beat experience in the NFL.”

When asked what he’s striving to accomplish in 2025, Campbell kept things simple. Not only does he want to bring the Lombardi Trophy to Detroit for the city and his teammates, but he wants to do it for himself. He wants to feel what it’s like to be a champion.

Continued growth in Year 3 will help get that done.

“My personal goal is to win the Super Bowl,” Campbell said, smiling. “For myself. I’ve got to get a Super Bowl ring.”