Amon-Ra St. Brown of the Detroit Lions catches a pass during the second half against the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Championship Game at Levi’s Stadium on Jan. 28, 2024, in Santa Clara, California. The Lions saw a historic record this season. Tribune Media
Caleb Henderson
Editor
Prior to the start of the new year, the Detroit Lions had not won a playoff game since 1991, while the Michigan Wolverines hadn’t won an outright college football national championship since 1948.
If you were to tell a lifelong fan of Michigan sports that both of those things would happen within the same week, within six days of one another; many would tell you that you were dreaming.
“I was kinda stunned with how well the Lions did in the playoffs,” said Evan Aeschliman, a general studies major who works in the WCC sports office.
“I knew they had a really good team and I knew this was going to be a big year for them,” he said as a lifelong Lions fan. “But all things considered with new management, new coaches, and a lot of talent it was a great year to be a fan.”
The dry period of success for sports teams in the state is something that’s been well documented over the past half decade – and something that fans don’t have to look far to see being still applicable to this day.
While the Lions and Wolverines have been enjoying incredible amounts of recent success, the Detroit Pistons have had a historically poor start to begin their 2023-24 campaign – posting an infamous losing streak of 28 games and currently boasting the worst record in the NBA.
Historically speaking however, football has been a sore spot for Michigan sports fans; making the recent success of the Lions and Wolverines that much more unexpected and that much sweeter.
Head coach Jim Harbaugh led the University of Michigan to win the College Football National Championship. Tribune Media
“I was really excited,” said Zoe Rezler, a fellow WCC sports office employee whose family has also owned season tickets to the Big House for over two decades. “I think it was very different, people really aren’t used to Michigan winning.”
Just over 15 years ago the Lions were the laughing stock of the NFL by becoming the first team in history to post an 0-16 record back in 2008, while the Wolverines didn’t fare much better – posting a program worst 3-9 record that same year and struggling to maintain relevance until Jim Harbaugh took the head coaching position at his alma mater in 2015.
The common denominator between the turnaround for both programs: a drastic shift in culture.
With the aforementioned Harbaugh immediately turning Michigan into a yearly contender upon his arrival, the Lions course corrected with the hirings of Brad Holmes at general manager and the bold, brave, and unapologetic Dan Campbell at head coach.
While Michigan will begin a new era starting in the 2024 campaign with Sherrone Moore becoming the 21st head coach in the program’s history, the Lions will run it back with mostly the same cast of characters this upcoming season—-including prominent offensive coordinator Ben Johnson returning for a third season at the helm.
WCC sports director Matt Lucas, a longtime Michigan sports fan, believes this gives the Detroit team the best chance to reach the Super Bowl that they’ve ever had.
“That was a bright shining star to know that culture wins out,” Lucas said when asked about Johnson’s return in an interview.
