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Lions’ Dan Campbell, Chargers’ Jim Harbaugh among CBS Sports’ top 10 NFL head coaches

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Lions’ Dan Campbell, Chargers’ Jim Harbaugh among CBS Sports’ top 10 NFL head coaches

One head coach is coming off a history-making season. The other is re-entering the NFL coaching landscape after a decade away.

They’re both among the top class of head coaches in the NFL, according to at least one outlet.

CBS Sports on Thursday released its rankings of NFL head coaches heading into the 2024 season, and the Detroit Lions’ Dan Campbell and the Los Angeles Chargers’ Jim Harbaugh are neck-and-neck, with Campbell at No. 8 and the former Michigan head coach one spot ahead at No. 7.

Both are in CBS Sports’ top tier of 13 coaches, the Class A category for “the best in the game.”

Campbell enters his fourth season as the Lions’ head coach, having helped lead Detroit to a 12-5 regular-season record, its first division title since 1993, and a berth in the NFC Championship. Ford Field hosted its first two playoff games, and the Lions matched a franchise record for victories in a regular season.

Campbell finished third in NFL Coach of the Year voting, and the Sporting News named him its top coach following a vote among coaching peers.

“Campbell, who also went 5-7 as the Dolphins’ interim in 2015, opened his Motown career as more of a mascot than a game-changer, giving a win-deprived Lions club some surface-level zeal,” writes Cody Benjamin of CBS Sports. “As time has gone on, however, his unflinching aggression has seeped throughout the organization, pairing perpetual boldness with a gradually improved roster. His commitment to the bit may have contributed to the Lions’ heartbreaking 2023 finish (a loss to the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC title game), but it also advanced the club to the point of being an actual contender.”

Harbaugh, meanwhile, is back leading an NFL team for the first time since 2014, when he was in his fourth and final season with the 49ers — a stint that included a berth in Super Bowl XLVII after the 2012 season and a 44-19-1 regular-season record.

Harbaugh left for his alma mater after the 2014 season, and led the Wolverines to college football’s pinnacle last season, an undefeated season and a national championship. Harbaugh was hired after the season to lead the Chargers.

“On one hand, Harbaugh’s been out of the NFL for a decade, and, in fact, has just four seasons of pro head-coaching experience under his belt,” Benjamin writes. “On the other, he’s been an undisputed victor at every spot, with 16 winning seasons in 20 years as a head man, including three NFC title games and a Super Bowl appearance during his San Francisco 49ers days. L.A. is bound to be more disciplined under his watch.”

The Chargers are coming off a 5-12 season.

Campbell and Harbaugh trail another head coach with ties to the state of Michigan, as Green Bay Packers head coach and Mount Pleasant native Matt LaFleur checks in at No. 5.

Other coaches with ties to the state:

▶ Brian Callahan, a former Lions quarterbacks coach, is No. 30, entering his first season with the Tennessee Titans.

▶ Dearborn’s Robert Saleh, who played at Dearborn Fordson and Northern Michigan, is No. 29 with the New York Jets.

▶ Former Michigan defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald is No. 25 after taking over the Seattle Seahawks.

▶ Longtime Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh — Jim’s brother — is No. 4.

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