Dan Campbell was on the wrong end of one of the most blatant officiating screw-ups in NFL history.
As assistant head coach of the New Orleans Saints, Campbell was on the sideline for the Saints' 2018 NFC championship game loss to the Los Angeles Rams, when officials missed an obvious pass interference penalty
that would have put New Orleans in position to run out the clock and kick a game-winning field goal.
The no-call left the Rams with enough time to tie the game in regulation and win in overtime to go to the Super Bowl, and as someone who's experienced dealing with controversial finishes, Campbell was able to put himself in Western Michigan's shoes after the Broncos' stunning loss to Michigan on Saturday, Sept. 5.
"If I’m Western Michigan,
on to the next one," Campbell said Monday, Sept. 7. "Get locked in on the next one. Because you've got no control over what just happened, regardless. Doesn’t matter. And so the best way to prove your own worth is to knock off the next one, man, and make sure you’re ready. That was the only thing I thought of. If that was me, that’s what we've got to be ready for. That was it."
The Broncos appeared to upset the Wolverines when safety Micah Davis knocked down a Hail Mary pass by Bryce Underwood on what seemed like the final play of the game. TV replays showed the ball in the air with time expired before it touched Davis' hands.
But officials reviewed the play and added one second to the clock when an alternate feed showed Davis touching the ball with time still remaining.
Underwood completed a Hail Mary to JJ Buchanan on a second attempt to give the Wolverines a 13-12 victory.
Campbell said he heard about the finish but didn't see it and was "staying away from that."
But as difficult as it is to put a disputed loss in the past, Campbell said it's essential that's what the Broncos do.
"You just make it happen," he said. "You have to. You've got to make it happen. You've got no other choice or you could sit there and sulk in it, worry about it and try to change the rules and then you go into the next game and get your face kicked in."
On Sunday, Sept. 6, WMU coach Lance Taylor and president Russ Kavalhuna shared a similar message, saying there was nothing untoward about the loss and it was up to the Broncos to move on.
"Ultimately the refs did not cost [us] this game," Taylor said. "If we make the mistake of making an excuse, it allows us to be bitter instead of getting better, and I [don't] think that that's where we want to go as a football team."
Dave Birkett covers the Lions for the Detroit Free Press. Contact him at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Bluesky, X and Instagram at @davebirkett.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Dan Campbell's message to Western Michigan: 'On to the next one'
