The New Year can wait. I know I previously stated that GameTime, TBD© would be shutting down until after we all sobered up from our New Year celebrations, but sometimes life gets in the way. So, while the rest of "the staff" is enjoying the holiday break, the chief is winging it solo . . . and, thus, must take full responsibility for any typos and/or omitted words in the ramblings that follow.
I believe the fine folks over at Deadspin put it best when the titled a post today "Detroit's Rod Marinelli Receives Least Surprising Firing Ever." I am going to get this out of the way up front: I am a Marinelli fan. The man coached the first ever 0-and-16 team in NFL history and not once this season did he try to make excuses. On top of that, he managed to get his team to come out and play hard every week. It might not have been pretty (what would you expect with the talent they had?), but they played hard . . . okay, will excuse the Tennessee and New Orleans games. Do I think Marinelli had to be fired? Yes. But that does not mean I do not think he is a decent coach who could have probably gotten some decent results with a team a little better off talent wise.
I am proud to say that I watched part, if not all, of every Lions game this season. I flew up to San Francisco to watch them live, I avoided sports scores the morning after my firm's Christmas party so I could watch their game against New Orleans (brutally hungover) taped delayed thanks to the wonder that is DVR, and kept delaying my family's second Christmas celebration so I could check up on their record-setting sixteenth loss to Green Bay yesterday. It did not matter how ugly it got, or how many times I had to tell my friends that one of their fantasy players was a good start because they were playing Lions, I was there to support the blue and silver. I know what you are saying to yourself right now, and yes I did once discuss how great it would be to see the Lions go winless. But here is the thing, I could not root for them to lose. Week-in and week-out, I still found myself rooting for them to win, trying to will them to victory. One-and-fifteen would have be infinitely better than 0-and-16. Just ask the 2007 Miami Dolphins.
And, ironically enough, it is those 2007 Miami Dolphins that give us hope. From 1-and-15 to AFC East Champions? It makes me at least think a respectable turnaround is in the cards for the 2009 Detroit Lions. Do I think they will be NFC North Champions? No. But I would imagine an 8-and-8 2009 campaign is not out of the question. Not with the NFL set up as it is these days. And because I, like all Lions fans, think I know better (which, could actually be true), I have comprised a list of ten things the Lions could do this offseason to begin their journey on the road to recovery. Why ten you ask? Because that is the total number of wins the Lions have had over the last three (3!) seasons. So, with further ado, I present "GameTime, TBD©'s 10 Things the Lions Should Do To Make 2009 a Winning Season":
1. Convince William Clay Ford He Should Stop Making Decisions - I believe Mitch Albom put it best in his Sunday column before the Lions' record-setting loss:
For decades [44 years to be exact], you have lorded over a franchise that has distinguished itself only through ineptitude. Blown chances. Stupid draft picks. The wrong coaches. Horrible general managers. We have tried to laugh it off. Shrug it off. Hope it off. But the fact is you had one player in the last 20 years anyone wanted to see, Barry Sanders, and he walked away from the game rather than continue working for you. Actually gave money back.
2. Hire an Executive That Gets Football - More shocking than Ford's to decision to only fired Marinelli and four of eighteen assistant coaches yesterday, was his decision to remove the word interim from Martin Mayhew's title, making him the new General Manager of the Detroit Lions. Mayhew spent the last eight years as Matt Millen's assistant-General Manager and was only promoted to interim GM when Millen got canned three games into the season. With Mayhew calling the shots, I really do not see much changing next season. Mayhew was, after all, one of the "masterminds" behind the overwhelmingly successful XFL. If the team is not going to upgrade at the GM position, at least the Lions can hire an executive or "special consultant" that actually understands the game of football, much like the Dolphins did with Bill Parcells this past season. That seemed to work out pretty well for the Dolphins. Ironically enough, Parcells's services may become available once Huizenga's sale of the Dolphins is complete. I would not mind seeing Parcells working his magic in Detroit next season.
3. Hire a Head Coach With Experience - As I mentioned before, I liked Marinelli, I really did. But when you are trying to turn around a franchise, you need someone who has had success as a head coach in the past. I truly believe the Lions had that man in 2003 when they hired Steve Mariucci, but he was never given a fair shot because Millen was calling the shots. While I would love to see Mariucci brought back, I am pretty sure he does not want anything to do with the Lions (even if he is a Michigan native). That leaves several top candidates still available though. Brian Billick would be my top choice, and should be the Lions. Listening to Billick throughout this season (which he spent working for Fox as the BEST color commentator in the game), I realized this man has an incredible football mind. He had a great deal of success as the Ravens' head coach (including a Super Bowl victory), and I think an ideal candidate to change the mindset of the Lions' organization. Other people to consider would be the recently-axed Eric Mangini, Marty Schottenheimer, Bill Cowher (though he appears to be waiting until 2010 or heading back to the AFC), or even the previously mentioned Bill Parcells. While all of these candidates would have their work cut out for them, each one would instantly bring a winning attitude to an organization in desperate need of just that.
4. Hire Mike Nolan as Defensive Coordinator - This one's easy. Nolan was one of the architects behind the Baltimore Ravens defense. He was there during Billick's tenure and the two of them are said to have a good relationship and understand each other. Sure, he did not have much success as the 49ers head coach recently, but tell me this, how is that Baltimore defense doing? He wear a suit and tie along the Lions sideline anytime he wants, as long as its as DC and not Head Coach.
5. Hire an Offensive Coordinator that Understands Strengths and Weaknesses - I was never happy with the hiring of Jim Colletto as Offensive Coordinator, especially when he proclaimed the Lions would be a knock-down, drag-out run-oriented offense. It is like the man looked at our roster and said, "I don't think we can run the ball this year, let's make that the focus of our offense." This decision might have single-handedly caused our winless season. The run-first offense was working at the start of the season, this upset many of the players, including then-starter Jon Kitna. Kitna ends up getting in press war with some of the coaches and ends up on IR for the season. I know the running game improved later in the season and was actually what kept us close to winning a few games down the stretch, but our offensive line is bad and we had a rookie running back in the backfield. We need an OC who is better at recognizing his offense's strengths and weakness and will plan an offense accordingly. (Read: bring back Mike Martz).
6. Go With One of the Quarterbacks You Have - For the time being, the Lions are better off sticking with Daunte Culpepper or trying to patch things up with Jon Kitna. I say stick with Culpepper. His best years in Minnesota, not surprisingly, corresponded with the emergence of Randy Moss at wide receiver. Yes, I know Duante is a few years removed from total knee reconstruction and has lost a step or two, but he has an even better receiver in Calvin Johnson. With an entire offseason ahead of him (as opposed to the 6 days he got when he first signed in Detroit), Daunte will be much more comfortable with the Lions offense going into the season and will be in a better position to regain some of his old form. I know the Ravens and Falcons had success with a rookie quarterback this, but they are the exception, not the rule. Need I remind you of Joey Harrington? Which segues nicely to my next point . . .
7. Trade the #1 Overall Pick - The Lions have so many holes to fill right now, the answer is not going to be found at #1. Now, obviously the will need some of the big-name college stars to declare for the draft so that some other teams actually want the #1 overall pick, but that should happen. The Lions have two first round picks and five of the first eight-five picks in this years draft. If they are able to trade the #1 pick, the will move down in the first (still maintaining two first round picks) and pick up either a veteran that will help them or a sixth pick. That is a pretty good way to fill a lot of holes fast. Which, strangely enough, segues to my next point (unbelievable!) . . .
8. Do NOT Draft a Skill Position Player With Your First 5 Picks - That is right, avoid the quarterbacks, running backs, and wide receivers. You do not need them right now, and they are not going to help out the team as much as focusing on your offensive line, defensive line, linebackers, or secondary will. In fact, if you look at the roster, the Lions are already set at the skill positions with Calvin Johnson, Kevin Smith, and one of the previously mentioned QBs. So do not do it. Their most glaring weakness is on the defensive side of the ball, so at least three of the picks should be used there (I would go 4 defense, 1-2 offense if you trade the #1). And the Lions should also . . .
9. Focus on Non-Skill Position During Offseason - I really do not need to repeat what I just said above, only this one relates to the free agents they focus on signing during the offseason. Speaking of free agents . . .
10. Do NOT Overpay for One of the Big Name Free Agents - there are a lot of big name free agents available this offseason, especially on the defensive side of the ball. In order to convince any of them to come and play for Detroit, the Lions are going to have to offer a lot more money than other teams. Do not do it. It will hamper the teams ability to resign key players (Johnson) down the road and will also prevent them from filling as many holes as possible. I would much rather see the Lions fill two holes with above average players for the same price as filling one hole with a superstar (that's what she said . . . ba-ZING). Huge contracts never pan out in the long run; the player never performs up to expectations, you can not trade them because of the size of the contract, and you can not sign other players because of the salary cap. I know signing a superstar is the sexy choice, management will see it as a way to appease the fans after this awful season, but it is not the right thing to do in the long run.
So there you have, the ten things we at GameTime, TBD© would do if given the opportunity to make some changes in the Detroit organization. I do not know about you, but they seem pretty brilliant to me. Maybe I should submit my resume to the front office, see if I can get myself a new job. I mean, let us face the facts, I could not do any worse . . .
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