Lions all-time wins and losses leader Wayne Fontes (67-71).

 

THOUGHTS ON THE LATEST "RIGHT HIRE" 

 BY THE LIONS   

Excerpted from Drew Sharp Column in Detroit Free Press
1/14/16

But considering how this franchise has found every way imaginable to identify the wrong coach, perhaps in a quirky twist of Lion fate, Plan B or C might prove the right fit.
The Lions have had plenty of “right hires” over the last four decades. 

Don McCafferty was the right hire in 1973. He possessed a championship coaching pedigree previously thought unattainable. The former Baltimore Colts head coach was just three years removed from leading the Colts to the Super Bowl V championship. But barely days before he opened his second training camp with the Lions, McCafferty suddenly and tragically dropped dead of a massive heart attack while mowing his lawn. 

Monte Clark was the right hire in 1978. He was a Don Shula protégé. Clark brought respectability to the Lions, gradually establishing a stability that led to two playoff appearances within a three-year span — unheard of for the Lions then. But there Clark stood on the sidelines at Candlestick Park in 1983 as Eddie Murray attempted a playoff game-winning field goal in the last seconds, praying to the football heavens for merciful deliverance. Murray barely missed the kick. The Lions lost.

Bobby Ross, was the right hire in 1997. He was a strict, no-nonsense military disciplinarian. He took a team to the Super Bowl. Fanatical regarding preparation, there probably hasn’t been another Lions’ head coach in the last 40 years who squeezed more out of less than Ross.

But he was the fiddler as Barry Sanders burned. Ross’ stubborn refusal in recognizing that special players sometimes require special treatment contributed to Sanders’ throwing up his hands in resignation and retiring on the eve of training camp in 1999. A year later, Ross was reduced to babbling incoherently and seeking escapism with late-night drives around “Lake Orchard.” 

Steve Marriuci was the right hire in 2003. He had a winning NFL resume, a home state connection with a true appreciation of how much Detroit crazily craved a professional football team. The Lions were so certain that they finally grabbed the right guy that they gave Mariucci five years, $25 million — a testament that a notoriously frugal franchise would commit whatever treasure necessary to prove its seriousness about winning.

Mariucci failed and hasn’t coached since. [EDITOR'S NOTE:  No permanent Lions head coach since George Wilson in the early 1960's has ever gone on to be a head coach in the NFL again after coaching the Lions]. he Lions came into this process confident that they had the most desirable coaching vacancy in the NFL considering Stafford, Calvin Johnson and Ndamukong Suh. Whisenhunt apparently thought otherwise. 

But who knows? Maybe missing out on the “right hire” becomes a fortunate break few saw coming for a star-crossed franchise infamous for rarely getting it right.  

Contact Drew Sharp: dsharp@freepress.com . Follow him on Twitter @drewsharp.