More on the Joe Barry Hiring

As mentioned earlier, Joe Barry was announced as the Lions' new defensive coordinator by Rod Marinelli during a press conference Wednesday morning.  Barry's hiring comes just a day after Donnie Henderson was fired from the very same position.  The now ex-Tampa Bay linebackers coach is a great fit for the Lions defense as he is an expert when it comes to the Tampa 2.

From the time Rod Marinelli took over as Lions head coach one year ago, he had wanted to have Joe Barry be his defensive coordinator.  Upon approaching the Buccaneers for permission to talk to Barry, the Lions were rejected as Tampa Bay has a policy that teams cannot come after assistants that are under contract for jobs.  Now, the time was right to make the move as Barry's contract expires soon with Tampa Bay and their general manager allowed the Lions to talk with him.

The ties to the Lions that Joe Barry has are actually very close.  He is the son of current assistant offensive line coach Mike Barry and the son-in-law of Rod Marinelli.  Plus, he probably knows the Tampa 2 style of defense that Detroit runs just as good as anyone.

In the end, I think this is a good hire by Detroit.  Donnie Henderson is a decent defensive coordinator, but just not with the Tampa 2 in one season.  He wasn't all that familiar with it and that probably is why Detroit's defense had some troubles this season.