Friday Notes II: Lions Interested in Mike Mularkey; Jason Garrett Withdraws Name

Because one wasn't enough, here is a second edition of Friday notes that is packed full with more updates on the Lions' coaching search.

• The Lions have requested permission to interview Falcons offensive coordinator Mike Mularkey.  
• While one offensive coordinator has been added to the list of candidates, another has taken himself off it.  Jason Garrett reportedly withdrew his name from consideration for the Lions job after talking with Cowboys officials.  I don't see this as a huge deal, mainly because I was never a big fan of Garrett in the first place.  He was the hot name a year ago, but after seeing some of the issues the Cowboys' offense this past season, I moved him quite a ways down my own list of candidates.
• Steve Spagnuolo interviewed with the Lions and Browns on Thursday.  Spagnuolo will meet with the Jets and Broncos on Saturday before he begins to prepare for the Giants' opponent in the next round of the playoffs.
• Kent Somers of azcentral.com speculates that the Lions could be interested in Cardinals assistant/offensive line coach Russ Grimm, who was once Martin Mayhew's teammate on the Redskins.
• If the Lions opt to hire someone to help make decisions with Martin Mayhew and Tom Lewand from another team, they may have to wait to do so until after the NFL Draft.
• Redskins secondary coach Jerry Gray, who is going to interview with the Lions, may end up going to Houston to be the Texans' defensive coordinator.
• Rod Marinelli visited the Bears today, increasing speculation that he will end up working for Chicago.  Speculation about Marinelli's future began as soon as he was fired, and the Bears were assumed to be the most likely destination due to his relationship with Lovie Smith, who coached with Marinelli in Tampa Bay.