Tuesday Notes: Jonathan Scott Reveals Just How Poor the Coaching Was in Detroit

by Sean Yuille on May 26, 2009 11:43 AM EDT in Notes Comment 33 comments

Former Lions offensive tackle Jonathan Scott recently talked about how bad of a time he had playing in Detroit. Based on what he said, it is no surprise that the Lions went 0-16. Coaches were telling him to do different things on certain plays; nobody seemed like they were on the same page; and there were constant communications breakdowns.

In Detroit, the life of a lineman was maddening. Scott said the communication breakdowns between the offensive coordinator and his offensive line coach ran rampant. One told him to step left on a play, the other said to step right.

“So which one do I do?” Scott said. “If I don’t it the offensive line way, I won’t be able to play. If I don’t do it the offensive coordinator’s way then I’ll never get on the field. There were always situations like that.”

Chaotic fragmentation. The shoddy separation of powers triggered on-field breakdowns. Scott said the linemen became “chickens with their heads cut off.” Who was supposed to block where was a play-to-play mystery.

When Jim Colletto was promoted to offensive coordinator after doing a mediocre job with the O-line, that alone should have been a sign that last season was going to be awful.
Training camp opens for the Lions on July 31.
In the Lions' new defense, defensive ends line up much wider than they did in the Tampa Two.
Jim Schwartz attended the Red Wings-Blackhawks overtime thriller last week and was impressed by all of the banners hanging in the rafters of Joe Louis Arena. It seems like that could be a motivational tool for Schwartz to use with his own team.
Schwartz bought his house from former Red Wing Pat Verbeek.
The Lions are currently 12-point underdogs to the Saints, their opponent in Week 1 of the season.
The Lions' roster is bulking up.
Vikings defensive tackles Kevin Williams and Pat Williams had most of their claims against the NFL over a banned diuretic thrown out of federal court. Two claims have been moved back to state court, but things don't appear to be looking too favorably for the Williamses right now, which is good news for the Lions. The Lions play the Vikings in Week 2, and if the Williamses have to serve their suspension at the start of the season, it would keep them out of that game.
Grady Jackson could also be suspended by the NFL, as he was apparently involved in the StarCaps case as well. He filed a class action lawsuit against the manufacturer of StarCaps and filed an internal appeal with the NFL. That appeal had been "deferred pending additional information," but now that there is a break with the Williamses, perhaps Jackson's appeal will be resolved soon.
Mark Sanchez didn't get off to too hot of a start in the Jets' OTAs last week.
Jon Gruden is going to replace Tony Kornheiser in the Monday Night Football booth this year, but was Matt Millen originally supposed to be Kornheiser's replacement?

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J. Scott's comments

are the main reason I have not been too hard on the O-Line. With the added bulk( Fonoti, Salaam, Loper, and TE Heller). Good coaching. Good play design. Better play calling. And improved QB play. I think the Lions O-line could be average, or a little better. I can see getting down to about 30ish sacks allowed. Evaluate this O-line next season. Than address the holes thru the draft. One thing is for sure. We will see how good coaching( hopefully) and good play calling. Can make a ton of difference with the success of a NFL team.

by JCruize on May 26, 2009 12:48 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Just read that Grady Jackson news

That’s just great….now we have a guy who was supposed to come in and immediately help us stop the run, and he could be suspended for the first 4 weeks? Was he so far “under the radar” that the non-character issue Lions didn’t realize that he could possibly face suspension, or did they sign him anyway knowing full well? Sorry guys, but this just irks me to no end. The Lions have been passing on signing anyone with “character issues” yet here we are with an old man defensive tackle who we desperately need to plug a huge hole in our defense, and he will likely be out of the mix for the first four games. I can’t help but think that we could have done better elsewhere.

by KDawg on May 26, 2009 12:49 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Maybe that is why the Lions were able to get him at a discount?

I’m not kidding KDawg. Looks like we will be extremely thin up front for the start of the season. The young guys will have their chance to show what they can do.
I agree with you though, I would be surprised if Hill were one of those young guys playing DT at the start of the year.

by NorthLeft12 on May 26, 2009 12:54 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I don't know about that....

I’ll base my opinion after I get the chance to see some of the young guys play… I have a feeling that they will be able to “play” this year.

by CLF on May 26, 2009 1:32 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

If Sammie Lee Hill....

plays this year in more than a situational role or in garbage time, I will be utterly shocked and amazed.

by KDawg on May 26, 2009 1:37 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

My post was more towards...

Fluellen, 5-0, Cohen, Avril …etc. the “Younger” guys.

by CLF on May 26, 2009 1:54 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

My comment was only about SLHill

Fluellen and Cohen are going to have to play as all we will have is Darby as an experienced DT.

Do we have any other DTs on the roster? Avril and Alma-Francis are DEs.
The last time I looked at Cohen’s bio he only weighed around 275 pounds. That is ridiculously light for a DT. I hope that was an error or he has put on some weight since then.

by NorthLeft12 on May 26, 2009 2:16 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

6 DTs and 7DEs....

68 Gill, John DT 6-3 302 22 R Northwestern
98 Cohen, Landon DT 6-3 274 23 2 Ohio
96 Fluellen, Andre DT 6-2 296 24 2 Florida State
91 Darby, Chuck DT 6-0 297 33 9 South Carolina State
90 Jackson, Grady DT 6-2 345 36 13 Knoxville
79 Hill, Sammie DT 6-4 329 22 R Stillman

92 Avril, Cliff DE 6-3 253 23 2 Purdue
94 Hardie, Rudolph DE 6-2 269 23 1 Howard
95 DeVries, Jared DE 6-4 275 32 11 Iowa
99 White, Dewayne DE 6-2 273 29 7 Louisville
97 Alama-Francis, Ikaika DE 6-5 280 24 3 Hawaii
67 Hunter, Jason DE 6-4 271 25 4 Appalachian State
71 Hicks, Eric DE 6-6 280 32 11 Maryland
69 Kees, Ryan DE 6-6 275 23 R Saint Cloud State

With only 6 DTs on the roster, Hill should be able to get ALOT of time in or at least be able to show his stuff.

Both Cohen and Flu are on weight gaining programs.(along with the whole team)

Seems to me the name of the game for this offseason was to create pass rush(Delhmas, Peterson, Foote, Follett, Levy) and evaluate the DLine. Hell, 9 Dlinemen have 4 or less years in the league… that’s out of 14. What a perfect opportunity create and mold a young bunch of kids. I, for one, am excited to see what kind of impact this new coaching staff has on the Lion’s young D-Line.

by CLF on May 26, 2009 3:58 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

8 DEs

by CLF on May 26, 2009 3:59 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I wish Hill was some monster

Who nobody has ever heard of before the Lions drafted him, but that is not the case. He was drafted in round 7 for a reason. If he plays “alot” this year and does anything other than run into the guy in front of him and fall into the pile. I will Sh** my pants.

by KDawg on May 26, 2009 8:05 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

This is the perfect example

"Rod Marinelli believed he could mold the raw power and athleticism of Alama-Francis into an NFL defensive end, but it didn’t happen. Alama-Francis rarely got on the field as a rookie…."

Just change the names to Jim Schwartz and Sammie Lee Hill, and the position to DT and you have our current situation. To top it off, we still have Alama-Francis. I hope that this is the big breakout year for him.

This link in from a James L Fanshot:
http://www.mlive.com/lions/index.ssf/2009/05/scouting_report_ikaika_alamafr_1.html

by KDawg on May 26, 2009 8:42 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Hill was a fourth-rounder

Pride of Detroit, SB Nation's Lions Blog

by Sean Yuille on May 26, 2009 10:59 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Oh yeah

Sorry, I felt he should have been a 7th rounder…..I forgot that the Lions drafted him in the 4th.

by KDawg on May 27, 2009 1:18 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

4th round or 7th

My comments still hold…..when was Alama-Francis drafted?

by KDawg on May 27, 2009 1:19 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Second Round - #58

by NorthLeft12 on May 27, 2009 2:06 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Thanks NL

That proves my point even further. He came from a WAC school (University of Hawaii)…..Stillman is in the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC). This was their 2008 home schedule:
Sept. 20 Tuskegee 5 p.m.
Oct. 11 Edward Waters 5 p.m.
Oct. 18 Lane 5 p.m.
Nov. 1 Morehouse 5 p.m.
Nov. 8 Fort Valley State 1 p.m.

The University of Hawaii proved that it could win games against bigger schools and recruiting classes…..they are a DIV 1 school. Stillman is DIV 2. The conference consists of Albany State, Benedict, Claflin, Clark Atlanta, Fort Valley State, Kentucky State, Lane, LaMoyne-Owen, Miles, Morehouse, Paine, Stillman, and Tuskegee. Not exactly your powerhouse football teams….obviously. Somehow I do not see Hill getting much more playing time than Alama-Francis did as a rookie. The guy needs some time to develop and get used to the level of competition he will be facing before he gets in the mix. We might find out that Alama-Francis is a bust this year….and he was a 2nd rounder. Let’s hope that the fact that Hill was drafted in the 4th was a smarter move, and that he will prove to be a steal in the 4th round, but let’s not expect that he will be a dynamo coming out of a DIV 2 school whose teams would all likely lose every game they played against CMU or WMU, let alone Hawaii, Boise State, or other smaller DIV 1 schools. I am not demanding this….think what you will. I am stating my reasoning.

by KDawg on May 27, 2009 5:23 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I wonder if we will hear any more about the abominable coaching from Sgt. Rod and his band of In Laws?

Interesting that this is from an O Lineman. Anyone who has watched the Lions for the last couple of years would have expected that from the defensive side of the ball more than on offence.

Hopefully that nightmare is over.

by NorthLeft12 on May 26, 2009 12:57 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

It’ll be interesting to see what he does in Chicago.

by BIGWalt2990 on May 26, 2009 9:43 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I'm glad

this O & D line stuff is coming out now. At least we have a chance to correct any problems before the season starts. Get everything out in the open now and deal with it. Having a lot of bodies in camp is great ! That competition, combined with GOOD ? coaching should point us in the right direction at least…

by Keevatron on May 26, 2009 1:52 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Hood said he wanted to go to a team wih a chance win it all

I guess his true color came through. ($$$$$$$$$$$ Green)

by Runnin' Rebel on May 26, 2009 3:11 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

And he went to the Browns to win it all?

2009 = The start of the Lions Golden Age (We hope).

by Hyperion Ecta on May 26, 2009 7:17 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

HAHAHAHA

Yeah….the Browns have a chance to win it all…..that is the funniest thing I have heard in a long time. That ranks right up there with guaranteed win predictions.

by KDawg on May 26, 2009 8:07 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

A Player To Keep An Eye On

Greg Ellis looks like he’s done in Dallas. I don’t think he’d fit with the Lions but my concern is where he might end up. I hope it’s not somewhere else in the NFC North.

by James L on May 26, 2009 3:12 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

We could put Ellis back at DE where he belongs.

We still need some turn-over on the D-Line if Mayhew could get him to sign a 1YR deal
He’d be a good stop gap player playing for a contract.

by Runnin' Rebel on May 26, 2009 3:28 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Heard he's probably gonna go to NE

Makes sense, since the Pats have almost no pass rush… Anyone nearing the end of their career would love to go there.

by Nate D. on May 26, 2009 3:36 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I'd take Ellis if

he is willing to come here. What was the reason that Dallas let him go?

by KDawg on May 26, 2009 8:08 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I thought this coaching staff was trying to do away with “stop gap” players. Unless it’s cheap I suppose.

by BIGWalt2990 on May 26, 2009 9:47 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

You need a few stop gap players so young guys can develop

And to help you be respectable until the next draft.

by Runnin' Rebel on May 27, 2009 1:07 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

But not too respectable that we get a much later draft pick.

I’m sort of joking about that. I would still like to see the Lions give some of the younger guys a shot at establishing themselves in the starting line up.
I always felt that Marinelli made the young guys ‘earn’ the start, yet would ‘give’ the start to the veteran no matter how poorly they played in the previous games.

Oh, right, I forgot……they did great in practice! That was all that mattered to Sgt. Rod.

by NorthLeft12 on May 27, 2009 2:15 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

NorthLeft

Did you get to watch the UEFA Final? Also, have you checked this blog out? It’s SBNation’s Soccer blog. There’s not much volume over on that site. It’d be nice to see you over there.

by James L on May 27, 2009 3:54 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Yes, I watched up to the 75th minute or so.

I am not a Man U fan by any stretch of the imagination [Fulham is my team] but I expected a much better match than this. Chelsea tested Barca much more than the Red Devils.

Never looked at the Soccer site before. I’ll have a look and probably bookmark it. Thanks for the tip James.

by NorthLeft12 on May 27, 2009 6:18 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs