Offensive Line Coach Vacancy Could Be Filled Shortly

by Sean Yuille on Jan 23, 2007 2:20 AM EST in News Comment 0 comments

After Larry Beightol was fired on just the second day of the offseason, many have been skeptical of the decision as Beightol is a very good offensive line coach. Beightol was apparently fired because he and offensive coordinator Mike Martz could just not get along and had one too many arguments. Nonetheless, Martz trumped Beightol and said good riddance.

Recently, now that Mike Martz appears to be staying in Detroit, there is absolutely no chance of Larry Beightol coming back. Some figured that if Martz were to leave Detroit for a head coaching job that Beightol would be brought back, but since Martz is staying put, Beightol isn't coming back anytime soon.

This all brings up the question of who the Lions will hire as the new offensive line coach. The first real name to be thrown out there was mentioned yesterday by Tom Kowalski as he speculates the possibility of a hiring in the near future.

The Lions could be close to hiring a new offensive line coach and Jim Colletto's name is at the top of the list.

Colletto, who was the offensive line coach for the Oakland Raiders in 2005, spent last season as the offensive line coach and assistant head coach at UCLA. Colletto, who has more than 30 years of experience at both the college and NFL level, was with the Baltimore Ravens during their Super Bowl year of 2003.

Tom makes it sound like Colletto has many great accolades from that paragraph above. However, if you dig just a little bit into Colletto's past you will see that he isn't that great of a coach.

Bruins Nation, the UCLA blog here at SBN, took a detailed look into Colletto's past when UCLA hired him nearly a year ago. Make sure to look at each point in the post as it details the thoughts of fans from his previous jobs. The general consensus isn't on the positive side as he was fired from most of the jobs he worked at.

On top of that, his character or certain statements made by him comes into question as well. Bruins Nation also has a great post about some of his quotes during UCLA's last season where he seemed to be making excuses. Take this statement for example:

"It's been bits and pieces of everything," Colletto said. "On defense, 10 guys can all get knocked on their fannies and if one of them doesn't get knocked down, the offense doesn't make 1 yard. On offense, 10 of them can do their job perfect and if one of them screws up, you make no yards. I don't think it's an excuse, but part of it is youth. Some of the inconsistency is there at different positions on different plays, and they don't do what they're supposed to do, and trying to get them all on the same page is a real challenge."

Don't forget this:

"They don't get a lot of turns," Colletto said. "You get used to having those pro guys all day long in meetings and in walk-throughs. Here, you get them for an hour. That's probably my biggest mistake, getting used to the amount of information and stuff they can deal with. I'm getting used to that a little more."

Aside from all of that, at least he has a sense of humor, I think. Actually, his son just was great at predicting the future.

1991--Jim Colletto, Purdue football coach and former assistant at Arizona State and Ohio State, on his 11-year-old son's reaction after he took the job with the Boilermakers:

"He said, 'Gosh, Dad, that mean's we're not going to any more bowl games.'"

That statement couldn't be more correct. Not only did Purdue never go to a bowl game under Colletto, but the most wins the Boilermakers had in one season during his tenure were a measly 4. And overall, Colletto went 21-42-3 as Purdue's head coach.

Obviously, this may end up meaning absolutely nothing if Colletto doesn't end up with the job, but it is something to take note of. This would just end up being another dumb decision to add to the ever-growing list coming from Matt Millen. I realize that I have served up a pretty big dose of Haterade on Jim Colletto in this post, and he is only an offensive line coach, but what if Detroit takes an o-lineman with its first round pick? The o-line coach is responsible for shaping that player into being an NFL player, and has has to have someone who knows what they're doing. 30+ years of expereince is great and all, but it doesn't mean anything if results aren't produced.

Check back here at POD for continuing updates on the offensive line coach vacancy.

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