The Detroit Lions fired head coach Rod Marinelli today and promoted Tom Lewand and Martin Mayhew. Lewand is now the team president and Mayhew is now the general manager. On top of those three moves, the Lions also will not be retaining the following coaches:
Joe Barry (Defensive Coordinator), Mike Barry (Assistant Offensive Line) and Jimmy Lake (Secondary). The contract of Joe Cullen (Defensive Line) will not be renewed.
Mike and Joe Barry are father and son, so it's no surprise that those two are gone, and Jimmy Lake is from Tampa Bay, so again, no surprise. Joe Cullen, who didn't have his contract renewed, is the coach that drove around naked one night and was caught when he went to a Wendy's. A week later, he was arrested for drunk driving. It's astounding he made it this far after those two incidents happened only a week apart before the 2007 season.
Offensive coordinator Jim Colletto hasn't been fired, but he has been reassigned to the offensive line. Why they don't just get rid of him is beyond me. The offense was a joke this past season with him as the coordinator, and the offensive line has always stunk under him. I don't know if a new head coach would have the ability to fire him, but I really, really hope they can and will.
The final change is that Dave Boller, the assistant director of pro personnel, will also not be retained.
I'll obviously have more on all of these moves in the future, but until then I will just say that I am furious with the promotion of Lewand and Mayhew. Both are from the Millen era and need to be relieved of their duties as well. No offense to Mayhew especially, but it's time to get some new faces in the front office. Does anyone honestly believe that he and Lewand will be able to turn Detroit into a contender for the division next season like the Falcons and Dolphins this year? I certainly don't, and unless someone like Scott Pioli or Bill Parcells walks through the door, I have little faith that anything will change that much in the future.