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Over the course of this week, as the Detroit Lions' coaching search has progressed, San Diego Chargers offensive coordinator Ken Whisenhunt has emerged as one of the top candidates to replace Jim Schwartz. The Lions haven't even been able to talk to him yet because he's busy with a playoff game this week, but the general consensus has been that Whisenhunt is one of the favorites to land the Lions' head coaching job.
As it turns out, Whisenhunt may very well be the favorite to replace Schwartz. According to Ian Rapoport, Whisenhunt is believed to be the Lions' "leading candidate," and he is expected to be interviewed by the team next week. This week, with the Lions not being able to talk to Whisenhunt, they have been "doing background work" on him.
Also according to Rapoport, Whisenhunt may already be thinking about potential assistants should he get a head coaching job.
#Lions have strong interest in #Chargers OC Ken Whisenhunt. Don’t be surprised to see veteran OL coach Russ Grimm join him in Detroit
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 4, 2014
Grimm was Whisenhunt's offensive line coach in Arizona, and he was previously the Pittsburgh Steelers' offensive line coach. I personally hope the Lions don't bring in Grimm to fill that role, though. Jeremiah Washburn deserves to be retained as the Lions' offensive line coach based on what he did in 2013, and unless Grimm is joining as the offensive coordinator or in an assistant head coach role, there's really no reason to add him with Washburn still under contract.
