Tuesday open thread: Did the Detroit Lions make the right decision firing Brayden Coombs?

It’s been around 24 hours since the Detroit Lions made the shocking decision to fire special teams coordinator Brayden Coombs. We now know that Coombs, according to interim head coach Darrell Bevell, went rogue and dialed up a fake punt at a critical time in the game despite orders to punt the ball away.

We’ve had some time to think on it. We’ve heard Bevell’s side of the story. And now it’s time to give one last opinion before we move on to Detroit’s future without Coombs. So today’s Question of the Day is:

Did the Lions make the right decision firing Coombs?

My answer: Yesterday, I penned a column in the initial hour after the firing, concluding that yes, I understand why the Lions made the move, but I’m still not sure it was the right call.

After listening to Bevell’s thought process and the way he went about it, I’m starting to understand it a little more.

To be clear, I never thought Bevell was in the wrong here. From his point of view, Coombs crossed a line you simply do not cross, and it is 100 percent a fireable offense to do something so drastic. Bevell said he took a night to sleep on it, took time to deliberate it, and then brought it to management. That’s exactly what he should have done.

My issue was always with how management handled it. It certainly is suspect to let an interim head coach make a coaching change like that with only two weeks left in the decision. And it undoubtedly hurts to see what appears to be a well-liked, up-and-coming coach get sent packing, especially when Detroit has been so bereft of good coaches in the past two decades.

But the person to be mad at here is Brayden Coombs. He made a selfish call, and even if we think it’s the right call, it was the absolute wrong way to go about this. Whether he was trying to build his resume for the next regime or just doing what he thought was right, it was selfish, it was stupid, and it put the team in a really shitty spot.

We still don’t know Coombs’ side of the story, and we don’t know the validity of reports that this was just one of a few transgressions from Coombs, but hearing from Bevell on Monday really made it seem like this—and mostly this—was the driving force behind his firing. If that’s the case, I would’ve hoped the Lions showed a little mercy and simply made it clear Coombs could never jump rank like that again. However, the only person I can really blame for the decision making in all of this is Coombs. He made a dumb, serious mistake, and put the Lions in a terrible place, having to make an unpopular decision.

If the Lions are going to take themselves seriously and send a message to all prospective coaches and general managers that this organization will not accept this kind of dysfunction anymore, this was a reasonable move from both Bevell and management.

Your turn.