November 28, 2005

Lions fire Steve Mariucci. : I got nuthin...

read story | posted by MeatSaber to Football at 11:49 AM CDT (39 comments total)

And neither does the Entire Detroit Lions organization. They should move to New Orleans and start a pick up game. Never mind, they couldn't compete!

posted by OMMG at 11:59 AM CDT on November 28

An organization that has never been able to get it right. An overrated head coach. Not totally unexpected.

posted by dyams at 12:07 PM CDT on November 28

Wow, shocking news. No, really.

posted by sakana at 12:08 PM CDT on November 28

Mariucci was cut some slack in the past because the team he inherited was crafted by team president Matt Millen, but expectations were high heading into his third season.

Hmmm, Mooch has always been a pretty good coach. Millen built this team and Mooch is playing the cards he was dealt. WRs three years in a row as 1st rounders. Charles Rogers was hurt his first two seasons and the decent QB they have (Garcia) was hurt in preseason and missed a large part of the season so far. The OLine is mediocre at best, which is the key to the Offense.

I guess it is easier for Millen to blame Mooch or Morningweig than to look at himself and say maybe I am the issue here.

posted by Wrigley South at 12:12 PM CDT on November 28

Mooch inherited a team put together by Millen (an average player with an above average agent) yet Millen just gets a 5 year extension on his contract? Does the York family own the Lions too?

posted by irunfromclones at 12:26 PM CDT on November 28

I'll give you "pretty good" coach. He came into a fairly-intact winning tradition when he took over the Niners, following in the footsteps of Bill Walsh and George Seifert. Mariucci was there when San Fran began it's steady decline. When the Niners were THE team, it became obvious teams would look for coaches from that organization to fill their vacancies.

posted by dyams at 12:27 PM CDT on November 28

I'm under the impression that Millen has pictures of someone with a goat or something. How he's managed to avoid being shown the door all these years of abject mediocrity baffles me.

posted by chicobangs at 12:54 PM CDT on November 28

It's Ford. I don't know why he is so in love with Millen, but he is. This is just what happened with Wayne, "it's my sister's coke" Fontes, amongst a loooong list of others. He will just ignore the obvious! Arrrggghhhh! At least we have the Wings.

posted by RedStrike at 1:04 PM CDT on November 28

Even before Millen actually took over, I remember a period of intense ass-kissing when everyone was talking about how great he was going to be with the Lions, and how awesome it was that such a wonderful man was getting the position, and blah blah blah. I've been anti-Millen ever since, just on hype principles.

Mariucci's getting the shaft, but he'll probably land on his feet. And the Lions will continue to suck indefinitely.

posted by cobra! at 1:05 PM CDT on November 28

Ditto what everyone else said, Millen is generally the problem, Mariucci will find success elsewhere, etc.

posted by rocketman at 1:16 PM CDT on November 28

At least we have the Wings

And the Pistons...cmon, they're 10-2...

And I hope Mooch picks up somewhere else and has success, but history is not kind. Name a successful ex-Lions head coach...they don't call them "the resume stain" for nothing...

posted by MeatSaber at 1:29 PM CDT on November 28

Doesn't anyone find it odd that this "good coach" used three quarterbacks in the loss to Atlanta. If Garcia was good enough to play why not start him? Why bring out Harrington to blow the first half then ask for forgiveness from the football gods and bring in Garcia? Then, once it was determined that the team had essentially quit, he brings in the rookie Orlovsky. Just because Atlanta pulled their quarterback, doesn't mean you should too Mooch. SF was good when he got there and poo when he left...but at least TO was in check

posted by timdawg at 1:39 PM CDT on November 28

I guess it's time for someone to fire up bringbackwayne.com again..

I wonder what Wayne Fontes is up to nowadays, anyway..

posted by blarp at 1:54 PM CDT on November 28

And the Pistons, (thank you Meatsaber).
Which is an interesting contrast to the Liedowns, Dumars, hard working, class act all the way.
Millen, . . . ah, . . . give me a moment here, . . . uh, . . . okay, I've got nothing but the Wings & Pistons!

posted by RedStrike at 2:12 PM CDT on November 28

I wouldn't be surprised if Mooch lands in Green Bay again, especially if Favre gives them one more year. I don't think they'd fire Sherman to get Mariucci, but he and Favre have a bond, and he could take over as quarterbacks coach or in some "consultant" role, a la Fassell in Baltimore. Mooch gets to work with Favre for a year while they both train Rodgers to take over for Favre.

posted by The_Black_Hand at 2:51 PM CDT on November 28

Mariucci's getting the shaft, but he'll probably land on his feet. And the Lions will continue to suck indefinitely.

No Doubt. Firing Mooch makes no difference in Detroit. It's a ploy to take the focus and the blame off of Millen.

posted by Bill Lumbergh at 2:55 PM CDT on November 28

Could _any_ coach at this point make the Lions a winning team again? An 8-8 team, even?

posted by Nyssia at 3:05 PM CDT on November 28

Oh come on, Garcia's best days are behind him. i don't think Mooch is as good as people say, he coached a very amazing 49ers team...... As for the Lions, their next step should be to fire Millen, the rest of the coaching staff, and then organize a mob to run Ford out of town so we can get an owner who actually cares about winning (proof, Millen's five year extension).

posted by Ying Yang Mafia at 3:06 PM CDT on November 28

Mariucci's getting the shaft

Yeah, but it's a shaft worth over $13 million, the balance the Lions owe on his contract.

posted by billsaysthis at 3:18 PM CDT on November 28

Mariucci's getting the shaft

Yeah, but it's a shaft worth over $13 million, the balance the Lions owe on his contract.

True that. More proof that shaft-reception is a relative thing.

Why's everyone looking at me like that?

posted by cobra! at 3:35 PM CDT on November 28

The Lions fired the wrong man. Millen sucks and it seems Ford just doesn't care about the Lions. Maybe he's worried about selling his gas guzzlers.

When the Lions get rid of Millen, I'll start following the team again. Ford, Fontes, Mohrningweg and Millen. Any wonder the Lions have been bad for so many years.

posted by roberts at 4:20 PM CDT on November 28

Concur with most of above..i.e. Mariucci is an ok coach at best and Millen should be fired immediately. I never saw the reason for Millen getting the GM job in the first place. What exactly, if any, are Millen's qualifications anyway? Detroit professional football has been mired in mediocrity since I've been alive...and I'm 40. Quite a shame.

posted by stockman at 5:02 PM CDT on November 28

Just read this, they hired Jauron as the interim coach. Whoop-de-doo. There is a reason he was fired from the Bears. its kind of sad when you fire a coach and you replace him with one that isn't even the best assistant coach (though thank god our defensive coordinator isn't taking over.

posted by Ying Yang Mafia at 5:57 PM CDT on November 28

Gotta love the Ford family, even the Edsel only lasted three years.

I am so glad this is finally over. Not because I give a rats ass about the Lions but because national talk radio has sounded like Detroit local radio decrying the loss of a great coach. The whole thing has gotten ridiculous.

posted by geekyguy at 6:06 PM CDT on November 28

Could _any_ coach at this point make the Lions a winning team again? An 8-8 team, even?

Not without drafting people that weigh more than Millen in the first round. The have a pretty offensive line, but the need an OFFENSEive line.
I hear next year, they're looking to draft a .......WR

posted by sumokenobi at 6:11 PM CDT on November 28

Forget bringing back Wayne, thay need to bring back Layne.

posted by sumokenobi at 6:12 PM CDT on November 28

It all starts with the FORDS' and ends with the FORDS'. It is obvious that they are incompotent in managing a professional franchise. They continuously hire the wrong GM's and coaches, who in turn draft the wrong players. I am begging the Ford's to sell the team to someone who actually knows a little bit about talent/coaching/managment. Did I mention that the reason Barry Sanders quit was the another incompotent coach (Bobby Ross) who also ruined the end of Herman Moore's career. The Lions will always be a joke as long as the ownership remains. It's just too bad that the people of Detroit don't care about their football team as much as they care about their hockey and basketball teams. Maybe because the Lions have never had any success. Red Wing/Pistons' fans would never allow such piss poor performance their managment.

posted by bburrell33212121 at 6:32 PM CDT on November 28

Is the lion's ownership any worse then the cerdinals, bears, saints, and bengals? True the lions have only won ONE playoff game since 1959 but the bidwells have got to be the worst in the history of the game.

posted by whodat at 7:33 PM CDT on November 28

Mariucci was too nice, period. It's been a country club atmosphere at least since Fontes was there. Even a supposed hard-a** like Bobby Ross couldn't get anything done. They need a young, up and coming type of guy with fire in his gut. Of course, Millen should go too, he never should have had the job in the first place.

posted by philly54 at 7:47 PM CDT on November 28

The Fords are the Bidwells of the North. The only hope for this team is new ownership. Their terrible leadership, or lack of, has been the only thing the last 45 years of failure have had in common. Sadly they will continue to own the team as long as it makes money each year (and it does) or until the Detriot area stops building them new places to play.

posted by commander cody at 8:12 PM CDT on November 28

Forget bringing back Wayne, thay need to bring back Layne.

If Bobby Layne came back from the dead the Fords would find a way to run him off to another team or get him to retire out of frustration.

posted by commander cody at 8:14 PM CDT on November 28

Remember Fix Or Repair Daily. Ford has no choice. He has to keep on fixing until he comes up with a better idea!

posted by Tazz1 at 8:19 PM CDT on November 28

The Fords probably don't even remember Bobby Lane. Remember, we're talking about a "winner" here!

posted by Tazz1 at 8:28 PM CDT on November 28

Don't worry stevie boy someone else will hire you maybe SF will take you back god knows they need a coach over there. You had no chance in Detroit they have the curse of Barry. Nothing but dead beats in detroit anyways. I guess the final straw was starting Joey on sunday and not Jeff. It's alright thier careers are over too. Joey will never be better than a 3rd stringer and Jeff has been washed up for years now.

posted by BigDogintheCity at 9:58 PM CDT on November 28

It's rather desperately dumb to blame the coach when the players cannot find their butt with both hands and a bonus floodlamp, but then again, take a look at the Millen factor. He has his hands on everything bad in the Lions team. It seems to me that some of the same fans that cheer the RedWings and Pistons must surely also be Lions fans. But the organizations are completely disparate, as well. I guess that the football organization needs some reorganization. Maybe Little Caesar's can afford another franchise with $5.00 large pizzas. (sorry, Mike Ilitch)

posted by mrhockey at 10:11 PM CDT on November 28

There is something about the Lions that makes them even more pathetic than the teams with worse records...

posted by saint_eagle24 at 11:47 PM CDT on November 28

Funny fact I heard on SportsCenter this morning...with Mooch out, Mike Babcock is the longest serving coach in Detroit right now...

posted by MeatSaber at 7:15 AM CDT on November 29

Dre' Bly is openly blaming Harrington. Not a good sign when you team is pointing fingers.

posted by terrapin at 12:07 PM CDT on November 29

terrapin, I actually saw the interview with Bly last night on the NFL Network; at first, he just kept saying the blame rested "primarily with one guy," then he went off on a little riff about accountability, blah blah blah, but Rich Eisen brought him right back. "Dre, you say it's one guy, who's the one guy?" After a few minutes of playing CYA, Bly finally came out and threw Harrington under the bus. You're right, when the long knives come out in the locker room, it's over...at least for this season.

posted by The_Black_Hand at 4:43 PM CDT on November 29

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