Lions Fire Head Coach Rod Marinelli
December 29, 2008 by David Kindervater
Filed under Detroit Lions
National Football League Blogcast, NFL Blogcast
Detroit Lions Owner and Chairman William Clay Ford announced today:
- The promotion of Tom Lewand to Team President
- The promotion of Martin Mayhew to General Manager
- Rod Marinelli has been relieved of his duties as Head Coach
The following assistant coaches will not be retained: Joe Barry (Defensive Coordinator), Mike Barry (Assistant Offensive Line) and Jimmy Lake (Secondary). The contract of Joe Cullen (Defensive Line) will not be renewed. The team also announced that Jim Colletto has been re-assigned to offensive line coach. Additionally, Dave Boller (Assistant Director of Pro Personnel) will not be retained.
Unlike most farewell firing pressers, coach Marinelli actually attended his and answered questions from the media. I think that’s a classy thing to do. I’m not saying those departing coaches who don’t do something similar are classless, but it was just a top-notch way to handle a difficult situation. And I would expect nothing less from coach Marinelli because he has remained very strong amidst the trying times that left him with a 10-38 record during three seasons in Detroit:
“There’s a lot of great coaches out here that have turned programs around – (no) doubt about that. All I can tell you is I did my very best. I loved every second of it and I gave it 1000-percent of my energy – but it was energy I freely gave and freely loved.”
I think coach Marinelli is a good man and a good teacher of the game, but when you go 0-16 in the National Football League, it’s pretty hard to stay employed. I think coach Marinelli will move on and have a role as an assistant coach somewhere next season. And that team will be fortunate and better to have him as part of their staff. As far as the Lions are concerned, there is still reason for pessimism. As expected, the team promoted (instead of fired) two gentlemen — the aforementioned Tom Lewand and Martin Mayhew — who have been very much a part of the team’s miserable past. So much for a much-needed total housecleaning in Detroit.
Sources: DetroitLions.com, DetroitLions.com, Photo: Newscom
