OT: What is fundamentslly different about the Lions team/org *now* as opposed to the last 40-some years?
Am someone born a Lions fan but stopped paying close attention years (decades) ago... maybe the days of Wayne Fontes was when I last could recite most of the roster? Still liked to see when they won, but it has never meant as much to me as Michigan/Redwings/Tigers since those days. My viewing most of the time since was their annual disappointment on Thanksgiving - just something that became a less-than-exciting, but required, part of the holiday tradition.
I did hear/observe enough to note the near constant turnover, most notably at HC. It seemed over the years that some had momentum going at times but were just let go after only a few years (Mariucci, Schwartz, Caldwell?) No one ever seemed to get over the hump, so to speak. Sentiment from my friends/family who followed closely always seemed to blame the org (Ford family, GM/Millen, etc.) for things like wasting draft picks, making bad trades, hiring wrong coaches or firing too soon, etc.
So... what is so different this time? I know that there is a new member of the Ford family in charge (Sheila), and word is that she was instrumental in the turnaround... but what has changed? Is this just a case of having *that* better of a coach now than the past 30+ years? Seems doubtful to hire nothing but poor coaches in such a long period. Is the team better at finding/accumulating talent now than in that previous period? Maybe just better luck these days (bad refs aside)? Probably a little of everything, I imagine... but where was the "spark"?
I'm not accustomed to seeing the Lions being successful and just do not have enough detailed knowledge of the organization to point to where the real turnaround originates.
Anyone mind providing a brief summation?
Thanks!
January 22nd, 2024 at 12:39 PM ^
As a non-Michigander, but someone who has been enjoying watching Hutch and team go... it seems cultural. Coach doesn't seem to be the best ever. QB the same. Players too... but there seems to be a culture developing where they believe in each other.
I also think taking a high floor guy like hutchinson, who also has a high (though not sky high) ceiling has made a difference... When goff came back, most (on the outside) assumed theyd draft someone and toss him aside soon enough... but they were patient and filled in the lines and other key positions around him... and that strategy has worked.
January 22nd, 2024 at 12:45 PM ^
Having a member of the Ford family who's not a listless blueblood, and who actually cares about winning (and is seemingly perceptive enough to figure out what that takes), has made all the difference. There's more to it than that, but that's where it starts
January 22nd, 2024 at 12:48 PM ^
1. Start at the top - the ownership. Who they chose as front office. For years, my dad would lament how Russ Thomas became GM. Supposedly, WCF liked to go out and drink and Russ was like his designated driver. Russ was effectively GM from mid-60s to 1989. Other than lucking into Billy Sims and Barry Sanders, very few picks ever did make it big. Scattered among a few stars in the 1st and 2nd rounds like Lomas Brown, Benny Blades, Chris Spielman - were the likes of Lynn Boden from SD St (1975), Mark Nichols from SJ St (1981), David Lewis (1984, another wasted TE pick), Chuck Long (1986 - no good in the run and shoot), dreadful Reggie Rogers (1987) who killed three teens while driving drunk.
2. Some so-so (not always bad) coaching. Monte Clark made the playoffs in 82 (strike season) and 83, while barely missing in 80 and 81. I think he got canned too soon after a bad 1984 when Sims blew out his knee and never played again. Daryl Rogers (another Russ coaching hire lauded by WCF) - what does a guy have to do to be fired around here? I liked Wayne Fontes but feel if we had only had a Dan Campbell, we'd have won more than 1 playoff game.
3. Some bad luck - Sims injury after we had won division in 83. Drafting Chuck Long without a decent OL and then switching to run and shoot. Barry leaving early when we were still a playoff team in late 90s. Eddie Murray winning a game-winning kick at SF after making a longer one earlier in 1983.
Which is why all of the above makes this team so fantastic!
January 22nd, 2024 at 4:29 PM ^
Sheila Hamp got fed up and made the right moves. Probably most importantly, she knows what she knows and what she doesn't know.
Rod Wood, I would say Ditto. Got out of his own way. They set the cultural standard of "communication, collaboration and innovation" per his biography on the Lions Website.
Chris Speilman - hired by Hamp and Wood to make up for their football knowledge.
They hire Dan Campbell who has changed the league when it comes down to 4th down aggressiveness. I think he embodies what Speilman wants in Detroit. Speilman and Campbell both played here in Detroit, understand the city, the fans, and the vision for a Detroit Football Team.
They hire the LA Rams uber scout Brad Holmes as GM, after the HC, tying the success of one to the other, without really either of them having a choice in the matter. Forcing that collaboration. Just watch the Lions draft room videos. Those guys are in lock stop every step of the way.
Sheila is on the phone with those draft picks on draft night to welcome them to Detroit. They hire what seems like 100 ex-players as coaches on the staff - likely making the players themselves feel more comfortable to talk to the staff.
It was a complete culture change from top to bottom and the commitment and single-minded focus of what they wanted to build and how to build it is paying off.
January 22nd, 2024 at 5:01 PM ^
Bill Ford wanted Matt Millen to be his GM. Millen told Ford he wasn't qualified. Ford told him "you'll figure it out" and Millen didn't refuse.
Sheila Ford Hamp wanted Chris Spielman to be her GM. Spielman told Hamp he wasn't qualified. Hamp listened to him, and gave him an advisory role instead, where he would be in charge of hiring a GM who was actually qualified, as well as a head coach. He hired Brad Holmes and Dan Campbell.
I was critical of this situation when it happened, but I've never been happier to be wrong. Brad Holmes built this team from the lines out, aka the correct way to build a football team. Even in their first year when they lost all those games, I remember thinking to myself "at least our GM makes sense with his picks". Now it finally worked out and I couldn't be happier. Unless we win on Sunday, that is... ;)
January 23rd, 2024 at 12:51 PM ^
When Martha took over the team, it started the process of cleaning up the WCF boys club and they actually started trying to function like a grown up organization. Obviously, Quinn & Patricia were not the answer, but Sheila's made great hiring decisions and it sounds like the cultures much better, which she should get credit for.
January 23rd, 2024 at 2:25 PM ^
Lifelong Lions fan (born in 1987)....
Not to be a pessimist but can someone ease my fears a little bit....
How is this team different than 1991?