The Lions have embarked on what will be a defining few months for principal owner Sheila Ford Hamp, in her first year in the position. Detroit hired a new GM on Jan. 14, naming Brad Holmes to the job. Now it needs a head coach. Myriad other changes — to the staff and roster — could be in the works. Here, you’ll find our hub for keeping tabs (and sharing our thoughts) on everything along the way.
Jan. 17: With Saints eliminated, Lions close in on Dan Campbell
Time hadn’t even run out on the Buccaneers’ divisional-round win over the Saints before ESPN’s Adam Schefter tweeted that New Orleans assistant head coach/tight ends coach Dan Campbell “will be the Lions’ next head coach,” pending finalization of a contract.
That had emerged over the past few days as the inevitable conclusion of Detroit’s search, so the only real mystery was timing. Monday morning, NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported the hiring wouldn’t be official until Wednesday, so Campbell could do exit interviews with his Saints players.
Campbell was one of six candidates to interview for the open Detroit job, along with interim coach Darrell Bevell, Robert Saleh, Arthur Smith, Marvin Lewis and Eric Bieniemy. A seventh option, Tampa Bay defensive coordinator Todd Bowles, reportedly was scheduled to interview on Friday but that meeting never took place.
Smith emerged as one of the favorites, and the Lions were hoping to bring him back for a second interview. He, however, accepted the Falcons’ head coaching position instead. So Campbell, like Holmes among the GM hopefuls, will be the only coaching candidate to reach the second round of talks with Detroit.
His imminent hire would fall into the category of reestablishing a positive “Lions culture,” which is something principal owner Sheila Ford Hamp, team president Rod Wood and special assistant Chris Spielman all have spoken about during this search process. Wood even went so far as to say that the Lions hired Spielman on a full-time basis because it was important to have “somebody who’s been here, understands the community, the fans, the blue-collar mentality of this town and how much our fans want us to win.”
Campbell’s Lions roots don’t run as deep as Spielman’s — few do — but he was a member of this organization from 2006-08. He’s known for being an intense, motivating force, and someone the Lions will hope that players can rally behind.
Less certain would be his X’s-and-O’s acumen. While Campbell did serve as the Dolphins’ interim head coach for 12 games in 2015, he’s never been a coordinator so his hires on the offensive and defensive side of things will be critical. He also does not have a direct link to Holmes, who has spent his entire career with the Rams.
Barring any 11th hour developments, though, the Lions are ready to hand Campbell the reins.
Jan. 15: GM in place, the head coach field narrows … for now
Robert Saleh? Off the board. A favorite of many for the Lions’ coaching opening because of his ties to the area and success with the 49ers, Saleh accepted the Jets’ job late Thursday night.
Arthur Smith? The coveted Titans offensive coordinator is off the board too, after canceling his Friday in-person interview with the Lions and later being named Falcons head coach.
That was after this had already transpired earlier in the day:
So, where do those developments leave the Lions? For the moment, there are four others who have been interviewed for the job (Darrell Bevell, Dan Campbell, Eric Bieniemy, Marvin Lewis).
Where the Lions go from here could depend on a) how much of a pitch new GM Brad Holmes makes for Rams defensive coordinator Brandon Staley, who’s already interviewed with the Chargers and Jets, and is expected to talk with the Texans. And b) what happens with the playoff games — the Lions cannot complete in-person interviews with Campbell or Bieniemy (not to mention Staley) while their teams are still alive.
The latter is a significant sticking point in this search, because the Lions want to bring in their finalists before a hire, as they did with Holmes. If the Saints (Campbell) or Chiefs (Bieniemy) play on through the Super Bowl, that puts the earliest open date for a potential visit at Feb. 8.
Team president Rod Wood said in early January that the Lions are willing to wait beyond the Super Bowl for the right candidate, but that’s a nerve-wracking proposition. What if they hold out for, say, Bieniemy and then the in-person interview doesn’t click? It’s a narrow tightrope to walk.
Back in 2018, Matt Patricia’s hire could not become official until after the Super Bowl, but COVID-19 restrictions obviously were not in place on the process. Wood and then-GM Bob Quinn were able to travel for a five-hour, in-person meeting with Patricia, at which point the deal was all but done. The NFL has prohibited any such sit-downs this year, either at a team facility or elsewhere, until a candidate is no longer involved in the playoffs.
So the Lions likely will regroup a bit as they watch Saturday’s and Sunday’s action unfold.
Jan. 13: Brad Holmes gets second look, with George Paton off the board
“Once we zero in on a finalist or two for either position (coach or GM), we’re definitely going to meet with the person …”
So said Lions team president Rod Wood during a news conference last week. So, it’s safe to assume that Rams director of college scouting Brad Holmes is at or near the top of Detroit’s wish list of general manager candidates, after the team announced Wednesday he had completed a second interview. Only Holmes, Minnesota assistant GM George Paton and the Lions’ internal candidates (Kyle O’Brien, Rob Lohman and Lance Newmark) are known to have had in-person interviews thus far.
The Rams are still in the playoffs, of course, but earlier this month the NFL updated its protocols to allow GM candidates to travel for interviews under certain conditions. One is that it’s at least a second interview, as this was.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter went so far as to deem Holmes the “favorite” for the Detroit job, after the Broncos announced Paton as their next general manager. There was an obvious Paton-to-Detroit connection — Paton long had worked as the right-hand man of Minnesota GM Rick Spielman, brother of Chris Spielman. He’s been part of several GM hiring cycles, too, having turned down the Chiefs and Jets in the past, then withdrawing from the Browns’ competition last year.
Holmes is more of a new face onto the candidates scene, but he has been with the Rams since 2003 and became director of college scouting in 2013. Given that franchise’s success over the past four years, it was only a matter of time until Holmes started drawing this level of attention.
As for another bit of chatter that picked up some steam this week … earlier Wednesday, a tweet from Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette shot down a 97.1 FM report that the Lions were perhaps close to naming Kevin Colbert to the same role in Detroit. Colbert was Lions pro scouting director from 1990-99.
Colbert, 64, has been working on one-year contracts at his behest. He’s been with the Steelers for two decades — including as GM since 2010 — and he’s both a Pittsburgh native and Robert Morris grad. It would have required a very hard sell to bring him to Detroit.
Jan. 12: As interviews continue, Saleh talks again to … the Jets
The Lions’ general manager search has been busy for weeks. Now it’s starting to get interesting.
Colts assistant GM Ed Dodds did, in fact, complete an interview with Detroit on Tuesday. Dodds has been a hot name in GM searches recently thanks to his reputation as a talented and relentless evaluator in Seattle and, more recently, for his role in Indianapolis’ impressive turnaround. He’s been very picky about GM jobs in the past, declining a chance to interview with Cleveland a year ago and withdrawing recently from consideration for Carolina’s opening.
Rams director of college scouting Brad Holmes appears to be the first GM candidate to snag a second interview with the Lions, this one in person on Wednesday, per ESPN. The 41-year-old Holmes has 18 years of NFL experience, the last eight with the Rams. He is viewed as one of the team’s most important evaluation voices, helping the Rams find quality draft returns despite low capital in each of the last three years.
As with Dodds, though, the Lions’ quest for Holmes isn’t simple: He’s in demand, having already had had two interviews with Atlanta about its GM job as well.
On the coaching front, Detroit completed its first interview with Titans offensive coordinator Arthur Smith on Tuesday. Smith’s offense struggled in a wild-card loss to the Ravens last weekend, though Tennessee’s offense ranked No. 2 in overall efficiency (per PFF) in both 2019 and 2020.
Elsewhere, 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh appears one step closer to … the Jets job. Saleh, who interviewed once with Detroit, reportedly had interview No. 2 with New York on Tuesday. New Orleans assistant head coach Dan Campbell had his first meeting with the Lions earlier this week.
Detroit appears to be inching closer to clarity on the GM front. We’ll see who gets interview No. 2 in the coaching search soon.
Jan. 11: Coach list grows to seven; Indy’s Dodds joins GM candidates
With wild-card weekend now over, the Lions are poised to add a few more names to their head-coach interview list — and at least one significant general manager candidate as well.
Titans offensive coordinator Arthur Smith and Saints assistant head coach (and former Lions tight end) Dan Campbell have interviews scheduled with Detroit this week, per multiple reports. The Lions have also requested to speak with Tampa Bay defensive coordinator Todd Bowles, an interview that could happen this week.
Elsewhere, the Detroit Free Press first reported that Indianapolis assistant GM Ed Dodds is scheduled to meet with the Lions this week. Dodds has been a hot name on prospective general manager lists for some time now. Chris Ballard’s No. 2 in Indy turned down a chance to run the Browns a year ago and has already taken his name out of Carolina’s interest pool this year. Dodds is a respected name in front-office circles who has been very selective in the past — and could be again. Dodds also has a history with Lions coaching candidates Darrell Bevell and Robert Saleh, as the three shared time in Seattle together (2011-13). A situation worth monitoring.
Smith’s Titans, meantime, were eliminated from the playoffs Saturday in disappointing fashion, mustering just 209 yards in a home loss to Baltimore. Smith’s offense was the second-most efficient unit in the NFL this season, per PFF, thanks in large part to the most punishing downhill run combination in football. Smith, 38, has ignited Tennessee’s offense behind Derrick Henry, a stellar offensive line and quarterback Ryan Tannehill’s ability as a play-action passer.
The Lions have the makings of a solid offensive line, a quarterback who can function in play action but nothing close to Henry. The question of whether Smith’s offensive success is scheme driven, personnel driven or both is certainly fair to ask.
Campbell, meantime, is still coaching on a team with life, following the Saints’ win over the Bears on Sunday. Campbell’s coaching résumé is a bit different than most on this candidate list: He’s not a coordinator; he’s a tight ends coach by trade. Still, he’s a respected member of Sean Payton’s staff, known for his leadership ability as a former player who understands how to cultivate respect and a winning culture inside a locker room.
He was asked to step into an impossible spot in 2015, serving as interim head coach in Miami following the firing of Joe Philbin, and wound up 5-7. Not great. But far from a nightmare, which was a possibility when he took over. If you’re talking about overhauling a culture for the better, the 44-year-old Campbell — who went from a winless Lions team in 2008 to a Super Bowl winner in New Orleans the next year — knows plenty about that.
Campbell and the Saints will host Bowles and the Buccaneers in a divisional-round playoff game Sunday evening. Smith, Campbell and Bowles would increase Detroit’s head-coach interview list to seven. Marvin Lewis, Darrell Bevell, Eric Bieniemy and Robert Saleh have all already interviewed.
Jan. 10: Could an experienced NFL head coach be the answer?
The end result doesn’t always tell the whole story for NFL head coaches. Case in point: Todd Bowles, whom the Lions have requested to interview for their head-coaching job, according to NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo. The current Buccaneers defensive coordinator posted a 24-40 record in four years as the Jets’ head coach (2015-18), and a brutal 14-34 mark over his final three seasons.
So, why are the Lions poking around? For starters, he earned a ton of respect from his players in New York — current Seahawks safety Jamal Adams was a fervent backer, and ex-Lions receiver Jermaine Kearse spoke fondly of Bowles, too. If the Lions are to repair their “culture,” bringing on someone like Bowles would make a ton of sense.
And while that coaching record obviously doesn’t reflect well, it’s fair to ask how much help he got from the Jets’ front office. The answer: Not much. After two seasons with Ryan Fitzpatrick as his starting QB, Bowles then had to turn to Josh McCown for another two because the Jets drafted Bryce Petty in 2015 and Christian Hackenberg (in Round 2) in ’16. New York fired Bowles’ GM, Mike Maccagnan, after the 2019 draft.
Different circumstances, similar conversation for Marvin Lewis, the first candidate Detroit formally interviewed this cycle. An 0-7 playoff record hangs like a cloud over Lewis’ 16-year Cincinnati tenure (and a 19-28 closing three years doesn’t exactly shine). But that Bengals job is among the toughest in the league — in a division with two perennial powers in Baltimore and Pittsburgh, an owner who’s often reluctant to spend and one of the smallest staffs in the league.
When fired Lions special teams coordinator Brayden Coombs was in his second year there, for example, he was the assistant receivers coach and served as an advance scout. “There’s only like four scouts and they’re all doing college,” Coombs told The Athletic, “so there was nobody to go watch our opponents. That was always a position one of the younger coaches have.”
If the Lions can provide either coach better circumstances, and their player-friendly personalities carry over, Detroit might be on to something. Neither hire would excite the fan base like a Robert Saleh or Matt Campbell, but it’d get the franchise back on track.
As for the GM search, the Lions announced on Friday that they had completed an interview with former Dolphins GM and current Saints assistant GM Jeff Ireland. He shares the latter role with Terry Fontenot, another Lions target.
How much wider will the ownership group cast its net? We should get a good indication by Monday or Tuesday if this is as crowded as the field gets, because Seattle (with potential candidates John Schneider, Scott Fitterer and Trent Kirchner) and Indianapolis (Ed Dodds) were bounced from the playoffs. Any of those options would be available now for in-person interviews.
The GM field to date, plus Ireland:
Jan. 7: Lions complete their interview with Robert Saleh
Here’s one a lot of people had been waiting on. The Lions might not be able to wait long if Saleh is their guy — the Falcons already have interviewed the 49ers’ defensive coordinator (and Dearborn Fordson alum), and the Jaguars, Chargers and Jets all reportedly will talk to him too.
One of our 49ers beat writers, Matt Barrows, raised an interesting topic a couple weeks back, which is whom off the 49ers’ staff Saleh could bring with him to a head-coaching gig. His thoughts:
I’ve heard there already have been discussions between Saleh and Shanahan — horse trading, if you will — about which offensive coaches Saleh might take with him. My guess: Since Saleh has a long-time relationship with the LaFleur family — he’s best friends with Packers coach Matt LaFleur — he takes Mike LaFleur with him wherever he goes. But that’s just a guess.
The LaFleurs are Mt. Pleasant natives, so that’d be another coach arriving in Detroit with an embedded understanding of the Lions’ history. That’s likely a plus in the Saleh/LaFleur category, as team president Rod Wood and special assistant Chris Spielman keep preaching about the organization’s “unique” needs and culture.
Jan. 7: George Paton, Brad Holmes complete GM interviews
Ten GM interviews down, at least one to go.
The Lions announced Thursday they had completed interviews with Vikings assistant GM George Paton and Rams director of college scouting Brad Holmes. New Orleans executive Jeff Ireland is still reportedly on tap, possibly this week.
Later Thursday, Detroit was expected to interview Robert Saleh, the 49ers defensive coordinator and Dearborn native, for its head coach job.
Paton’s relationship with the Lions comes in two forms: He is a longtime competitor inside the Vikings’ front office and the No. 2 to Minnesota GM Rick Spielman, the older brother of Lions special assistant Chris Spielman. Paton has served as the second-in-command with the Vikings for more than a decade, working in all areas, including pro and college scouting.
Interestingly, Paton has also worked with a pair of Lions head coach candidates. Kansas City offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy (who interviewed with Detroit earlier this week) was a position coach in Minnesota from 2006-10, overlapping with Paton. Darrell Bevell was Minnesota’s offensive coordinator at the same time. Bevell, the Lions’ OC, served as interim head coach after Matt Patricia was fired on Nov. 28. He also interviewed for the permanent job this week.
Holmes, meantime, has been a critical piece of a Rams college scouting department that has built some productive drafts in the past eight years. At 41, he’s been with the Rams his entire 18-year NFL career, and is considered a top draft voice inside the organization.
Jan. 5: Lions formally interview Terry Fontenot for GM
Ever since she mentioned Terry Fontenot on our “One of These Years” podcast, a few loyal listeners have made NFL Network’s Cynthia Frelund the unofficial go-to on the latest Lions interviewee. Her thoughts when asked for “key skill sets or intangibles” Fontenot, the Saints’ vice president/assistant GM, brings to the table:
Leadership, communication, innovative thought (including smart uses of analytics), empathy
— cynthia frelund (@cfrelund) January 6, 2021
The ability to communicate is one of the primary qualities Detroit’s decision-makers have stressed in this hiring cycle. But the “innovative thought” aspect Frelund mentioned is really interesting here. For all their faults while with the Lions, Bob Quinn and Matt Patricia did lean heavily into the use of analytics throughout the organization, from the scouting department to roster management to tracking players’ on-field performance.
It’d be negligent in this era of the NFL to think a front office could get by without embracing analytics, and the Lions’ increase in attention there of late could help smooth a transition to a Fontenot-led front office. Detroit just hired analytics assistants Caio Brighetti and Michael Pelfrey last offseason, for example.
Jan. 5: A ‘very different’ search process for the Lions
Call it learning from mistakes or just wanting to try something new. But whatever the heading, Lions team president Rod Wood made clear during a news conference Tuesday that the organization’s ongoing coach and GM searches are “very different than how we approached the search for Bob (Quinn) and Matt (Patricia).”
The Lions interviewed just three general manager candidates before hiring Quinn in January 2016. Then, only Quinn and Wood interviewed coaching candidates before making the inevitable Patricia addition. This time around, owner Sheila Ford Hamp, new special assistant Chris Spielman and VP of football administration Mike Disner are heavily involved in the process, plus the Lions have an advisory board of Barry Sanders, Mark Hollis and Rod Graves.
“Experience is the best teacher,” Wood said. “Having gone through this now twice, there’s things I’ve learned and things hopefully we’ll do better. And I think one of the things is adding more people to the process.”
As for a timeline? Well, that’s still a little open-ended. Wood mentioned that the Lions are willing to wait out the NFL playoffs — as they did in hiring Patricia — if their preferred coaching hire comes from a team that’s still alive. “There’s no deadline on our process,” Wood said.
He did add, however, that the Lions are “probably to the point where we’ve put forward every name that we’re going to consider.” At this point, the confirmed or reported list of GM candidates is 11 names long and five deep at head coach — Marvin Lewis interviewed for the latter position last week, and Eric Bieniemy on Monday; interim Darrell Bevell will interview Tuesday.
It’s likely that not every request Detroit put in has become public yet, so expect at least the number of coaching options to grow.
Jan. 4: Lions reportedly book several coach and GM interviews
With the regular season over, the Lions are launching aggressively into their head-coaching search.
Per The MMQB’s Albert Breer, Detroit has an interview with Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy on Monday, with 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh to follow on Thursday. In between, interim coach Darrell Bevell will interview (presumably, in person). Next week, following the wild-card round, Titans offensive coordinator Arthur Smith and Saints associate head coach Dan Campbell will go through the process with the Lions’ leadership group.
League rules prohibit the Lions from talking to any coach with a playoff game this weekend, but Bieniemy is fair game because the Chiefs are on a bye. Saleh’s season is over, so he actually can begin in-person interviews at any point.
Former Bengals coach Marvin Lewis, now the co-defensive coordinator at Arizona State, reportedly interviewed last week (the Lions have not confirmed that meeting yet).
On top of all of this, though, the Lions also have a crowded general manager search ongoing. Breer reported that Detroit will interview Saints assistant GM Terry Fontenot on Tuesday, Rams college scouting director Brad Holmes and Vikings assistant GM George Paton on Wednesday, then Saints assistant GM Jeff Ireland on Friday.
Those candidates would up the Lions’ list of interviews for the GM job to 11 — they’ve already conducted seven, counting three in-house. And that number alone is evidence that this search has taken on a different direction than their 2016 approach, when they conducted just three formal interviews before hiring Bob Quinn. Owner Sheila Ford Hamp and team president Rod Wood promised to cast a wide net, and they’ve done so.
The Saints promoted Fontenot to his current role in August, splitting VP/assistant GM duties with Ireland. Here’s what Jeff Duncan from The Athletic New Orleans had to say on it at the time:
He’s a quality candidate, to be sure. And there are a couple of interesting subplots with regard to Paton:
1. He’s been a GM candidate for several years now, but the Vikings reportedly blocked him from interviewing with the Titans and Packers in the past — all interview requests must be granted this year — and he withdrew himself from consideration for the Jets’ job in 2019 and the Browns’ job in ’20.
2. He is the right-hand man of Minnesota’s current GM, Rick Spielman, who of course is Chris Spielman’s brother. Chris and Rick shared a hug and a lengthy discussion, along with Wood and Lions VP of football administration Mike Disner, ahead of Sunday’s regular-season finale. If anyone could vouch for Paton’s viability as a candidate, it would be Rick Spielman.
Don’t read too much into the timing of the coaching interviews. Bieniemy and Saleh reportedly are on the Falcons’ schedule for Monday, as well, with several other teams also already in the market for a new head coach. Because of the limits on contact during the playoffs, this process tends to take longer than it does with GM hopefuls.
The Lions should have an opportunity to get in front of everyone they want to meet.
Jan. 3: Lions reportedly eye Seattle GM, interview Marvin Lewis
Some things are easier said than done. Like the Lions poaching the Seahawks’ sitting general manager. Doesn’t mean it’s not worth a shot, though, right?
The NFL Network reported Sunday morning the Lions are planning to make a move for Seahawks general manager John Schneider in an effort to fill their vacant GM job. The network also reported Marvin Lewis, the longtime NFL head coach and current Arizona State defensive coordinator, met with Detroit about its head coaching vacancy late last week. Lewis is the first known candidate to interview for that job.
But back to the GM search: Schneider and Seahawks coach Pete Carroll have made Seattle arguably the NFL’s most efficient drafting organization over the past decade. After starting his career as a scout in Green Bay, Schneider worked his way up the executive ladder with the Chiefs, Washington Football Team and Packers. He become Seattle’s GM in 2010, hired one week after Carroll.
Seattle won its first Super Bowl in 2014, and came within a few inches of another title a year later. The secret to its success has been building through the draft, from quarterback Russell Wilson to the famed Legion of Doom defensive core. Schneider and Carroll are the two people most responsible for said run of success. The catch here, per NFL Network, is that Carroll continues to have final say in football matters. The Lions could offer Schneider complete control.
That doesn’t mean Schneider, who has one year left on his Seattle deal, will reciprocate interest. In fact, a move of this kind would be rather seismic within NFL circles. But for the Lions, why not try? Seattle has talented personnel executives underneath Schneider in Scott Fitterer and Trent Kirchner who could be Lions GM candidates as well. Landing Schneider would be the bigger victory, though.
The Lions also appear ready to make a push for talented Minnesota player personnel assistant George Paton, per NFL Network. Paton has worked closely with Vikings GM Rick Spielman, the brother of new Lions executive Chris Spielman.
To date, the Lions have interviewed a trio of in-house candidates (Lance Newmark, Kyle O’Brien and Rob Lohman) as well as four external candidates (Rick Smith, Louis Riddick, Thomas Dimitroff and Scott Pioli) for the GM job.
Dec. 28: A refresher on the league’s timeline
The Lions are seven interviews deep at general manager (they’ve yet to announce any formal meetings with coaching candidates), and things should ramp up significantly over the next week to 10 days. That’s because as of Jan. 4, teams can begin in-person interviews with anyone not participating in the postseason, per a league memo shared by the NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero.
Many of the Lions’ options on both the coaching and GM fronts are headed to the playoffs, but one who’s not: 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh. Presumably, he’ll be invited in by several teams starting next week. (That memo sent by the league on Dec. 22 did clear teams to begin conducting virtual, in-season interviews with coaching hopefuls, but only with the approval of a coach’s current employer.)
Once the regular season concludes, the Lions also can hold virtual interviews with coaching candidates who have a first-round bye — the Chiefs’ Eric Bieniemy would fall on that list — and with any GM candidates involved in postseason play. An important addendum in the memo: Teams cannot deny those interview requests (nor in-person interview requests for prospective general managers once that candidate’s team has been eliminated).
For the coaches who will be involved in wild-card weekend, the Lions can launch into virtual interviews on Jan. 10-11. Arthur Smith (Titans), Brian Daboll (Bills), Byron Leftwich (Buccaneers) and Matt Eberflus (Colts) are among the names that could surface then.
The NFL has sped up the process a bit via virtual meetings. However, if the Lions are waiting on coaching candidates until after the wild-card round — and they figure to do so — that’s another two weeks before they make any significant headway there. The GM situation could be resolved earlier.
Ideally, Detroit will have both positions (and most of their 2021 coaching/front-office staffs) filled ahead of Senior Bowl week, which kicks off Jan. 25. The Matt Patricia hire had to wait until early February, though, after the Patriots played in the Super Bowl. Internally, the Lions viewed that delay as a significant hindrance to their 2018 offseason.
Dec. 23: Lions formally interview three GM candidates
Almost a month removed from firing Bob Quinn and Matt Patricia (a month? already?), the Lions’ official list of GM candidates has grown to seven. The latest additions:
No real surprises in there, except perhaps that Pioli’s name has resurfaced as an option. He overlapped with Quinn and Patricia in New England, his tenure as Chiefs GM (2009-12) unraveled in a hurry and he stepped away from the Falcons’ assistant GM job in ’19 to take on TV analyst duties. It makes sense that he’d want another shot running the show, but he’s not exactly coming in hot.
Dimitroff is the more obvious option with recent Falcons ties. While the wheels fell off for him — Atlanta fired him in October — he helped guide the Falcons to a Super Bowl berth, multiple playoff trips and was very aggressive with his wheeling and dealing. He also has some links to the Lions, having served as an area scout here in the mid-’90s.
Smith, though, might be the leader in the clubhouse. The Purdue alum helped the Texans turn the corner from a struggling expansion squad to a perennial AFC South threat. He initially took an extended leave of absence at the end of the 2017 season to help care for his wife, Tiffany, as she battled breast cancer. She died in 2019. If the Lions want an experienced, high-character option who built a playoff contender from the ground up, Smith will be tough to top.
Multiple reports also said that Brad Holmes, the Rams’ director of college scouting, is expected to interview for the Lions’ GM job.
Dec. 21: Lions fire special-teams coordinator Brayden Coombs
In a stunning development, the Lions announced Monday that they had dismissed the 34-year-old Coombs, with Sunday’s failed fake punt as a breaking point. Per a team source, Coombs called that play on his own without the approval of interim coach Darrell Bevell. It was Bevell who then decided to fire Coombs, with team president and CEO Rod Wood signing off.
The source added, however, that the decision had been building for weeks now, citing a disconnect of personality between Coombs and others within the organization.
It is interesting, to say the least, that the Lions permitted Bevell — an interim head coach, presumably with two weeks left in his tenure — to make this call. Coombs was under contract for the 2021 season and, even after the Lions fired Quinn and Patricia, told The Athletic he planned to be back next season.
The Lions hired Coombs just this past January. He then helped guide a significant turnaround for the special-teams units, including the unexpected emergence of punter Jack Fox, who’s within reach of breaking the NFL single-season record for net-punting average. Detroit also ranks top 10 in average kick return yards allowed and third in average punt return yards allowed. The lone blemish on Coombs’ record this season (aside from the fake punt, apparently) has been Matt Prater’s regression: He’s connecting on just 74.1 percent of his field goals this season and missed his second extra point of the year in Sunday’s 46-25 loss to the Titans.
