The Associated Press is reporting that Detroit Lions head coach Steve Mariucci has been fired:
After Detroit lost 27-7 to the Atlanta Falcons on Thanksgiving to fall to 4-7, reports swirled that the team was considering firing Mariucci. When Mariucci was not let go over the weekend, some thought his job was safe for the final five games of the regular season.
Mariucci and the assistants were fired late Monday morning, said a team official, who spoke with the AP on the condition of anonymity because the team had not yet made the official announcement.
Mariucci’s record with the Lions was 15-28. His hiring was hailed by fans and media alike, but he was not able to turn around a team that has won one playoff game since 1957.
Mariucci has more than two years remaining on the $25 million contract he signed in 2003. The Michigan native came to the Lions from San Francisco, where he was 60-43 over six seasons.
Though I understand the old cliche about how they can’t fire 40 guys, maybe getting rid of the offensive line and Matt Millen would’ve been a good start?
Seems from this vantage point (ie. hiding under the bed) that the Lions have enough talent to say a 4-7 record is a disappointment. But I’ve seent the pocket collapse around Harrington and Garcia enough times to know this wasn’t a playoff team. Was Mariucci really the biggest problem?
You’re commenting on your own entries?
But the answer to your (rhetorical?) query is the usual, “It’s a combo of things.” SOme is his blame I’m sure, some isn’t – but it does seem like Millen’s gotta go, no?
Joel Hunt wrote this one, Harris Bloom.
I like Mooch a lot, but this probably makes sense — not in that the team’s bad play was his fault, but in the sense that this seems to be the way the NFL works. So that’s a type of sense, at least. The big extension that Millen signed last offseason, on the other hand, makes no sense. He’s basically built the NFL’s crappiest fantasy team, and managed to dis the majority of his players and call Johnnie Morton a fag while doing so. Even if it means putting him back in the broadcast booth, that chump needs to go. If the Lions run with the same efficiency as other Ford-owned enterprises, that should happen around 2017.
Ohhh….I thought this was the work of one person – guess i should pay better attention
Harris,
Joel’s been posting for a while now. His entries are credited as such. The site’s “about” column was recently changed to reflect the fact that others are now contributing to CSTB. Next time, I’ll send you a candygram.
I still think the Mucch is a good coach. Millen’s the problem here. And Harrington. Guys don’t respect him and they’ve been unable to find a suitable replacement. That’s millen’s fault.
I suspect Mucch will end up somewhere better with a smarter GM.
Kansas City here he comes. This has got to be Vermeil’s last tour of duty and I would think the Chiefs would be in better hands with Mariucci than with say the some times rumoured Herman Edwards. Now, if only we can get King Carl Peterson to retire if/when Vermeil does. I don’t think there’s a GM that has squandered more draft picks for as long as he’s been allowed.
“I don’t think there’s a GM that has squandered more draft picks for as long as he’s been allowed.”
…And we’re back to Matt Millen! That’s a wrap. (It might be a little unfair to Millen, who did okay with some of his defensive picks, but it’s not any more unfair than, say, sending a team into the season with three first round WRs and an OL made up of the biggest guys from the River Rouge plant)