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December 30, 2008

Promotions show Lions are clueless

By JAMES COOK

It's the same old same old for the Detroit Lions.

And that old is William Clay Ford, the 83-year-old owner of the team.

The Lions have one playoff victory to show for Ford's 44 years of leadership, and Monday's decisions demonstrate why.

Rod Marinelli had to go -- there's no arguing that. As good a person as he is, he was overwhelmed as an NFL head coach. He'll probably go back to being one of the league's better assistants.

But Ford appears clueless with his promotions of Martin Mayhew to general manager and Tom Lewand to team president.

When you go 0-16, one thing you don't want is the status quo. Ford just ensured it.

Remember, Mayhew was one of Millen's first hires. That should be enough for him not to be retained. He was the right-hand man to Millen and his penchant for bone-headed free agent signings and drafts picks.

Lewand is a good bean counter, businessman and salary cap expert. That's what he's best at, and where he should stay.

But handing the team over to these two is asking for disaster, pure and simple.

What the Lions needed to do was clean house in the player personnel department and start over with proven NFL scouting talent in order to stock the roster with legitimate NFL talent. That's been the root of the problem.

Ford seemingly hasn't made one good decision in his tenure and will continue to drive the Lions to some fate worse than 0-16 if it's at all possible.

Mayhew is not the man for the Lions' GM job. Not when Miami's Bill Parcells and New England's Scott Pioli are out there shopping their services. It is moronic to jump the gun and hire Mayhew and Lewand before even interviewing anyone else. They weren't going anywhere, so why not look to see if you can get something better (and that wouldn't be hard)? It's something Matt Millen would have done.

Ford has shown his incompetence when it comes to football. The Lions are the pet turtle this geezer has refused to water for 44 years now.

You'd think that a guy who only cares about the Lions making money would have been jolted when the team didn't sell out its first games since moving into Ford Field. Expect more of the same next year.

Be prepared for the Lions to hire a college coach to guide this shipwreck. Ford appears to be in a full cost-saving mode, which is the only explanation for hiring Mayhew and Lewand instead of pursuing people with proven track records like Parcells and Pioli.

Get ready for Detroit's version of Gene Chizik.

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