| 12 January 2012
Today, Lions' General Manager Martin Mayhew announced there would be no changes in the coaching staff for 2012.
Via Dave Birkett of the Freep:
General manager Martin Mayhew said today the Detroit Lions have re-signed all three of their coordinators: Scott Linehan, Gunther Cunningham and Danny Crossman.
Mayhew went on to add:
With Linehan (offense), Cunningham (defense) and Crossman (special teams) back on board, Mayhew said the organization is "working on the rest of our assistant coaches' contracts right now" and will start work on an extension for head coach Jim Schwartz "in the next couple of weeks or so."
The short version of my response: Good!
After the defensive debacles in week 17 and in the wild card round, there were calls for the Lions to let go their resident Abe Simpson, noted crank and defensive coordinator Gunther Cunningham. Of course, most of those cries were coming from Mlive and callers to the local sports talk radio stations, so take them with a Gibralter sized rock of salt.
I have 2 reasons why firing Cunningham would be a mistake.
1. It's absurd firing a coach after making the playoffs (unless there is some sort of personality conflict, and there isn't any in Detroit).
2. I'd miss Gunther's weekly tirades to the media about whatever is grinding his gears.
As long as Mayhew and Schwartz continue to upgrade the roster, any problems fans have with Gunther's schemes should go away.
But think about it. Do you really think Gunther is completely to blame for the late season flame-out? Fans knew going into the season the Lions' defense could not afford injuries due to a lack of depth, let alone it wasn't massively talented in the first place. We aren't talking Steel Curtain or Purple People Eaters when discussing the Lions' defense. Hell, after years of Lions' defenses impersonating sieves, all fans wanted was league average...and for most of the season, that's what fans got.
Despite the injury and talent issues, facing pass first, last and always offenses in a score-happy league, the defense was good enough to get the Lions into the playoffs. Unfortunately, the defense was stretched thin and all but gassed due to injury by the end of the season. Firing Gunther Cunningham because he lacked players is not how you run a model NFL franchise.
All this talk of firing assistants beings back bad memories. Older fans remember the changing of coordinators was an annual event during the Wayne Fontes era. The Lions played coordinator bingo yearly...only to watch other teams cry out BINGO!
Coordinator bingo reached it's nadir during Fontes' tenure. Fontes changed at least 1 coordinator every season from 1991-1996. The Lions needed a revolving door, and fans needed a program, just to keep track of Fontes' coaching staffs.
1989:
Record: 7-9
Offensive Coordinator: Mouse Davis
Defensive Coordinator: Woody Widenhofer
1990:
Record: 6-10
Offensive Coordinator: Mouse Davis
Defensive Coordinator: Woody Widenhofer
1991:
Record:12-4
Offensive Coordinator: Dave Levy
Defensive Coordinator: Woody Widenhofer
1992:
Record: 5-11
Offensive Coordinator: Dan Henning
Defensive Coordinator: Woody Widenhofer
1993:
Record: 10-6
Offensive Coordinator: Dan Henning and Dave Levy
Defensive Coordinator: Hank Bullough
1994:
Record: 9-7
Offensive Coordinator: Dave Levy
Defensive Coordinator: Herb Paterra
1995:
Record: 10-6
Offensive Coordinator: Tom Moore
Defensive Coordinator: Herb Paterra
1996:
Record: 5-11
Offensive Coordinator: Tom Moore
Defensive Coordinator: Jim Eddy
That's 5 offensive coordinators and 4 defensive coordinators in 8 seasons. My public school math tells me defensive coordinators lasted an average of 2 years under Fotnes, while their offensive counterparts barely had time to learn how to pronounce "Gratiot" correctly before moving on, keeping their position for 1.6 years on average.
The winningest and losingest coach in Lions history had a knack for self-preservation. He would use his coaches as sacrificial lambs in order to save his job. He'd sucker William Clay Ford into the belief the new coordinator would make the difference, pushing the Lions over the top. That he was allowed to do so in 6 consecutive seasons says just as much about Ford as it does Fontes, and it's not complimentary.
Firing any coach after improving your record by 4 wins and making the playoffs only 3 years after the infamous 0-16 season would be a Wayne Fontes-like thing to do.
And do you really want Jim Schwartz emulating Fontes?
Remember, coaching continuity on winning team is a GOOD thing.
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