If I Were King Of The Jungle

Howdy to all of you in Lions Land,

I apologize it has been a few days since my last post. I have some thoughts on Coach Jim Schwartz’s picks for Offensive Coordinator and Defensive Coordinator and I want to give a few comments on both men.

Scott Linehan and Gunther Cunningham will be our OC and DC respectively. I am liking Jim Schwartz more and more. I believe he is a blue collar guy with blue collar values and that is a reflection of the team that he is putting together. Scott Linehan and Gunther Cunningham had some technical difficulties with being Head Coaches themselves but they have had good years as coordinators. They both bring a wealth of experience and unlike Jim Colletto and Joe Barry they were coordinators.

I do not believe there will be a huge emphasis on a passing offense but a stopping the run, running the ball philosophy which has worked for other teams. I believe we are heading in the right direction and so far the Lewand and Mayhew administration is reaching out to the Lions fan base by recently holding town hall meetings and the coaching hire along with the coordinators. Of course it seems like a million years until September and only then will we see the fruits of their labor. With our schedule coming which is a weaker one I do not see no reason why we cannot go 8-8 making it a goal to win half of the home games and the other half away along with winning our Thanksgiving game. Which by the way kudos to the front office by vowing to fight to keep that game in our schedule. I do not care one bit for these sports analyst hacks saying this game should be taken away from us. I believe their baby step approach is working thus far but much work still remains to be done.

Does anyone know why the lion is considered the King of the Jungle? In Africa where Lions are native they are the most ferocious and revered animal in the wild kingdom. A lion will tear your face off, eat it and ask for seconds. I think the scariest death in the world is knowing your some animals’ lunch.

A couple of weeks ago Bill Simonson on the Huge Show asked callers a question that if you ran into William Clay Ford Sr. at Meijer what would you say to him? Well my first question would have been why don’t you give the fans what they want a winning football team. So it got me thinking if I were owner what would I change about the organization? If I were King of the Jungle for our beloved Detroit Lions here is the list of things I would implement.

1. Hire a competent football guy as General Manager like Bill Parcells, Floyd Reese or Scott Pioli, giving them total control over coach hirings and player personnel.

2. Hire a personnel director/scout whose only job is to evaluate player talent and report directly to the GM on which players should be examined, interviewed and drafted.

3. Have a cheerleading squad. Most teams have them and are good to get the fans fired up along with mascot.

4. Host open tryouts for the fans to fill one position each year on the team think the movie ‘Invincible’.

5. Twice a year hold town hall meetings for season ticket holding fans at the beginning of the season and the end of the season. Taking fan responses into consideration and give straightforward honest answers on where team has gone, where it intends to go and how it is going about in getting there.

6. Fan appreciation games with a novelty such as bobble head giveaways or something of that nature.

7. A fan favorite novelty. The Steelers have the Terrible Towel; I would bring in something like the Terrible Claw, fan made claws that can tear a person’s throat out. Maybe not literally like that but you all get the idea.

8. Affordable ticket prices, EVERY game WILL BE SOLD OUT!

9. Push the league into giving the Lions a Monday Night or Sunday Night time slot.

10. Keep the fans actively involved in the off-season such as community service projects like building playgrounds and habitat for humanity with players participating. Keeping them informed.

11. Autograph signing schedules that are accessible and welcoming to the public along with selected open practices and opportunities for younger fans to be a Lions team member for the day.

12. Bring other players from other sports to games to show support like Red Wings, Pistons and Tigers players.

13. Have franchise players that fans are excited to see play, think of Barry Sanders that every fan can get behind and is the face of the franchise.

14. When someone purchases tickets they are automatically put on e-mail list. Keep fans up to date once a week with newsletter on events, player happenings, etc. I normally get the Lions e-newsletter but only during the season, fans need to be kept up to date.

15. Have Detroit Lions advertised on city buses that allow advertising.

16. A Christmas catalog with Lions merchandise for sale given at home games starting with Thanksgiving game and sent out to season ticket holders. Give discounts for fan loyalty such as buying tickets get 10% off on next order or something.

Those are just a few tid bits of what I would do if I were William Clay Ford Sr. and I was King of The Jungle. Well until next time GO LIONS!