The Lions Coaching Search

Howdy to all of my fellow Lions fans out there :)

With this being my first Lions Blog posting I thought I would focus on the Detroit Lions head coach search.

As of this posting the Cleveland Browns have hired Eric Mangini as their head coach. Teams without head coaches are the Detroit Lions, the New York Jets and the Denver Broncos. Those three teams have vacancies based on the firings of Rod Marinelli, Eric Mangini and Mike Shanahan. The Rams are also looking for a head coach depending if they want to give their interim head coach Jim Haslett a go ahead. The San Francisco 49's are staying with Mike Singletary so with the competition getting thinner between teams the Lions are in a solid position to choose whichever candidate they would like.

The next hurdle we will face is who does the Jets choose as their head coach? This will be greatly determined on what will happen with their quarterback situation. The new head coach for the Jets even before he sits down in his chair in his new office will be "What is going on with Favre and do I need to bring on a new QB?" New York Giants Defensive Coordinator Steve Spagnulo is a candidate for the head coaching positions for both the Lions and Jets. If the Jets go with someone else then Spagnulo is available for serious consideration especially if the Giants lose this weekend. If they win they cannot talk to him again until after the NCF Championship game.

This is the same situation with Defensive Coordinator Jim Schwartz from the Tennessee Titans. We will have to wait until after this weekend and the AFC Championship game. The Lions have already met with him and the inside track is that he is our next head coach but still depends on a variety of factors. I strongly believe the next Lions coach will be one of these two men who is defense minded. This will be great for us since we were dead last in total defense this season.

The Lions should snag the coach they want without the Kansas City Chiefs factor. Their situation is with Herm Edwards being replaced once they hire a new GM. I feel the Oakland Raiders are not a serious contender for coaching candidates because any potential head coach WILL take Detroit over Oakland because of the mental instability of Al Davis and of course if they stay the course with their interim head coach Tom Cable.

So onto the Denver Broncos. They are talking to A LOT of potential candidates. This team is our biggest rival in a coaching search. They are meeting with Leslie Frazier the Defensive Coordinator from the Minnesota Vikings and have met with Assistant Head Coach Bowles from the Miami Dolphins and Dallas Cowboys Offensive Coordinator Jason Garrett. All of these coaches are also being considered by the Lions.

If the New York Jets go with now former Boston College head coach Jeff Jagodzinski this virtually ensures the Lions just picking whomever is the best fit.

Well enough of me blogging. I hope you all enjoy my thoughts on potential outcomes for the new head coach. I welcome all of your comments :)

Kenny