Rebuilding From The Inside Out

Howdy All In Lions Land,

Hope. It is a word that is required to being a Lions fan. Hope for a better season but alas we have been saying that every season since 1957. During the election campaign we heard a lot of talk about hope and change. This is a time for hope and change for us Lions fans. I was very skeptical when Lewand and Mayhew were both promoted from their interim positions to President and General Manager respectively but like President Obama I am willing to give the benefit of the doubt.

I have to give high approval ratings to Martin Mayhew for the job he has done thus far. He got the Roy Williams trade resulting in 3 draft picks. He interviewed many candidates for the head coaching position leaving no stone unturned. He has picked a solid choice for Head Coach. He went to the East West Shrine game scouting talent. He has given Jim Schwartz free reign to pick his own staff. He is working on acquiring a personnel guy that has player evaluation experience.

Martin Mayhew has given us Lions fans hope. Yes he is a Millen guy but all through the bad decisions and hires I have to personally believe that he was privately seething over all of these bad decisions but had to be the Yes Man so that he could get the chance to turn this thing around. It is in their best interest to put together a winning franchise. Wouldn’t you want to be known as the one that took a joke of a franchise into a serious Super Bowl contender?

I have to believe they want a winning team. Aren’t they sick and tired of hearing from the entire sports world how bad they are? I believe they want to sincerely change this losing culture and so far they are on the right path. There is a still lot of work ahead. By the coming weekend we should know who the new Offensive Coordinator will be since Coach Schwartz has picked Gunther Cunningham as Defensive Coordinator.

I think this is a good season football coach that will work hard in a 4-3 or a 3-4 defensive scheme and that accursed Tampa 2 can go the way of the dinosaur. He will make this defense aggressive and rush the passer. We had next to nothing on sacks, getting to the quarterback, forcing turnovers and fumbles. That will change under Cunningham. One of the biggest decisions will be with the remaining 11 coaches on staff what to do with them? Keep some or get rid of them all? The inside track is that most will be gone but the biggest question will be what to do with Stan Kwan the Special Teams coach. He might be the only one worth keeping along with the Wide Receivers and Running Back coaches.

A couple of thoughts on the draft. I know I have not talked about it at all until this point but like the rebuilding phase I am taking baby steps and taking topics as they become relevant. The draft is in April and about a hundred things have to happen before the Lions coaching staff can look at which players to snag. The to do list is one fill the rest of the coaching vacancies with the offensive coordinator being at the top of the list, second get the personnel guy, third start evaluating our roster and determining which player will be cut and kept even before the draft because we have to know which positions are critical, fourth the evaluation process of the combine and fifth do tons of homework on strategizing other teams weaknesses and strengths to determine picking order for the draft with getting the best players available. Maybe not a hundred things to do but in the world of football that is a mountain to climb taking baby steps along the way.

I really cannot speculate on who and what position they should draft. A lot of factors need to be considered. If possible I believe they should trade down and see if another team wants the number one overall pick. If not then draft the strongest, fastest and most competent lineman that is out there. Whether it be Andre Smith from Alabama, Brian Orakpo from Texas or Rey Maualuga from USC. We need to anchor our defense and there are a few things that can happen. One is picking up DE Julius Peppers from the Panthers through free agency providing they don’t put a franchise tag on him and we wouldn’t have to surrender our draft picks, hope to God that Georgia QB Matthew Stafford and USC QB Mark Sanchez perform Tom Brady quality football and another team wants one of them providing one of them is the number one pick so that we can trade down and pick up an extra pick. I have real excitement over Ohio State’s LB James Laurinaitis, I believe the Lions should snag him if he is available with the 20th pick overall.

If you guys aren’t reading Tom ‘Killer’ Kowalski’s column on MLive.com you should. He has the inside scoop along with Brian VanOchten of the Grand Rapids Press. I know a lot of you are saying the same old Lions but there are some real positives that are happening. We can see the Arizona Cardinals historic run to the Super Bowl and that gives us fans encouraging news. Their situation was just as dysfunctional as ours and their drought in the playoffs were just as bad. No one gave them the benefit of the doubt. Just like the New York Giants last year. This can be a weird league and on any given Sunday the impossibilities can become the possibilities.

My next post I hope to have some information on Coach Schwartz’s staff picks and personnel director signing and some info on the coming Senior Bowl game.

Until next time, Go Lions!