Posts tagged MattMillen at FanHouse - AOL Sports Blog

There's a reason Lions fans show up to games sporting paper bags over their heads. The obvious answer is Matt Millen, who has become something of the anti-Karl Rove for the greater Detroit sports scene.

Rove, whose political "genius" became legendary after George W. Bush was elected to a second term, was soon responsible for everything from setting up Dan Rather, to using Barack Obama to torpedo Hillary Clinton's bid for the Democratic nomination (wait, wasn't that Bill's job?). For the Lions' faithful, every time something goes wrong, the natural inclination is to just assume Millen had something to do with it. Which provides the perfect explanation for the team's marketing campaign for 2008 season tickets.



"All that matters is, right here, right now." Um, okay. Pride of Detroit offers some advice to the team's marketing department (all of whom, no doubt, were hired by Millen):

...if they are having trouble selling season tickets thanks to their increase in prices and the failing economy, they ought to come up with a better commercial. And if they can't do that, well they at least ought to come up with a better catchphrase, because I laugh every time I hear it.

Or here's a novel idea: win a few games. Fans really respond to that.

[Can't Stop the Bleeding]

I was talking to a Patriots-loving friend of mine the other day and I asked if the whole Spygate silliness had soured him on his hometown team. Before I could get the sentence out of my mouth he cut me off: "already forgotten."

I then asked if he was upset that Tom Brady wouldn't be winning any Father of the Year awards in the near future. Again, he seemed unfazed.

And just about every NFL head coach agrees, apparently. Hashmarks conducted a wide-ranging survey recently and in addition to finding out stuff most of us just assumed to be true, there's also this:

Twenty-two coaches said they thought Brady would be the first player selected [if there was a supplemental-style draft]. Six head coaches went with Peyton Manning. One head coach apparently wasn't taking the survey as seriously. Either that or he's a huge Jason Taylor fan. Taylor received one of the 29 votes.

Word on the street is that Matt Millen instructed Rod Marinelli to vote for Jason Taylor because "Millen loved him in 'Gridiron Gang.'"

Yesterday, MDS pointed out that former 49ers and Lions head coach Steve Mariucci is open to returning to the NFL, but he doesn't want to move away from Northern California. That sorta limits his options, obviously, but working for Matt Millen can force you to re-evaluate what you're willing to put up with to do something you love.

Interestingly, today's Detroit Free Press, declares that "Mariucci takes shot at Matt Millen," although anybody who's heard Mariucci speak for more than 10 seconds might find it hard to believe he'd take a shot at anybody. In the original Marquette Mining Journal piece MDS cited, Mariucci was quoted as saying:

"Matt Millen has changed 58 coaches already, and he's now finally changing players," Mariucci said. "Sure I've stayed in touch with some of them and some of the coaches, and on occasion Bill Ford Jr. -- I respect the heck out of Bill, he'll take that team over some day."

As far as taking swipes at former employers go, I'd say this ranks right up there with the Johnnie Morton-Matt Millen homoerotic shouting match from 2003. Except very, very different.

The thing is, I'm sure Mariucci could write a 700-page book on his experiences with the Lions, but reporting that Millen has changed 58 coaches and is finally changing players hardly seems scandalous. Even for the guy who cries every time he sees Brett Favre. That said, it's hard to pass up on a chance to point out Millen's inadequacies.

I think Steve Mariucci is a very good coach, one who deserves another chance at running an NFL team. He was successful with the 49ers, and although he was unsuccessful with the Lions, let's face it: Vince Lombardi couldn't win with the collection of stiffs Matt Millen has assembled in Detroit.

So I was glad to see that Mariucci hasn't shut the door on returning to coaching, even though the possibility may be remote:

"The right situation may never present itself again," Mariucci said, "because we've decided as a family not to move anymore. We are back in northern California in our home and we settled back in. I've moved my wife 18 times, and I don't want to move again, nor does she. Our home base is going to be in the Bay Area. It's that simple.

"For me to coach again, it either has to be on the West Coast or I would have to commute."

I'm not even sure what "commute" would mean for an NFL coach. Coaches hardly see their families even when they live in the same city. So if Mariucci is serious about not uprooting his family and doesn't want to be apart from them, his options are basically a return to Cal or the 49ers, or the Raiders, or Stanford. I hope one of those options presents itself.

Let's recap: this week we found out that the Lions' second-round pick, linebacker Jordan Dizon, was arrested for DUI six days before the draft. Their first-round pick, tackle Gosder Cherilus, just received a year's probation after being charged with assault and battery in a bar fight while still in college. On the upside, head coach Rod Marinelli warned Kevin Smith, the team's third-round pick, to stay out of trouble, so there's that.

So maybe this isn't Detroit's finest moment (but nowhere near their worst), but give the organization credit for trying to keep its players out of trouble now that they've already drafted.

The Detroit Lions have arranged a high-profile mentor for rookie offensive lineman Gosder Cherilus. Former NFL lineman Lomas Brown, who spent 11 of his 18 seasons with the Lions, will work with Cherilus during training camp...

"With any first-year guy," Brown said, "there's going to be things you've got to work on. He's got so much going through his head right now. He's a little slow on the snap counts, but things like that, you can teach. You can correct things like that."

It sounds like Brown will be more of an on-field guide than an after-work chaperone, but that's fine; the Lions' offensive line has enough issues to keep Cherilus busy. As always, though, no conversation about personnel issues would be complete without mentioning president Matt Millen, who would probably benefit most from a little mentoring.

This is rich. Lions head coach Rod Marinelli has some advice for rookie third-round pick Kevin Smith. According to Pro Football Weekly:

... Marinelli had stressed to him numerous times following the draft and during rookie minicamps that he must stay out of trouble. Some teams red-flagged Smith as having a character question during the draft-evaluation process after Smith reportedly missed or chose to skip one team's scheduled private workout with him. Expect Marinelli's message for his rookies - to stay out of trouble - to be echoed throughout training camp.

Marinelli might want to also think about dropping this knowledge in February and March to coaches, scouts and front-office types as the Lions make draft preparations. Just a thought since the team's first-round pick, Gosder Cherilus, just received a year's probation after being charged with assault and battery in a bar fight while still in college, and second-rounder Jordan Dizon getting arrested for a DUI the week before the draft.

Maybe I'm reaching, but the 2008 Lions are starting to look a lot like the 2006 Bengals. Marvin Lewis, trying to chance the culture of ineptitude in Cincinnati, took a chance of players with "character issues," and the move would eventually blow up in his face. The Lions are very familiar with ineptitude, and maybe the 2008 draft is an example of how Marinelli plans to change that.

Sometimes these things work out (look at Dig Dug Jones!), sometimes you end up with Chris Henry and Odell Thurman. Detroit could go to a "we're only drafting guys with records from here on out" roster-building philosophy, but they'd still have Matt Millen, which is the biggest obstacle between the Lions and the "something other than laughingstock" label.

The news that eventual Lions second-round pick, linebacker Jordan Dizon, was arrested six days before the draft on a DUI charge will no doubt cement team president Matt Millen's legacy as a shrewd, calculating, win-at-all costs football mind.

Or, just maybe, it'll remind people why Detroit has won only 31 games since Millen was hired in 2001. Actually, in the Detroit Free Press' account, Millen is only mentioned once, and it was to say that the team needed to "bulk Dizon up." Apparently, head coach Rod Marinelli was the driving force behind acquiring Dizon, even after the po-po-related run-in.

The Lions drafted him because he had the football character coach Rod Marinelli says he wants, meaning a love of the game and a relentless work ethic. But he values chemistry in the locker room.

"The guy's all over the field," Marinelli said of Dizon after the draft. "He's got a great feel for the game, bright. We had him up here on a visit. He's a special guy. He really is. He's a special person."

FanHouse wasn't ecstatic about the Lions taking Dizon in the hours after the draft, and the latest revelation certainly doesn't change anything. That said, Marinelli considers him a "locker room guy", which is what the Lions need (along with some "perform-on-the-field guys"). Just make sure his locker is on the other side of the room from the booze.

Although most football fans younger than 40 don't know who he is, Lem Barney is one of the all-time great Detroit Lions. He played his entire career in Detroit, from 1967 to 1977, he made seven Pro Bowls, and he had a Deion Sanders-like flare, scoring seven touchdowns on defense and four on special teams.

Barney is also extremely diplomatic in his assessment of the current state of his old franchise. Here's what he said in a Q&A with the Detroit Free Press:

What is your opinion of Matt Millen? Hey, that's not a fair question. You are going to get me in trouble. It's hard for me to say. I will be a Lion the rest of my life.

But? I think he has the capability to be a good general manager. He's just had some ups and downs. ... You can't just blame Matt. Players have to want to win, too. You have to be hungry enough.

Well, actually, Millen hasn't really had his ups and downs, unless you consider a 7-9 season an "up." And as for having players with a hunger to win, isn't it Millen's job to acquire such players?

It's understandable that Barney doesn't want to bash Millen, because he views himself as an ambassador for the franchise. But maybe if a few people would offer a few honest assessments of just how badly Millen has damaged the team, Lions owner William Clay Ford would finally make a change.

For two offseasons now, punch-drunk Jon Kitna has declared the Lions potential 10-game winners. Eight games into the 2007 season, he was looking pretty smart -- Detroit was 6-2 -- but the team ended up 8-8 7-9 and out of the postseason for the eighth consecutive year. Everyone shrugged it off as typical Lions football and went back to what they were doing.

This May, Kitna again reiterated the 10-win expectations for 2008, which led to bunch of pointing and gawking. So as the team wrapped up its last offseason practice, a reporter took the opportunity to ask Kitna if "he had confidence this group of players could take the next step." (Way to rephrase the question!) Kitna's response:

"Yeah," Kitna said.

"Simple as that?" the reporter pressed.

"Yeah," Kitna said.

Awkward pause.

"Well," Kitna continued, "I mean, you know, I guess I should say, 'No, we'll win three games this year,' something like that."

Chuckles all around and everybody lived happily ever after. Except Lions fans, who continue to be tormented by Matt Millen.

Kitna's multi-win predictions aside, the Lions, at least on paper, should be better in 2008. We have this conversation almost every summer, but the decision to try to pass and run the ball next season could be the difference between three and 10 wins (and everything in between). Unfortunately, right now, the Lions are probably the third best team in the NFC North. On the upside, at least they're not the Bears. So there's that.

The Detroit Free Press' Michael Rosenburg isn't impressed with wideout Roy Williams' travel-planning skillz. Williams, who may or may not want to stay in Detroit, missed three Lions' voluntary workouts two weeks ago because, as Rosenburg documents, he accidentally booked his return flight from Texas a day later (Day 1), bad weather (Day 2), and indifference (Day 3).

For those scoring at home: that brings Williams to a total of three excuses. But don't worry, everybody! Williams pinky-swears he isn't bothered by his contract. Williams is in the last year of his deal and has not been offered an extension.

Of course he must be irritated, and you know what? It doesn't matter. Williams has no leverage. All he can do is try to play well and sign a deal after the season. The Lions will have the upper hand then, because they can slap the franchise tag on him.

Rosenburg seems to revel in the notion that Williams is stuck in Detroit, and that somehow might actually make him play harder. That kind of thinking will get you an office next to Matt Millen.

Actually, I can understand Rosenburg's frustration (as FanHouse's Michael David Smith noted at the time, the local papers didn't seem all that surprised by Williams' absence), particularly if Williams ends up elsewhere in 2008.

As always, the fans are the big losers.