Detroit fans: Mariucci fired by the Lions'

"At one point, Lions head coach Steve Mariucci did have fans on his side. He posted a 77% approval rating after a 17-3 Week 1 win over division rival Green Bay. Since then, however, the ratings show a displeased Detroit SportsNation contingent."


This is an utter crock of shit. When a team loses, the coach approval rating drops about 15-20 percent (see John Fox).

How they can seriously use this in any fashion in a story or side box is just plain stupid.

we can fire him mid-season as well?

they are up to being the head coach permanently? Otherwise, I don't know why Detroit makes this move now. There are 5 weeks left and the Lions are out of the playoff picture.

Offense only.

lol.

As long as Matt Millen is in charge the team will be worthless. Steve Marriucci is a great coach. The unwillingness of the head office to allow him to do his job COST him his job. He never like Joey Harrington and he wanted to keep McMahon. The organization did exactly the opposite (kept Harrington and released McMahon)and look what happened. If I were Mooch, I would look at this as a blessing. I wouldn't wish involvement with that pitiful organization on anyone.

Hell, I hope the Vikings look at hiring him in the offseason. I would take Mooch over Tice ANY DAY.

at this point. I really don't like him.

Look I like Millen a lot but just because you can talk about a game that doesn't mean you can run an organization.

Mooch is too good a coach to be waiting around for long.

He tops the list of available coaches.

Smart move, firing a coach before the end of the season.
Gee Mr. Millen, aren't you a friggen' genius...

Millen is a meathead but somehow shit doesn't stick to him.
2 head coaches and the team still sucks?
Maybe it's not the coach's fault?

Mooch: Hello, Baltimore?

I wouldn't mind that at all.

IMHO Mooch is a good coach. Harrington didn't pan out, much like Boller in ratland...I just think that Brian "The Ego" Billick is on the hot seat too.

I remember the early 80's and the 4-0 Lions (Another One Bites the Dust by Spiderman Allen), Gary Danielson and Billy Simms. I miss those days. The Silverdome was the best place. The new stadium is nice and all, but did we really need another NEW stadium?? The Silverdome wasn't even that old. It was great when both the Pistons and the Lions played there

don't know what happened here. Charles Rogers was by far one of the biggest busts of all time.

And I have a feeling that Mike Williams will be too. They wanted Herman Moore again, and he is NOT Herman Moore. Roy Williams COULD be great, but I'm not even sure he'll be anything more than mediocre either.

yet they've given him so many chances. they drafted 3 wr's in the 1st round to help him out and he still sucks. he should have been pulled a long time ago.

Roy WIlliams is the only one of the three that I think has any potential. And considering the way that all THREE of them have all but abandoned their team this year makes me wonder whether any of them would be good teammates.

Rodgers is injury prone and lazy
Roy WIlliams should be good, but he's mailing it in this year.
And Mike Williams is S.L.O.W. He's is a tight end trying to play WR. ANother Matt Millen failed experiment.

Every old white guy I happen to be around when either one of them is mentioned says that.

a. Who cares
2.I hear Padraig is an asshole

BTW- Padraig is a progolfer.

When we lived in Oregon, my wife worked with his mother Valarie. She helped do some work for his Oregon home. He was really nice when she spoke to him. He did pick out one ugly front door though, if I remember correctly.

Interesting Tidbit about Padraig. Didn't know he was an asshole.

Fairly famous poker player

If someone would put an offensive line and some healthy WRs in front of him, I still think he could be a pretty good QB. Probably needs a change of scenery at this point though.

He's sooooooo uneasy in the pocket and he just doesn't see open receivers at all. He doesn't check down. Plus, his throws are downright aweful at times.

If I were a head coach and I needed a QB bad, I would take a chance on him though. Being in Detroit just HAS to suck. They've wanted him out before he even stepped in.

Chicago would probably take him.

during the final days of Mariucci in SF are the same ones that chased him out of Detroit.

Mooch is a serviceable coach, but highly overrated.

He's a football coach for crying out loud, is there some new thing that he is supposed to invent to make the football go into the endzone in a different way than anyone has ever thought of before?

Has anyone come up with anything new in the last 30 years other than the counter trey and the west coast offense (pitch and catch get the ball into the open field)???

Oh he can light a fire up them and all that but without the players (Hello Millen) you and chalk board the freakin' Second Coming but it ain't gonna happen.

Seriously the NFL owners need to realize that this isn't rocket science and though you would think that opens it up to pretty much anyone there are only certain organizational types who get their team at least focused enough to win regularly and that is IF they have the talent to do it.

Hell, Detroit didn't do too bad with the R&S. Remember the "Silver STreak"? They've got the WR's to do it. Just need a QB that can read the D. DOesn't Hawaii or Houston still run the offense.

We need a resurgence.

Not for any long term foundation. Getting rid of the tight end and replacing him with a tiny receiver forfeits muscle in a physical sport. Inevitably the defense recognizes the vulnerability and attacks the line of scrimmage and the quarterback.

Plus it's pure mythology that short passes are equivalent to rushing attempts. Andy Reid found that out the hard way. You need to drive block to keep the defensive front on its heels and wear them down. If all you do is throw wimpy swing passes the defensive line just keeps charging in a fury. There is a huge correlation between number of rushing attempts and victory. That's hardly a residue of having the lead in the 4th quarter. Chart a few games and that will be shockingly clear. the team that runs the ball from the outset wins. Give me 10 rushing attempts in the 1st quarter and my chances of success are astronomical.

As underpants wrote, it's a basic sport with few significant innovations. The coaches who think they can reinvent the game via a flag football approach will be stuffed and earn it.

The run and shoot worked a hell of alot better for Detroit than their current shitstorm is working. And it's a myth that rushing suffers in that scheme. Barry Sanders racked up repeated 1300 yard seasons in that very offense. All you need is a freakin' quarterback that can manage the game and some WR's that can run, adjust and catch. ANd as for replacing physical TE's with small wide receivers, what do you think is happening in the NFL right now. TE's are receivers, ala Jeremy Shockey, Antonio Gates, Tony Gonzalez, Alge Crumpler. These guys can't block for shit, but they are fast, have good hands, and are big. You don't have to REPLACE them with smaller WR's. You just need to teach them how to adjust.

Think mid 90's Falcons, Oilers, Lions, Eagles.

It won't be making a comeback any time soon, that's for sure, since it took a major dive in the late 90's when teams figured out how to defend against it (and the QB's capable of running it effectively retired), but saying that it's completely illegitimate in the NFL is a little bit of an overstatement.

That's my opinion.

His best buddy Tom Izzo is the hoops coach. I think Mariucci would be a great college coach.

didn't they go to high school together?

I saw a story on them a few years ago. They are thick as thieves.

Yeah he would make a GREAT college coach such is the trend anyway

Charlie Weis and uh Pete Caroll...yeah he has found it to not be too bad huh?

Rehabilitate the image, and get back in the NFL. Or, hey, he might find that he likes the college game. He and Izzo can grow old together in East Lansing.

John L. Smith isn't doing all that well at MSU anyway...

I just saw a little documentary on all of Green Bay coaching staffers that have gone on to be great coaches after the super bowls.

Andy Reid
John Gruden
Steve Mariucci
Mike Sherman
Mike Holmgren
Marty Morningweig (Debate as to how "good" he actually is though)

or am I screwing up the timeline. I know Dennie Green and Holmgren are the spawn of Walsh.

The documentary was neat because they talked about how they all keep in touch to this day.

That's a fairly well bred set of coaches right there.

staff!They all came from Frisco too,so it isn't any wonder they were so good.

and he just might get his wish.

Basically up and down the Mississippi.

I say NO because I think they are going to dump the whole organization as the sadly head out of town officially.

Tice is gone.

Marks is about to die and the guy at Green Bay is way over.

Sherman in GB was given an extension before the year started. So you can't be too sure there. He's had nothing to work with this year, and they are, arguably, the best 2-9 football team ever.

I highly doubt that NO will fire Jim Hasslet. Look what the guy has had to endure. Plus he is without Deuce McCallister again. He just hasn't had what he needs to win.

I think you're right about Tice. He's gone unless they win the SB. And regardless of their recent resurgence, it's not going to happen. They'll be lucky to make the playoffs, which I think is about impossible right now considering the way CHicago is playing.

Mike Martz is a great offensive coordinator but a lousy head coach. I think he's probably out there too. But they have a decent assistant there, so you never know about that one.

I'd say he's headed to Baltimore, Minnesota, Houston or St. Louis. MAYBE Green Bay but I highly doubt it.

send him in he can start today.

He did well in SF, until the organization imploded.

He is miles better than Sherman.

hated Wayne Fontes' was in Detroit when they canned him. Steve Mariucci continuously allowed and in fact established the blaming of others than himself. Steve Mariucci refused to hire a Quarterbacks coach because his inflated ego got in the way. The problem in Detroit (and this is going to piss off some people...it always does) is the fans. You can't play to a crowd that continuously boos you, that cheers when you are hurt...The bandwagon fans of Detroit suck. They actually believe Ford pumps money into this team just to piss them off. When he doesn't give a flying fuck about them. They think too much of themselves. Case in point, when we had a losing Red Wings team in the 80's they showed up just to float banners that said Dead Wings. They suck, with the exception of the diehards who live and die with the Lions, but the majority of them deserve this result. I was never as sick as I was (and I am a Packers fan) to sit in stadium that was 80 percent cheering for the Packers (and 50 percent of them had Lions fan crap on....

Phew, I feel better.


For what it's worth, Sherman has always SUCKED eggs in my opinion, but Mariucci took the 49-ers and drove 'em into the ground. :hi: