Detroit Lions Weblog

Millen regime continues…

In a surprising move, the Ford’s have given Matt Millen 5 more years to attempt to return the Lions to respectability. I believed that they would definitely re-sign him, I just am surprised they didn’t at least wait to see if the team posted an improved record this season.

Millen has had a less than spectacular tenure in the Lion’s front office. In the last couple of years their has been a noticeable improvement in the quality of players who have been drafted. The players who have signed as free agents are also of a higher quality, yet the on-field results still haven’t reflected the improved depth and quality of the Lions roster.

Millen’s tenure has had no shortage of controversy with his “devout coward” statement, the repeatedly televised image of his palpably bitter disappointment as he sat and watched the Lions lose game after game, the whole renegade “biker” image that was presented when he and Marty Mornihnweg were hired (how believable was that?), and the flip-flop that was made over whether or not Mornihnweg would remain head coach after Mornihnweg’s last season as coach (We’re going to keep him…Oh wait, Mariucci is available?).

If there was one critical mistake made by this regime, it was the decision to completely scrap the roster coming off a 9 win season coached by Bobby Ross and Gary Moeller. The front office and coaching staff decided that to best implement their system that they needed to rebuild the team from square one. Meanwhile, in the time it has taken to implement this vaunted system, the rest of the NFL has caught up with the basic concepts of the system and it no longer presents the challenge it once did. Furthermore, it seems like the West Coast Offense is too dependent on having exactly the right personnel in place. I believe the organization would have been better suited to utilize a system which could adapt and best use the talents of the players on the roster, instead of enacting the rebuilding process that it is still mired in. At this point, though, the issue is moot. The team has to win, and win now! One has to wonder if the team has a repeat 6-10 season, given that Millen has a new 5-yr contract, who will be held accountable?