Shhhhhh, don’t talk logic and sense…
it’s much more cathartic to emotionally vomit without doing any work.
“Spread the fud”. LOVE IT.
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I’ve been pretty critical of wondering where Matt fits into the problem of failed head coaches who tried so hard to win with him
While looking at those head coaches and not seeing his bill walsh
But I often think of Seattle who missed with Curry and then went on to have a dynasty and continued long run …
Makes me feel like
It won’t be about any one player
Until we get the higher ups right
And stick with those people.
If we get those people right
Then it can include or not include Stafford.
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Difficult to say. But come on, it’s a friggin Zoom interview. Plus often an interview is simply an opportunity for both side to explore.
Tell you what, let’s review the last two decades on this board, and count up all the posts from people saying a decision was crazy and doomed to fail, and all the posts from people talking “logic and sense,” and see who better predicted the Lions fortunes.
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This is an interesting analysis. I think this definitely played a role. And Quinn definitely had some big misses at the top of the draft–probably too many to overcome in any case. But I truly believe his biggest problem by far, and it’s not close, was marrying his fortunes to Matt Patricia. Having to continually ship out your most talented players and team leaders because the coach can’t get along with them DOES eventually have a big impact, as we’ve seen. As poor as this team has looked the last couple years, as poor as the drafting has been, our defense would look very different without those moves.
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The thing about experience is that there is a tendency for the experienced GMs and HCs to try to recreate past glory rather than create a new one. Well maybe I’m wrong, but most of the time those past glories were created by finding the best talents and using them to the players’ best advantage. As opposed to finding players that fit a mold, thereby bypassing more talented guys. That’s how you end up with a less-talented team, and that ain’t the way to create future glory.
I don’t want the Rams East, Saints North, or Patriots West; I want the Lions to find and use the best talent they can get to the players’ maximum effectiveness, and that is why I believe Campbell will have a better chance to succeed, because that is his stated goal: listening to the players and trying to do what he can to give them the best opportunities to excel. No more square pegs in round holes, no more ‘this is the way we did it in San Francisco or Tampa Bay’.
In football, the past is not necessarily prologue. New owner, new GM, new HC, maybe new coordinators, and new players means a new slate. 0-0. The organization is undergoing some changes, maybe having people more focused on one thing will pay off. Or maybe not, but at least they’re trying.
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I read it by a beat writer (I think), but it might have been a national guy… He described the “smartest guy” thing perfectly and captured it’s real harm to an organization… Bob Quinn, who despite the measurements, the data and the analysis of the scouts around him, believed he had some innate ability to divine talent that others just can’t see, and selected Teez Tabor.
The evidence says both of these guys came here with a ridiculous level of immaturity, overconfidence and condescension.
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What a way to live. 
I’ve built up a three-foot shell of cynicism, the only way to survive being a fan of this team.
At this point, I get legitimately triggered by posts about “facts and logic” and especially, holy cripes, ironic suggestions that “the sky is falling.”
People who truly behave according to facts and logic stopped caring about this team years ago. The broken husks of human psyches littering this board are what we’ve got left!
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I’ve already said how I’ve grown to a level of peace about the team. I’ve stopped believing that each year could be our year to rise from the ashes and sneak up on people to win a Super Bowl. We are Vanderbilt football to me. Sure, Vanderbilt could logically build a program to compete for a national championship the same way the Lions can…but its not going to happen overnight and you will see it grow over time. Only an insane fan of Vanderbilt would go into next season thinking “this is our year!” I feel the same way about the Lions. I enjoy watching them play but I have no illusions about who we really are.
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Faulty logic when it comes to sports.
A poor comparison would be to say someone that won the lotto played it right and those who lost didn’t.
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The idea that the success of a football executive or franchise comes down to luck is the definition of faulty logic. Seems pretty logical to infer that an organization staffed by people who’ve never done the job they’re doing before, led by a figure who’s never done anything of note in any context, is poorly constructed to compete with organizations that know WTF they’re doing. Guess time will tell.
Of all the dice rolls that the leadership thinks this time might hit -
I am intrigued by Holmes. Not merely on the latest fluff piece that I’ve read https://www.prideofdetroit.com/2021/1/18/22236997/detroit-lions-gm-brad-holmes-bold-plan-roster-mike-disner
there remains something in this caption that intrigues me: “In fact, one big moment in the interview came when Holmes was asked by the Detroit brass to go through each of the four GMs and five head coaches he’d worked with, and identify one thing he learned from each of them, and one he didn’t like that he’d do differently than them. One by one, Holmes calmly and logically knocked those out, then gave a cutting, honest assessment of the Lions roster, and a bold plan for what he’d do if he landed the job.”
Now, I know that it can be easy for Sheila and Rod to get excited at an applicant who’s proposing “bold change.” Hook line and sinker. ‘Yes please. I’ll take the change guy.’
But yeah, he’s young, he’s charismatic - and that comes across - and if you’re young and charismatic and if you have bold and logically worked-out ideas that’s the final charm. The worked-out-edness of the ideas does come from experience, even if its not experience in the position that we are hiring him for.
In terms of being worth the roll of the dice - I can scramble together some sense of Holmes. But then - I’m biased to well-spoken charismatics - so take me with a grain of salt.
With Campbell, I see them getting on a roll with that whole pitch I just gave you, and lumping Dan in along with the charisma-deal. At some point you have to recognize the fog of war in the decision room - and remember before you started this whole thing that you wanted some experience in the hires. They didn’t remember that. They got on a roll and went with it. Consequently, we are left more truly with a riverboat gamble:
If it didn’t work the 5th or 6th time - maybe it will work the 7th ?
In a side note, to throw a bone, doing some reading/research on Holmes’ draft history - He doesn’t make great decisions on the offensive side, particularly at the QB, RB and OL positions. WR is de-emphasized in terms of priority - but not bad decisions made there. RB has emphasized priority, even if the decision-making there hasn’t always been good.
He has excelled on the defensive side of the ball, on pretty much all levels of the defense.
What occurs to me about that is what Campbell has said generally about his philosophy: de-emphasize QB-need, emphasize the run, dominant defense. Holmes’ trends seem to cater to that.
For what it’s worth.
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There are 32 jobs out there and only a handful open up every year, but these guys got interviews.
You never answered my question, which experienced GM’s didn’t want the Detroit Lions job?
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This line made me laugh really hard! I’m recognizing how much truth there is to it, but the way you word it is like Edgar Allen Poe-esque. Still laughing as I type.
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I swear our owners hire using a magic 8-ball…“It is decidingly so.” 
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I resemble that remark!
Recent footage from Casa Weasel
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I always go back to the success that ex-Lions players have around the league.
For example: https://www.freep.com/story/sports/nfl/lions/2020/01/28/detroit-lions-san-francisco-49-ers-super-bowl/4595588002/
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