Wurzell
Rookie
Lions fire Mornhinweg
Monday, January 27
Lions fire Mornhinweg after two poor seasons
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ESPN.com news services
ALLEN PARK, Mich. -- Marty Mornhinweg was fired as coach of the Detroit Lions on Monday after a 3-13 season, the second-worst record in the NFL.
No successor has been named. The Lions plan to go through the process of finding a new coach as outlined by NFL guidelines.
Steve Mariucci, who was fired by the 49ers earlier this month, is available. However, sources close to Mariucci have told ESPN that he has not been contacted by the Lions regarding their vacancy. The sources also said that Mariucci is uncertain whether he wants to coach next season.
Detroit was 5-27 under Mornhinweg over the last two seasons, including a road record of 0-16. The Lions lost their last eight games this season, and only Cincinnati finished with a worse record.
Lions chief executive Matt Millen, with the blessing of team owner William Clay Ford Sr., said on Dec. 31 that Mornhinweg would return as coach.
Instead, Mornhinweg became the fifth NFL coach to be fired since the end of the season, following dismissals at Cincinnati, Dallas, Jacksonville and San Francisco.
Mornhinweg matched Chris Palmer's two-year record (2-14, 3-13) of futility for a new coach since the NFL went to a 16-game schedule in 1978. However, in the 1999 and 2000 Cleveland Browns, Palmer was coaching an expansion team, while Mornhinweg took over a team that went 9-7 and narrowly missed the playoffs.
Mornhinweg had never been a head coach at any level before taking the job with the Lions.
He was widely criticized this season for choosing to take the wind instead of the ball after the Lions won an overtime coin toss against Chicago. The Bears got the kickoff and drove to the winning field goal.
When Mornhinweg was hired he set the team's sights on a first Super Bowl trip. The Lions have had only one playoff victory since winning the 1957 NFL title.
"The bar is high,'' he said. "The goal for this organization is to win Super Bowls.''
Mornhinweg had insisted the team's weak record stemmed from failed drafts from the previous regime, along with aging or injured players.
The past two years, the Lions have gotten rid of five one-time first-round picks -- Herman Moore, Johnnie Morton, Bryant Westbrook, Terry Fair and Aaron Gibson. The Lions also lost Ron Rice, Kurt Schulz and Stephen Boyd to career-ending injuries.
The Lions will have the second pick in April's draft, and expect to have enough salary-cap space to sign a couple free agents.
The Lions began the season excited about rookie quarterback Joey Harrington and returning downtown from suburban Pontiac for the first time since 1974 to play at Ford Field.
Harrington, the third pick in the draft, showed some flashes after he became a starter in Week 3, but he regressed before being sidelined with an irregular heartbeat in the 14th game.
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Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
Monday, January 27
Lions fire Mornhinweg after two poor seasons
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ESPN.com news services
ALLEN PARK, Mich. -- Marty Mornhinweg was fired as coach of the Detroit Lions on Monday after a 3-13 season, the second-worst record in the NFL.
No successor has been named. The Lions plan to go through the process of finding a new coach as outlined by NFL guidelines.
Steve Mariucci, who was fired by the 49ers earlier this month, is available. However, sources close to Mariucci have told ESPN that he has not been contacted by the Lions regarding their vacancy. The sources also said that Mariucci is uncertain whether he wants to coach next season.
Detroit was 5-27 under Mornhinweg over the last two seasons, including a road record of 0-16. The Lions lost their last eight games this season, and only Cincinnati finished with a worse record.
Lions chief executive Matt Millen, with the blessing of team owner William Clay Ford Sr., said on Dec. 31 that Mornhinweg would return as coach.
Instead, Mornhinweg became the fifth NFL coach to be fired since the end of the season, following dismissals at Cincinnati, Dallas, Jacksonville and San Francisco.
Mornhinweg matched Chris Palmer's two-year record (2-14, 3-13) of futility for a new coach since the NFL went to a 16-game schedule in 1978. However, in the 1999 and 2000 Cleveland Browns, Palmer was coaching an expansion team, while Mornhinweg took over a team that went 9-7 and narrowly missed the playoffs.
Mornhinweg had never been a head coach at any level before taking the job with the Lions.
He was widely criticized this season for choosing to take the wind instead of the ball after the Lions won an overtime coin toss against Chicago. The Bears got the kickoff and drove to the winning field goal.
When Mornhinweg was hired he set the team's sights on a first Super Bowl trip. The Lions have had only one playoff victory since winning the 1957 NFL title.
"The bar is high,'' he said. "The goal for this organization is to win Super Bowls.''
Mornhinweg had insisted the team's weak record stemmed from failed drafts from the previous regime, along with aging or injured players.
The past two years, the Lions have gotten rid of five one-time first-round picks -- Herman Moore, Johnnie Morton, Bryant Westbrook, Terry Fair and Aaron Gibson. The Lions also lost Ron Rice, Kurt Schulz and Stephen Boyd to career-ending injuries.
The Lions will have the second pick in April's draft, and expect to have enough salary-cap space to sign a couple free agents.
The Lions began the season excited about rookie quarterback Joey Harrington and returning downtown from suburban Pontiac for the first time since 1974 to play at Ford Field.
Harrington, the third pick in the draft, showed some flashes after he became a starter in Week 3, but he regressed before being sidelined with an irregular heartbeat in the 14th game.
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Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.