Lions get their man

For the fourth time in four years, a new coaching era begins for the Detroit Lions as they have hired the man that Lions' CEO Matt Millen wanted all along, Steve Mariucci.

The man they call "Mooch," who after six years in San Francisco didn't have his contract renewed, signed a five year, $25 million dollar contract to take the helm of the Lions this week.

Mariucci's hiring was one of the worst kept secrets in the NFL once he was let go from San Francisco and Matt Millen fired then Lions' head coach Marty Mornhinweg almost a month after they played their last game.

Mariucci came to the San Francisco 49ers in 1997 after being the head coach at the University of California for one year. He is thought to be one of the many great coaching minds that have helped in the development of Packers' quarterback Brett Favre.

He turned around a 49ers' team that was stricken with aging stars and salary cap problems, into a viable NFL playoff contender.

Now he has to take a team that has some of the same problems the 49ers had when he started there, although, with the Lions, Mariucci has to take over a team that also has been riddled with poor personnel decisions in the two years with Millen and Mornhinweg.

Taking the job for Mariucci was both an easy and a difficult decision.

The difficult part was he had to move his family once again, which is difficult for any career football coach.

The easy decision was the money, obviously, and the chance to be close to his lifelong friend, Michigan State men's basketball coach Tom Izzo, as well as other family and friends. Both of them grew up in Iron Mountain, Mich., which is located in the state's Upper Peninsula.

"I want to thank my wife for allowing me to do this," he said as he was ushered in as the new head of the Lions at press conference held Ford Field Wednesday. "I promised her I wouldn't get my "Yupper" accent back anytime soon."

He thought about taking a year off until last week when he was contacted by the Lions about the opportunity.

"I received a call from Bill ford Jr. (son of Lions owner Bill Ford Sr.) last week," Mariucci said. "When he called I didn't tell him I was seriously considering about taking a year off to catch up with my family. He asked me to come and visit with him and explore the possibility of coaching for him, so I agreed to do that. A couple of days later after I visited Bill's home. He has four kids I have for kids, and we got to know each other very well. His kids' ages are very close to my mine and getting to know him was quite enjoyable. Then we came over to this place (Ford Field) and I never saw anything like it."

Izzo would show up later that night at his hotel room and the two of them would spend the entire night talking about him coaching the Lions and him moving to Detroit.

He would then go to the Lions' practice facility in suburban Detroit the next day and was impressed with that facility, as he thought it showed the Fords' commitment to winning. He got more familiar with the Lions' players and its preparations, and a few days later he signed a contract. The rest, as they say, is now history.

"(There is a) passion for football in the state of Michigan, and I coached in so many other states," Mariucci said. "To think that U of M, and Michigan State can all sell out in the one single weekend without a batting an of eye shows a passion for football and I know that and I knew all along, I grew up here. All those things added up to this being the place I like to be in.

Now he has to get acclimated to the roster and decide who will remain on his current assistant coaching staff. He knows a lot of the coaches personally, since he coached with some of them, such as current Lions' offensive coordinator Sherm Lewis in Green Bay and San Francisco. He also hired three new assistant coaches in his brief time spent as Lions' head coach so far. They were Richard Smith in administration, Richard Lartique as linebackers' coach, and Andy Fisherman as an offensive assistant.

"I am committed to delivering a champion to the state of Michigan," he said. "I want to develop a contender with Pro Bowl players. I don't have a time frame I don't make predictions. All I can promise is I'll work day and night to deliver a championship and I start today and I'll hit it running."

Mariucci is satisfied with what he calls the "nucleus" of players such as running back James Stewart, defensive end Robert Porcher, guard Ray Brown, and both young quarterbacks, Mike McMahon and Joey Harrington. That might silence some of the speculation that some those players, if not all of those them except Harrington, wouldn't be on the roster next year.

He also is familiar with Lions' starting quarterback Harrington, having seen a lot of him from his time spent on the West Coast and Harrington's years at Oregon. He did have some input on whether Harrington's job as the starter next year is set in stone.

"We've got a guy in Joey Harrington that may not run around like a Steve Young, Jeff Garcia or Michael Vick, but nonetheless can certainly be a great west coast offensive type quarterback," he said. "Mike is more athletic, but they're both very capable."

The hiring of Mariucci has come with some controversy based on the bylines of the NFL's new hiring process where teams are mandated to interviewing minority candidates. Former Stanford and Minnesota Viking head coach Dennis Green and Pittsburgh Steelers defensive coordinator Tim Lewis, who are both African American, both turned down interview opportunities with the Lions. Their reasoning was the job was Mariucci's for the taking.

High-powered lawyer Johnnie Cochran has issued a statement that said that the Lions violated the NFL's policy for not making the job seem attainable by minority coaches.

"I was not involved with those sorts of decisions," Mariucci said. "I do know that the opportunities that African-American coaches are having and will have, have been improving. Are they to a point where they should be? Probably not yet, but I think we're heading towards that end and we're growing and making it better at a certain pace. Maybe it needs to be picked up, maybe it needs to be continually addressed and I think it will be."

On his leaving the 49ers, Mariucci decided to take the high road in talking about it and reflected on the positives he had there.

"I spent six real good years of my life and coaching career in San Francisco and for San Francisco and I was very thankful for that opportunity as well," he said. "It was quite a learning experience. I will be a better coach for having gone through that. I coached with a lot of good coaches.

"I coached with and for some great players that I think the world of. I only wish them the best. It was a chapter in my life that's over with now. That book is closed and I'm moving on to this. I'm looking forward to it. It's all out in front. I'm looking forward to coaching the Detroit Lions this season and into the future and to developing a championship team here."

So where do the Lions go from here?

The Lions have the second pick in April's NFL Draft. With the knee injury that Miami running back Willis McGahee suffered in the Fiesta Bowl, all speculation leads to the Lions drafting Michigan State receiver Charles Rogers, who could be a Terrell Owens impact-type receiver.

However, the Lions need to rebuild their secondary as well, which means that they might trade to do this since a defensive back is projected as the second best player in the upcoming draft.

Next week at the NFL Combine in Indianapolis, where NFL prospects will work out for scouts, some of the answers to the Lions' future will be determined as they decide who to draft for the upcoming season.

It will Mariucci's first step in rebuilding the Lions into a possible contender.