The Detroit Lions have a new general manager. Now all that’s left is to fill the head coaching vacancy.
Just this past week Sheila Ford Hamp hired former Los Angeles Rams Director of College Scouting Brad Holmes to be their executive vice-president and general manager. Holmes has been lauded for his ability to find talent, something the Lions desperately need.
Considering the state of the Lions, Holmes will have his hands full restocking this roster. That doesn’t mean he can’t do it, it just means it will be a challenge and won’t happen overnight.
Holmes doesn’t have the experience that the Lions hinted they would like, but by all accounts, he had a dynamic interview with a detailed comprehensive game plan. The word is that Sheila was ‘wowed’ by him.
One can find reasons to believe this was a good hire and there are also reasons why it may not work. However, rather than breaking down the minutia of why this may or may not work, let’s make one simple observation; at some point, every general manager and head coach was an inexperienced nobody that some team took a chance on.
Some of those paid off big time. Others were catastrophic failures that owners and fans would rather forget. With the Lions, it has pretty much been a steady diet of later for the last 63 years.
So will this time be different? No one can say for sure, but I will say this; former NFL running back Wilbert Montgomery, who has also served as a running backs coach for the Rams, Ravens, Browns, and the Lions and is an extremely close friend of former Ravens legendary general manager, Ozzie Newsome, truly believes Holmes will be the next Ozzie.
If that comes true, then Detroit could be setting themselves up to become the contenders that Lions fans have been waiting far too long for. If it doesn’t work, well, then it’ll be no different than usual.
However, for Holmes to have success, the Lions now need to find the right head coach that can change the culture here and create an identity for this team. A dynamic head coach that will have his players executing at their highest level and give this franchise a chance to compete.