OT: The Lions/Replacing Jim Schwartz/Would a Big Ten coach make sense?

I'm cool if the Detroit Lions got Bill O'brien

as for other coaches

not shannahan, kubiak or lovie smith...

O'Brien,Ken  Wisenhunt. I'm cool with either one.

Any other decent assistant coaches or DC's or OC's...

Cowher aint coming back, either is Gruden....

I am cool with Tom Coughlin also

So Coughlin, O'brien, Wisenhunt, ( if the steelers somehow can Mike Tomlin i am cool with that also)

and yes the lions sucking is basically all on stafford and linehan...

staffords extensions is 5 years 76.5 million,,that kicks in next season

i was against it in july when it happened.

he is garbage, as proven when he has no megatron ( see cleveland preseason and GB regular season)

If we can trade Stafford, do it ! I gotta imagine what thye cap hit would be

but somebody needs a qb, we can start fresh.

You're high.

B1G Ten has some terrible coaches right now. Just terrible.

O'Brien would be a nice hire for head coach and would obviously handle the offense. Narduzzi I think could work as a D-coordinator.

Problem with the Lions:

1)  They abandon the run quickly even when it is successful - they were averaging almost 6 yards a run yesterday but multiple times when they needed a yard they would go to an empty set.  If you can't run when the other team knows you are going to run, you will lose a lot of football games.

2)  They have a good quarterback who will NEVER be elite but rely on him to win games like he is an elite quarterback.  You have to know what you have.  Elite quarterbacks are good at four things:

-  Checkdowns:  Knowing what the defense is giving them and taking it.  The number of times Stafford makes a high risk throw into significant coverage rather than taking the low risk throw that is readily available and can get you the first down is striking to me.   If he had his arm, more touch and Alex Smith's penchant for valuing the ball EXTREMELY highly, he would be in great shape.  It is no surprise to me that the Lions were 6-3 when Stafford was valuing the ball and 1-4 since he has basically stopped valuing the ball.

-  Audible:  He is a very smart guy who is actually not a very smart quarterback oddly.  He actually doesn't understand the nuances of the position very well nor can he read defenses very well.  There is a reason they have never tried no huddle with Stafford because he doesn't process what he is given at that type of speed.  It is actually the most surprising part of his game.  

-  Accuracy:  He is just not a very accurate quarterback.  A large part of that is mechanics and part of it is that his pocket awareness makes it such that he doesn't move in the pocket to get himself the best angles to throw with a natural arm motion at his height.  He isn't tiny but he is not the tallest quarterback.  Russell Wilson and Drew Brees make up for this by setting up in the pocket with a clean window to throw from.  Stafford makes up for this by throwing off his backfoot and side arming and etc.  This affects his accuracy even on natural throws set up from the pocket.  In my mind it's a real problem that if it is about mechanics is fixable but if it's about pocket awareness, is actually not.  

Not being accurate enough is a death nail for quarterbacks.  He was never very accurate at Georgia and it's actually gotten worse in the pros.    Just even think about the number of deep balls he misses.  If he gets it there it is purely his arm strength which lets him beat coverages rather than the mechanics of the throw.

-  Seam route:  He can't throw a seam route...AT ALL.  In fact, he doesn't throw check downs or slants very well either.  He throws really great flag routes, deep in routes, and go routes (preferably intermediate go routes) but hall of famers throw either great seam routes  or great deep out routes and he doesn neither well.  People sit on his slants hoping for mistakes or they force him to throw deep out routes.  

He is a qb that has relied on his arm strength to survive his entire career and I suspect he may be one of those quarterbacks who starts using his smarts when his arm strength starts to wane and that is when he will be an even better quarterback (like Rich Gannon).    He will just never be elite.  Which means you have to have a strong running game that you make your team first identity, play action once you have gotten them where you want them with that play action working to get the ball downfield.  The next coach has to be committed to the RUN not the pass.   This is not a QB that you can commit to the pass with unfortunately.  

Jim Tressel:  Runs first, stops the run, his teams play with significant discipline and understands the players 

Bill O brien:  If you want to commit to the pass then you go with BOB but I just think that for this team and with this qb he is the wrong guy.

David Shaw:   See Jim Tressel - plus he has coached in the pros.  Why he picked Oakland I will never, ever know.

Dan Quinn:  I really, really like Dan Quinn A LOT - he is a great guy and a very smart defensive coordinator.  But with coordinators you never know how much is them and how much is the HC, and how will they do being the head coach versus the OC.    

My hope is David Shaw.  I think he will do a masterful job and I think he will really help this team get to the next level.  Teams take on the make up of their head coach.  Schwartz is a smart guy but he is entirely too emotional to guide a team like this one.  This is a team that needs to be much more focused and much more deliberate in everything it does.  It needs to be LESS reckless.  That comes from the coach with a plan to be more committed to not making mistakes and playing as sound as possible.  Talent wins out if you give that a chance.