Lions fire president Tom Lewand and GM Martin Mayhew
Caldwell, Lions coaches still employed, for now
For now, the Lions coaches remain employed.
The team fired its top two executives, President Tom Lewand and General Manager Martin Mayhew, on Thursday, but if the coaching staff is to be dismissed, the men have yet to hear.
"I haven't heard anything, so I'm assuming I'm still employed," defensive coordinator Teryl Austin told The Detroit News in a phone call Thursday afternoon.
Martha Firestone Ford, the team's owner and chairwoman, informed Lewand and Mayhew of their dismissal Thursday around 11:30 a.m.
What comes next is most important for Lions
The first step was impressive.
Martha Firestone Ford took a big broom and swept through the upper reaches of the Detroit Lions' front office this afternoon, firing both team president Tom Lewand and general manager Martin Mayhew. It's one of the bigger single-day executive purges in franchise history. It's also a clear indication that Ford won't be as tolerant as her late husband.
But while long-suffering Lions fans greeted the news with hallelujahs and hosannas, the most important step in any potential revitalization of this perpetually moribund organization is the next one.
The problem with Ford ownership never has been when it finally has had enough of coaches and executives. It's their inability to identify the right replacements.
But through her actions today, Ford has earned the opportunity to take a swing for the fences.
Give her credit. At 90, she showed some fire, some anger -- something that many fans thought was absent from ownership for decades. Ford could've waited until the end of the season. But she acted when she did because she merely demanded a pound of flesh.
And she's entitled to one.
The frustrated fans looking for a decisive message from ownership got one. But where does Ford go next?
Does she reach out to the NFL for help in identifying good football executives? Does she look to make a bold strike in offering a megacontract to a big-name head coach in the pros or college football and giving that person full control of the operation?
The Mayhew dismissal wasn't surprising. The big move was getting rid of Lewand.
He became a surrogate son of the Fords, working his way up through the organization. His father was William Clay Ford Sr.'s longtime legal counsel. Lewand took an active role overseeing the development of Ford Field. His initial role with the Lions was limited to business functions, learning the workings of the salary cap.
But when the Lions fired Matt Millen as team president in the throes of the historic 0-16 season in 2008, Lewand immediately positioned himself to become president and assumed more active role in all football operations.
The early suspicions were that the Fords would find a soft landing for Lewand because that's how the family long has conducted its football business: valuing loyalty and friendship more than bottom-line competitive results. Lewand fit the profile of the family friend the Fords couldn't cut loose.
But Lewand and Mayhew were joined at the hip. They became "Maywand." One couldn't get the ax without the other.
Martha Ford did well in her first significant act as owner. She swept a broom through an organization in dire need of a housecleaning.
But what she does next actually will determine whether the Lions get it right.
Caldwell, Lions coaches still employed, for now
For now, the Lions coaches remain employed.
The team fired its top two executives, President Tom Lewand and General Manager Martin Mayhew, on Thursday, but if the coaching staff is to be dismissed, the men have yet to hear.
"I haven't heard anything, so I'm assuming I'm still employed," defensive coordinator Teryl Austin told The Detroit News in a phone call Thursday afternoon.
Martha Firestone Ford, the team's owner and chairwoman, informed Lewand and Mayhew of their dismissal Thursday around 11:30 a.m.
What comes next is most important for Lions
The first step was impressive.
Martha Firestone Ford took a big broom and swept through the upper reaches of the Detroit Lions' front office this afternoon, firing both team president Tom Lewand and general manager Martin Mayhew. It's one of the bigger single-day executive purges in franchise history. It's also a clear indication that Ford won't be as tolerant as her late husband.
But while long-suffering Lions fans greeted the news with hallelujahs and hosannas, the most important step in any potential revitalization of this perpetually moribund organization is the next one.
The problem with Ford ownership never has been when it finally has had enough of coaches and executives. It's their inability to identify the right replacements.
But through her actions today, Ford has earned the opportunity to take a swing for the fences.
Give her credit. At 90, she showed some fire, some anger -- something that many fans thought was absent from ownership for decades. Ford could've waited until the end of the season. But she acted when she did because she merely demanded a pound of flesh.
And she's entitled to one.
The frustrated fans looking for a decisive message from ownership got one. But where does Ford go next?
Does she reach out to the NFL for help in identifying good football executives? Does she look to make a bold strike in offering a megacontract to a big-name head coach in the pros or college football and giving that person full control of the operation?
The Mayhew dismissal wasn't surprising. The big move was getting rid of Lewand.
He became a surrogate son of the Fords, working his way up through the organization. His father was William Clay Ford Sr.'s longtime legal counsel. Lewand took an active role overseeing the development of Ford Field. His initial role with the Lions was limited to business functions, learning the workings of the salary cap.
But when the Lions fired Matt Millen as team president in the throes of the historic 0-16 season in 2008, Lewand immediately positioned himself to become president and assumed more active role in all football operations.
The early suspicions were that the Fords would find a soft landing for Lewand because that's how the family long has conducted its football business: valuing loyalty and friendship more than bottom-line competitive results. Lewand fit the profile of the family friend the Fords couldn't cut loose.
But Lewand and Mayhew were joined at the hip. They became "Maywand." One couldn't get the ax without the other.
Martha Ford did well in her first significant act as owner. She swept a broom through an organization in dire need of a housecleaning.
But what she does next actually will determine whether the Lions get it right.
