Three Lions Coaches Among 'Worst Hires' This Century

The Detroit Lions have had far from the most enviable history.

Prior to the franchise's recent rise to prominence under Dan Campbell, the organization spent a significant amount of time as one of the worst teams in all of football.

In fact, since the turn of the century, the Lions have recorded 17 losing campaigns, including 10 consecutive losing seasons from 2001-2010. 

The lowlight from this stretch of time was the team's infamous 0-16 campaign in 2008, the first winless season in the 16-game NFL schedule era. The season led to the dismissal of Rod Marinelli, who won just 10 total games (10-38) in his hapless three-year tenure as Detroit head man.

Marinelli has since been referred to as one of the worst head coaches in not only Lions history but also NFL history. CBS Sports’ Cody Benjamin agrees, placing the failed Lions coach 10th on his list of the “25 worst NFL coaching hires this century.”

As Benjamin writes, “Anytime you literally go winless, there's plenty of blame to go around, and Detroit faithful surely pin much of it on former president and CEO Matt Millen, who oversaw the construction of the long-lowly Lions. Marinelli was the man on the sidelines, though, and not even his specialty -- defense -- looked even remotely special as Motown endured one blowout after another.”

Marinelli is joined on the list by two other former Detroit head coaches: Matt Patricia (ranked ninth) and Marty Mornhinweg (ranked seventh).

Patricia, the predecessor to Campbell, went just 13-29-1 in three seasons with the Lions (2018-2020). Meanwhile, Mornhinweg recorded a lowly 5-27 overall mark in two seasons with the organization (2001-2002). Just like Marinelli, Patricia and Mornhinweg have failed to land another NFL head coaching job since their forgettable tenures with the Lions.

Benjamin ranked the Jacksonville Jaguars’ hire of Urban Meyer, who won just two games and was fired before the end of his first season (2021), and the N.Y. Jets’ hire of Bill Belichick (2000), who never even coached a game with the Jets, as the two worst hires in NFL history.

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