It's the age-old question in Detroit: How do you fix the Lions?
So many people have tried and failed, most recently Bob Quinn and Matt Patricia, that the next regime feels destined to do the same. It's an endless cycle reflective of a 'broken system,' according to former All-Pro receiver Herman Moore.
Moore, a key figure in Detroit's only run of success in the Super Bowl era, believes the organization's problems run deeper than the general manager and head coach. And unless the franchise fundamentally changes the way it operates, its next round of hires won't make a difference.
"I still believe that this is a position where it’s not even so much the coach as much as it is sweeping change across multiple parts of the organization itself that’s going to make a difference," Moore told the Stoney & Jansen Show. "It happens on the field, but it happens in multiple departments where there’s responsibility that’s delegated to individuals who have a very specific thing they have to do that’s going to impact the job of the coach and the job of the GM and anyone who’s running player personnel. Right now, I think the system is broken. And that’s not just for the Lions, it’s for the NFL as a whole."
Instead of hiring for 'traditional titles,' Moore, the founder and owner of a Metro Detroit-based marketing/advertising company called Team 84, believes the Lions need to 'divvy up the power' within the organization. The goal would be to create a front-office team that excels at every level.
"The typical thing is to think that you just hire for these traditional titles and that’s going to solve it because you go get the right GM or the right coach or other personnel. I think they need to break it up in terms of how it's done and get people that are going to be really committed to owning a certain piece and owning a certain level of accountability across the board, and divvy up that power, to really make it happen," Moore said. "We’ve been down this path, I’m sure the fans have heard it. The organization can’t ignore it. At some point, you really have to do something different."
Lions owner Sheila Ford Hamp at least hinted at some structural changes after firing Patricia and Quinn, referring to 'organizational chart moves' that could be in the works. Moore said the Lions can't be afraid to make specialized hires, even if that results in an uncommonly large team.
"If I’m the person that's leading the charge, you just really want to make sure that the people are competent. If that means you have to create multiple roles and split that up amongst 12 people or 20 people instead of 3, then that’s what you have to do. But they have to own that space," Moore said. "And then you just divvy up the cash, you don’t have to break the budget."
Moore, who was released by the Lions in 2001 and retired from the NFL a year later, said it 'burns me to my core that we never won a championship' over his 11 seasons in Detroit. They had some good teams during that stretch, but wound up with only two division titles and one playoff win. That's why he's so passionate about the franchise finding a better path forward.
"As a former player, I want to see this organization win, I 100 percent want to see them win. I 100 percent want to see the fans feel like they’re supporting a product and a team, just as you see with others, who have a tradition of accepting nothing less than winning," Moore said.
And to make that happen, "there’s gotta be a bigger change than just, we’re going to change the coach or we’re going to change a person here or there," he said. "It’s a broken system."