George Wilson, the last Lions head coach to win an NFL championship in 1957, was in place when William Clay Ford became sole owner.
The Lions went 7-5-2 in 1964, Ford’s first season.
Ford subsequently fired all of Wilson’s assistants, but not the head coach. Ford, reportedly, was responding to player complaints.
Ford feigned surprise when Wilson abruptly resigned. Wilson was visibly angry at Ford while leaving team headquarters, which were then located on Michigan Ave. near Tiger Stadium. “He doesn’t know football,” Wilson bristled as he hopped into his car.
And so began the Ford family’s futile search for The Answer.
Now, up to the plate, steps Sheila Ford Hamp, daughter of Ford Sr.
Whether she will have more success than her mother, Martha, and her late father in this never-ending, high-stakes game of pin the tail on the donkey, is anybody’s guess.
Therein lies the problem with the Ford ownership of the Lions.
The Lions have tried just about everything. None of it has worked. There is no rhyme or reason.
Some would say it is comical. Others would refer to it as tragic. All agree it is embarrassing.
Hire a Super Bowl winning coach? The Lions did that.
Don McCafferty won Super Bowl V as head coach of the Colts. He led the Lions for a season, compiling a 6-7-1 record in 1973. He died of a heart attack while mowing his lawn on an off day during the following training camp.
How about getting someone with success in both college and pro football?
Bobby Ross won a national championship at Georgia Tech, and took the Chargers to their only Super Bowl appearance. He resigned from the Lions with a 5-4 record during his fourth season after a home loss to Miami which left him, literally, sobbing in the locker room. He is known mostly for running off Barry Sanders and bizarre news conferences.
Jim Caldwell led the Colts to a Super Bowl appearance and was head coach at Wake Forest.
Why not the hot head coach on an upward track?
Steve Mariucci was the most-coveted candidate in years after leaving the 49ers. The Lions made “Mooch” the highest-paid coach in NFL history. He had a 4-7 mark during his third season and was fired after a particularly dreadful performance on Thanksgiving Day, just like Matt Patricia.
The Lions have tried college coaches, Rick Forzano, Tommy Hudspeth and Darryl Rogers. It didn’t remotely work.
The Lions have hired top defensive assistants such as Patricia, Jim Schwartz, Rod Marinelli and Wayne Fontes.
Marty Mornhinweg, Mariucci and Caldwell were renown offensive gurus.
Monte Clark and Ross were given player personnel control. The Lions’ drafts and player evaluation nonetheless remained suspect.
How come the Lions haven’t gotten one of those smart guys on TV who sounds like he knows what he is talking about?
You mean like Matt Millen?
What about a Super Bowl-winning general manager?
The Lions hired Jerry Vainisi, GM for the powerful 1985 champion Bears.
He lost a power struggle to Chuck Schmidt, who like Vainisi, was an accountant by trade. You know, like current team president, Rod Wood. The Fords, apparently and oddly, greatly value football advice from accountants.
The Lions have brought in top lieutenants for some of the greatest coaches in football history.
McCafferty and Clark were assistants for Don Shula, the NFL’s all-time winningest coach. General manager Bob Quinn and Patricia allegedly brought Bill Belichick’s 'Patriot Way' to Allen Park. Schwartz was another Belichick disciple.
Mornhinweg and Mariucci came from the Mike Holmgren coaching tree, while Caldwell and Marinelli were closely aligned with Tony Dungy. Wayne Fontes cut his teeth working under John McKay with Southern Cal and Tampa Bay.
Joe Schmidt was arguably the greatest Lions player not named Barry Sanders, so the Fords also have tried the former great player-and-hero routine.
Put it all in the context of candidates bantered about for Lions’ head coach and GM since Patricia and Quinn were sacked:
Dearborn native and 49ers’ defensive coordinator Robert Saleh is the celebrated defensive coordinator. Kansas City’s Eric Bieniemy is the most-mentioned offensive coordinator.
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Matt Campbell from Iowa State is the flavor of the day among college coaches. Chris Spielman is the former Lions player-and-hero, who like Schmidt (oh, and Matt Millen), was a high-character and rugged middle linebacker.
ESPN’s Louis Riddick is the smart guy on TV. You could throw the improbable trio of Dungy, Bill Cowher and Jimmy Johnson in the mix if you want to check multiple boxes for Super Bowl-winning coaches, who are also smart guys on TV.
It is obviously unlikely, given the stage of their respective lives and the wonderfully cushy positions they hold, when juxtaposed with the enormous challenge the Lions present, any of them are interested.
An oddity of the Lions under the ownership of the Fords is four times they’ve made coaching changes following winning seasons with Wilson, Schmidt, Ross/Gary Moeller and Caldwell.
The Lions have only have 15 winning seasons under Ford ownership.
It’s especially revealing how The Answer was sometimes right in front of the Fords. Shula was the Lions’ defensive coordinator when William Clay Ford gained sole ownership. Six weeks later, he was hired away as head coach by the Colts.
Kevin Colbert, long-time leader of the Steelers’ football operations, spent nearly a decade as the Lions’ head of pro scouting. He was poached by the Rooney family just months before the devastatingly bad Millen era started. The late Ron Hughes, who led the Lions’ scouting efforts, was immediately fired by Millen and followed Colbert to Pittsburgh.
When the Steelers won the Super Bowl following the 2004 season, it was at Ford Field. They trained Super Bowl week at the Lions’ headquarters in Allen Park.
It’s the only NFL postseason game ever played at Ford Field.
Belichick began his NFL career as an assistant coach with the Lions.
The Fords have often been far too loyal to clearly failing leadership. Russ Thomas, who remained in the organization after a long run as GM, remained the biggest influence on Ford Sr. for decades. Ford Sr. gave Millen a contract extension even though his ineffectiveness was unprecedented by the Lions’ low standards.
Whatever possessed Martha Ford and Sheila Ford Hamp to retain Quinn and Patricia after 2019?
Yet, at other times, the Fords have made incredibly knee-jerk decisions, such as the above-mentioned shenanigans with Wilson, and the 54-yard field goal by the Bears’ Paul Edinger in 2000 that brought Millen to town.
The Fords haven’t been micromanagers like Jerry Jones. Instead, they control the Lions in a prototypically passive-aggressive manner.
The classic example of this was Martha Ford’s “I love Jim Caldwell” comment upon Quinn’s hiring. It poisoned the well for Quinn’s decision on head coach after he insisted at his news conference it was his call.
Survival in the Lions’ organization has traditionally involved pleasing the Fords, especially the one at top of the chart.
For job security, that involves saying “Yes” at precisely the right time.
Perhaps, it explains why the family accountant, Wood, is apparently so involved in finding The Answer despite having no previous football or sports background.
Will Sheila Ford Hamp be different?
I’d suggest be fair. Give her a genuine chance.
But I can’t help but be skeptical. My educated guess is the apple isn’t going to fall from the tree.
And honestly, for all the Lions’ fans out there, I hope I’m wrong.
You deserve much better.