In her press conference last month following the firings of Matt Patricia and Bob Quinn, Lions owner Sheila Ford Hamp said she was leaning toward using a search firm to aid in hiring the next regime.
"We're open. We've talked about that. We probably will," she said. "We're going to be talking to a lot of people and using a lot of resources simultaneously. We're not going to just rely on one avenue. There's going to be several things we're doing."
Hamp has apparently changed her mind. According to Ian Rapoport, the Lions won't be employing a search firm to help identify the replacements for Patricia and Quinn.
Ostensibly, that means Hamp and team president and CEO Rod Wood will be leading the search themselves. While Wood admitted he's 'not a football guy' upon being hired in 2015, Hamp said she's confident in his contacts around the NFL.
"We're going to lean on all sorts of resources, and the league will probably be one of them. Rod and I, too, but Rod particularly has some really terrific relationships there. We'll ask questions of them and put together a list of other people that we want to talk to. It will be a very comprehensive process," she said. "We're going to talk to a ton of people."
The Lions leaned on the NFL in their search for a general manager in 2015, with Super Bowl winning executive Ernie Accorsi serving as the team's consultant. Accorsi strongly recommended Quinn. Maybe that dissuaded Hamp and Wood from seeking outside help again.
Per reports last week, the Lions plan to prioritize the head coaching search over the GM search. The goal is to establish a sense of synergy between the two positions, where the GM understands what kind of players the coach needs. Of course, that was the idea with Patricia and Quinn.
Hamp also said it's possible the Lions could hire one person to fill both roles.
"We're going to look at it all. We haven't made that decision yet," she said. "Some of it will probably have to do with the candidates we're looking at and how that would play out, but we're open. We have not set that strategy yet."
And what attributes are the Lions looking for in those candidates?
"Again, that's not completely defined yet," said Hamp. "I promise you, we are going to do an extremely thorough and comprehensive search for both positions. Yes, we have some ideas on what we're looking for, but again, not clearly defined."
On one question, Hamp had a firm answer. She said the financial impact of the pandemic won't limit the Lions in hiring the leaders they want. In other words, cost isn't a concern.
"We've done a thorough financial study of things and think we're prepared to handle whatever we need to handle," she said.
