The Lions haven't yet identified their next head coach or next general manager. It might be a while longer before they do. But they've identified their targets.
President/CEO Rod Wood said Tuesday that the group of candidates the Lions have either interviewed or are slated to interview will likely produce the next two leaders of the organization. That means six candidates for head coach and 11 candidates for GM.
"We’re probably to the point where we’ve put forward every name that we’re going to consider," Wood said. "We’ve had names that we’ve considered and re-stacked and re-ordered, and there are a handful that we may still pursue. But right now, I’m assuming that the candidates that we’re interviewing, one of them will be our next head coach and one of them will be our next general manager."
For both jobs, Wood said the Lions are looking to fulfill "very specific criteria ... that in some cases are very unique to our situation."
"I would say they focus on leadership, culture, teamwork, awareness of each other’s strengths and weaknesses. What we’re really looking for is a culture that is open, inclusive, where everybody is pulling together as a team and one where communication is paramount and everybody is doing the right thing for the Detroit Lions," he said.
Wood added that the approach to this search is "very different" than the one that produced Bob Quinn and Matt Patricia, "where we were more focused on candidates because of their accomplishments as opposed to the criteria that had been established before we started."
Right now, the GM search is further along. But Wood said if the Lions "find the perfect head coach," they won't wait to hire a GM to make that decision.
"We’re in competition with other teams who are interviewing some of the same people, and it’s important to get the right coach. If that means we have to hire a coach first, that’s what we’ll do," he said.
A brief rundown of the head coaching candidates is below. The GM candidates can be found here.
Marvin Lewis interviewed last week. Lewis was head coach of the Bengals from 2003-18, helping the team to four division titles and seven playoff appearances. The Bengals lost in the Wild Card round each time. He spent this season as co-defensive coordinator of the Cardinals.
Eric Bieniemy interviewed on Monday night. He's served as offensive coordinator of the Chiefs for the past three seasons. Kansas City led the NFL in total offense in 2018 and 2020 and ranked sixth in 2019.
Darrell Bevell will interview on Tuesday. Detroit's offensive coordinator for the past two seasons, Bevell also served as interim head coach for the final five games of this season after Matt Patricia was fired. The Lions finished 1-4.
Robert Saleh is expected to interview on Thursday. The 49ers defensive coordinator since 2017, he's also a Dearborn native and the odds-on favorite to land the job at 5-4, according to BetOnline.ag.
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Arthur Smith is expected to interview next week. He's been offensive coordinator of the Titans for the past two seasons, most notably developing Ryan Tannehill into one of the league's top quarterbacks.
Dan Campbell is expected to interview next week. The assistant head coach/tight ends coach of the Saints since 2016, Campbell won a Super Bowl with the Saints during his playing days and also played for the Lions from 2006-08.