After hiring Jim Schwartz to become their new head coach and Gunther Cunningham to run the defense, the Lions tabbed former Rams’ head coach Scott Linehan as their offensive coordinator.
Scott Linehan, the former St. Louis Rams coach who turned down the San Francisco 49ers’ offer to become their offensive coordinator, has agreed to join the Lions in that position, team sources told ESPN senior NFL analyst Chris Mortensen on Friday.
Linehan declined the 49ers’ offer Sunday, saying he wasn’t ready to commit to his next coaching move.
Linehan, a respected former offensive coordinator for the Miami Dolphins and Minnesota Vikings, was fired four games into his third season as the Rams’ coach last September.
Linehan should do wonders for Calvin Johnson’s career (and fantasy owners of CJ) because he doesn’t mind putting the ball in the air, although it should be noted that the former Rams’ head coach didn’t have great relationships with Marc Bulger or Torry Holt. It’s part of the reason why he was run out of St. Louis. (That, and the fact that he couldn’t win.)
Either way, this is quite a staff the Lions are building. All three coaches – Schwartz, Cunningham and now Linehan – are no-nonsense types who won’t stand for players having lazy work ethics, which has been one of the main problems in Detroit for some time now.
