Three potential replacements for Bob Quinn
The bye week is upon us, and the Lions are sitting at just 1-3 and tied for last place in thenfc North with the Minnesota Vikings.
You’d be hard-pressed to find any Lions fan presently happy with thematt Patricia-bob Quinn regime.
The era has been defined by disappointment and many more losses than wins.
In fact, since Patricia replaced Jim Caldwell as the organization’s headman in 2018, the team has racked up just 10 wins in 36 games.
To no surprise, many fans are fed up, and would love to see owner Sheila Ford Hamp dismiss the two of them this week.
Even if it doesn’t happen this week, it seems pretty inevitable that it will by season’s end if the losing persists.
If Quinn gets the broom, here are three names that could be in line to replace him as the franchise’s general manager.
Louis Riddick
The ESPN NFL analyst has been rumored as a candidate for general manager vacancies in years past, and now that he’s a color commentator on Monday Night Football, there’s no doubt his name will continue to be connected to openings.
He’s no Tony Romo in the broadcast booth, but nonetheless, he’s one of the sharpest minds paid to talk about the game today. And on top of that andmost importantly, he has a front-office background.
He got his start as a pro scout with the then-washington Redskins in 2001, before being promoted to director of pro personnel, a position which he held for three seasons (2005-07).
Hisnext stopwas inphiladelphia, wherehewasascout (2008), the assistant director of pro personnel (2009) and eventually, the director of pro personnel (2010-13).
Sure, the Lions have gone down a similar path in the past, infamously tabbing then-fox Sports NFL game analyst Matt Millen in 2001 to run the front office.
Andwe all knowhowbad thatwent, with the Lions going 31—84 under his watch, including 0-16— yes, 0-16, in case you forgot — in 2008.
Riddick and Millen, however, are not carbon copies of one another for the simple fact that Millen had no prior front-office experience.
There were not nearly as many credible people inside and outside the league advo
cating for Millen to get the Lions job as there have been for Riddick to get numerous high-profile gigs.
And with Riddick’s scouting and player personnel experience, hemightbejust the right guy to overhaul a Detroit roster thathasproduced just 10 wins since 2018.
Mike Borgonzi
Borgonzi, the present director of football operations inkansas City, has to be considered after helping build the Chiefs into Super Bowl champions.
He’s creditedwith helping rebuild the Chiefs defense a year ago into one that finished seventh in both total points allowed and points allowed per game (308 total points, 19.3/game).
It was a drastic improvement fromthe season prior, as in 2018, Kansas City’s defense finished just 24th in the same two categories (421 total points, 26.3/g).
The Lions should be searching for someone that cando the same for theirporous defense, and Borgonzi could be just what the doctor ordered.
Adam Peters
When John Lynch got to San Francisco in 2017, perhapshis best earlymovewas hiring Peters to be the team’s vice president of player personnel — a job he still main
tains to this day within the 49ers organization.
Prior to joining Lynch in San Francisco, he spent eight seasons in Denver (2009-16), starting off as a regional scout and eventually rising to the position of director of college scouting.
He was not only a part of two AFC champion teams with the Broncos, including a Super Bowl championship squad in 2015, but he also helped build the 49ers into NFC champions last season.
And it’s been a quick rebuildingprocess insanfrancisco, which has been expedited by solid draft hauls since ‘17.
The 49ers, under the watch of Lynch and Peters, went from 6-10 in their first year to 13-3 and a Superbowl appearance last year.
I’m not saying the Lions are going to take as quick of a jump to relevance if Peters takes over as GM.
However, if the Lions could even make a Super Bowl— whichwouldbe their first in franchisehistory— in the fourthor fifth year of Peters on the job in Motown, hiring him would be well worth it.