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January 24th, 2001- As a lifelong Detroit Lions fan this is very hard to write. On 1-24-2001 Lions President Matt Millen hired San Francisco 49ers Offensive Coordinator Marty Mornhinweg to be the new Head Coach of the Lions.
This event has significance not only to Lions fans, but to the entire NFL as well. The Lions reportedly considered up to five coaches for this position including interim Lions coach Gary Moehler. However, the thought both then and now is that the Lions hired Mornhinweg without seriously considering any other candidates, or offering to interview other candidates.
Since Denny Green has just been fired by the Minnesota Vikings, and several other more polished candidates were not even considered for the Lions job, the NFL adopted the Rooney Rule. This rule mandates that a NFL team must interview one minority candidate for their open head coaching positions. The rest of the league calls it the Rooney rule, Detroiters call it the Marty rule.
It is interesting to note that this rule would later force the Lions to call Dennis Green after they had fired Mornhinweg, and were all but set to hire Steve Mariucci to be their new head man, to satisfy the Rooney Rule the Lions contacted Green who politely declined to interview with them.
For Lions fans this hiring led to the darkest years of Lions history. Given their overall record in this league that is really saying something. In two years as head coach Mornhinweg was just 5-27, and colorful press conferences aside, was a complete and total failure in this position.
This is/was the ultimate argument for the Rooney rule, there were several highly qualified minority candidates available that year. Beyond Green, let us not forget that this was also the off season when Tony Dungy was fired from his Head job with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. However, Millen who often thought he was the smartest guy in the room turned his team over to a novice.
Related links:
• January in Detroit Sports History
• More Detroit Lions News and Notes
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