Posted by Lisa on January 6, 2009, 11:12 am, in reply to "anyone upset Marinelli is gone?"
Marinelli was a good guy, he did a lot of good things. One major area, the drafting WITH Marinelli's input was MUCH better. He headed the team in the right direction, he maintained control of the locker room, and from Monday to Saturday I don't have a lot to say against him ... other than not deciding to play some of the youngsters when the veterans didn't perform.
BUT as you say it was inevitable, and on Sundays he and his assistants were very slow to make ANY adjustments. Stubbornness and resoluteness are two terms that can be applied to him, which under different circumstances could be seen as positives. Obviously, it didn't work out that way.
He still has my respect, but he couldn't distance himself enough from the d-line and the defense to be a complete head coach. But he was placed in a horrendous situation, and you have to admire his unswerving belief in his methods...which have been proven can work (when with Tampa). If he hadn't had to rebuild the defense from scratch, missing key personnel for it to work...and then have Millen as his Personnel Guru, I think he could have done much better.
I do think it will be a while before the stench from 0-16 leaves him enough for him to be considered more than a d-line coach. And while I wished he could have stayed in Detroit as a defensive coordinator, it was clearly time for a change from the top down. Whether that will entirely happen is still to be seen. I don't blame Mayhew for Millen not listening to him because Millen listened to NOBODY. Mayhew is much better at recognizing talent than Millen will ever be. Is he good enough...still to be seen.
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