The move to terminate special teams coordinator Brayden Coombs has met with quite the controversy for interim head coach Darrell Bevell and the Detroit Lions. Coombs was a popular young coach seen as a rising star.
Bevell’s press conference on Monday afternoon was dominated by the move and the ins and outs of why it was done.
He termed the fake punt that Coombs called in spite of Bevell’s wishes to punt the ball away “not a correct decision” and reflected upon how he didn’t respect having his authority as the head coach undermined.
Bevell noted, “There are clear lines of communication, there’s basic protocols that we use each and every game. Going into a game we have meetings to determine parameters fo what we want to do in a game.”
Bevell explained that Matthew Stafford getting hit hard on consecutive plays made him want to “flip the field” and work with the defense and the three remaining timeouts to try and win the game.
When asked directly if he told Coombs to go with the punt and Coombs then went with the fake on his own, Bevell affirmed it with a simple, stern “yes”.
He later elaborated on the point,
“I think it’s important that I have a philosophy and I have a belief in things that I’m trying to instill in the team, instill in the coaching staff and instill in the program. When things happen outside that are outside of it then there needs to be something that happens. If something doesn’t happen then really you lose some credibility.”
Bevell continued,
“I tell our coaches all the time ‘we need to do what we say we’re going to do'”, and that was not something he felt happened with Coombs.
Bevell acknowledged he made the decision and it was approved by team president Rod Wood. When asked if new special adviser Chris Spielman had input, he deferred from answering the question.
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