Tag: Chris Spielman

Ohio State commit Gabe Powers has throwback style, attitude like Chris Spielman

Gabe Powers is a four-star recruit that has committed to become an Ohio State Buckeye and the future star has a ton of old-school flavor.

We recently had the opportunity to sit down with four-star linebacker and current Ohio State football commit, Gabe Powers. Unlike the fictional Kenny Powers, Gabe is a phenomenal and humble person with a hometown attitude and an old-school style.

“I know my ability, I don’t need to brag to the world, I’m going to show my ability on the field,” Powers told Buckeyes Wire.

The 6-foot, 4-inch, 230-pound Ohio product was gracious enough to let us sit down with him in the Marysville High School weight room with his coverage coach, Ryan Stewart. It should be noted that Stewart has an extensive résumé which includes stops at Boise State and Ohio State as defensive assistant with his specialty being with defensive backs. We discussed a number of topics, but one of the more interesting subjects was discussing which former Ohio State linebacker Powers admires the most.

“Probably, honestly, Chris Spielman. I’ve watched his highlights,” Powers told Buckeyes Wire. I like his toughness — his grit, and the way he plays, you know it always come down to toughness. That’s also what I pride myself in. I’m a tough, blue-collar kid and that’s what I really admire.”

Ohio State’s Chris Spielman (36). Credit: USA TODAY Sports

Typically when tasked with finding a favorite Buckeye, people usually pick someone they were alive to see, but Powers had a more unique take citing Chris Spielman as his favorite. Spielman’s last season in the NFL was before Powers was even born, but with his family history the answer is not surprising at all.

Powers’ father is not only a linebacker coach, but was a former All-American at Findlay before earning a tryout with the Dallas Cowboys and raised his son on Spielman film. It almost brings a tear to your eye as an Ohio raised linebacker with football bloodlines and an old-school humble mentality talks about the linebacking greats from yesteryear.

And there are some similarities there. Powers is cut out of a little different cloth than most kids these days. His favorite pastime is not playing video games but rather fishing. He has social media, but doesn’t really see many benefits in using it that much. He seems like a high character kid that spends most of his time working on his craft rather than working on his brand.

Powers is much taller than Spielman, but has the same type of sideline to sideline athleticism, and as Ryan Stewart also mentions in the interview, a more recent comparison to Gabe Powers is James Laurinaitis. This comparison maybe even more appropriate considering Laurinaitis has a more similar body type and athleticism.

“I think that the linebacker that reminds me the most of Gabe, that like I’ve met him and he’s a nice guy,” Stewart Said “But just like their physical build and how they play is James Laurinaitis … could run, cover.”

That may be, but we couldn’t help but think about how much Chris Spielman was in Powers’ attitude, work ethic, and outlook on the game of football as we sat in the gym and talked to him. And, you know what number he wears? That’s right, the No. 36.

We’ll have more on Powers and our interview with him in the coming days, but it’s been awhile since Ohio State has had a great linebacker like the Spielman and Laurinaitis. Could Powers be a guy similar to those two? Time will tell, but if his play on the field is anything like his character off of it, there’s a good chance Buckeye Nation is going to fall in love with the kid that has the right attitude to become a fan favorite.

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Report sheds more light on the Lions pursuit of Iowa State coach Matt Campbell

A new report from SI’s Albert Breer sheds more light on the Lions pursuit of Iowa State coach Matt Campbell

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The Detroit Lions had strong interest in hiring Iowa State head coach Matt Campbell as the new head coach in Detroit this offseason. That’s not fresh news, but just how close they came and how much the Lions pursued Campbell is coming to light. A report this week from SI’s Albert Breer sheds more light on how heavily the Lions pursued Campbell and how close he came to biting on the interest.

Here’s what Breer wrote in this week’s MMQB at Sports Illustrated,

But in January, he did at least give the Detroit job some thought. He and Lions special assistant to the owner Chris Spielman have a strong relationship—the two are both from the football-mad city of Massillon, Ohio—and, as such, Campbell spoke with the Lions brass a couple times about the job opening as the NFL hiring cycle got revved up. And Detroit was preparing to fly out to visit with Campbell just before Campbell pulled his name out of the running

The connection with Spielman is important here. It’s something I’ve discussed repeatedly on the Detroit Lions Podcast as a driving force behind the entire Matt Campbell dalliance in Detroit. It’s a big factor in why Matt Campbell had such strong odds to succeed Matt Patricia early in the process, too.

Breer also reinforces the notion that the Lions were not the only team coveting Campbell this offseason. He notes,

But as we’ve been saying in this space for some time, power brokers in the league are well aware of how good he is. And it’s fair to assume that will manifest in more opportunities down the line. As for right now? I don’t know if the Lions’ getting on that plane and visiting Campbell would have led, eventually, to an offer being made. What I do know is that one wasn’t made. And, again, that Detroit’s not alone in its interest in the Cyclones coach.

One key piece of information there is that the Lions did not make a formal offer to Campbell. That verifies a report from Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press from last week, too. A wild report from CBS Sports listed actual figures in the discussion, but it’s now clear the talks never progressed to that stage. Campbell didn’t allow it to get that far.

The Lions quickly hired Dan Campbell, a much different style and path despite a similar surname.

Chris Spielman among Lions contingency at Ohio State’s pro day

The Buckeyes have several prospects to know

Ohio State is annually one of the biggest stops on the collegiate pro day circuit, and 2021 is certainly no exception. Among the Detroit Lions representatives at the Buckeyes workout on Tuesday is someone who knows the program very well: Chris Spielman.

The Lions special assistant to the owner played at Ohio State before becoming an All-Pro linebacker for the Lions. He took along TE coach Ben Johnson to the Buckeye pro day.

There are several Ohio State prospects that figure to be on the Lions radar at various points in the draft. Most notable is quarterback Justin Fields, who could be in play at No. 7 overall if he slides that far.

Other Buckeyes to watch:

  • Linebacker Baron Browning
  • Guard Wyatt Davis
  • Linebacker Pete Werner
  • Cornerback Shaun Wade
  • Running back Trey Sermon
  • Tight end Luke Farrell
  • Defensive tackle Tommy Togiai
  • Center Josh Myers

Chris Spielman: ‘You can’t buy a locker room’ in free agency

Spielman offered a blunt assessment on how he wants the Lions to approach free agency

The NFL’s free agency period doesn’t kick off until March 17th, but the new Lions regime dropped a serious hint on its approach to free agency this week.

Special assistant to the owner Chris Spielman talked about his philosophy on roster building and free agency during his Tuesday morning guest appearance on 97.1 The Ticket in Detroit. While Spielman isn’t in charge — GM Brad Holmes and senior personnel executive John Dorsey are — it’s wise to consider his views as those shared by the new braintrust.

“I’m sure in free agency, in any philosophy, you can fill in voids in free agency, but you can’t buy a locker room,” Spielman said. “That’s been a philosophy for a lot of teams. Generally, what I believe, you want to build your team through the draft. It’s kinda draft, develop and re-sign. I think that’s hopefully the direction the Lions will take.”

Spielman continued,

“Everybody understands that the most successful teams, usually, build through the draft, get your core nucleus of players and you try to re-sign those guys to a second contract.”

That’s very in-line with Holmes’s background as the director of collegiate scouting for the Rams. That perennial playoff contender was built through the draft and aggressive trades more than free agency.

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Chris Spielman praises Lions owner Sheila Ford Hamp’s commitment to winning

Spielman made it clear her efforts are appreciated but not the final say

Detroit Lions special assistant Chris Spielman took to the airwaves in Detroit on Wednesday and offered up an interesting look at how important it is for his boss, owner Sheila Ford Hamp, to get things right with the team. Spielman noted Hamp is actively involved in overviewing the processes behind the scenes in Allen Park.

Hamp has been integral in the team’s hiring decisions, offering input on choosing new GM Brad Holmes and head coach Dan Campbell. But where does she fit into the team’s new power structure?

“It was interesting, people ask me all the time, how much is Sheila involved,” Spielman said on 97.1 the Ticket. “Well, Sheila has been involved by being in all these personnel meetings. She sat in two days of offensive free agency meetings and defensive free agency meetings.”

Speilman then shared an anecdote on just how dedicated Hamp is to turning the Lions into winners and being personally involved in making that happen.

“I had a great office when I got here,” Spielman stated. “All of a sudden, I’m on a corner next to the exit door. I said, ‘What happened?’ Well, Sheila wants this office because it’s right in the middle of everything, which is awesome.

It just goes to show her commitment to what she wants and how involved she is, you know, being in these meetings and giving her opinion, which is fun. It’s cool to see the commitment that she has and that (president) Rod (Wood), (senior vice president) Mike Disner and everybody has.”

Perhaps realizing that those comments could be construed as ownership making decisions they ought not to be, Spielman quickly efforted to clear that up.

“Everybody understands that, as far as the personnel goes, Brad and Dan, it’s on them. They’ve gotta sign their name to it,” Spielman said emphatically.

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Detroit Lions are restructuring their front office, starting at the top

The Detroit Lions are not only hiring a new general manager and head coach, but they’re restructuring their front office, and starting at the top.

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The Detroit Lions are not only hiring a new general manager (Brad Holmes) and head coach (presumably Dan Campbell), but they’re restructuring their front office, and it’s starting at the top.

Under previous general manager Bob Quinn’s tenure with the Lions, he was not only the GM but also the team’s Director of Football Operations. After Quinn was fired, our Jeff Risdon wrote about how those two positions should be separate and the Lions would be best-served separating the roles between two individuals.

“Handling both jobs was too big for Quinn,” Risdon said. “It’s a mistake the Lions can’t make once again. They need to hire a separate director of football operations from the new GM.”

Well, Risdon is getting his wish.

On Monday, Sports Illustrated’s MMQB author Albert Breer wrote about why the Lions hiring of Holmes was “right along the lines of what they were looking for” and expanded on how the organization’s front office is changing to help him be successful.

The Lions were looking for a GM with a scouting background and Holmes’ 16 years of experience in this area — the last eight as the Rams director of college scouting — fit the bill to a tee.

“Detroit liked hearing from Holmes about how the Rams do things differently,” Breer wrote, “mixing analytics and an intellectual way of looking at players with traditional scouting, while seeing that he’d change some things too.”

One of the changes the Lions wanted to put in place was to allow Holmes to stay focused on what he is good at — scouting.

“In order to get the GM job (Holmes) closer to a true scouting job, the Lions are putting VP Mike Disner in charge of much of the football-operations end of things, which means Holmes won’t have to worry about managing areas like travel, nutrition, training and equipment.”

Disner, a Bloomfield Hills native, has 12 years of NFL front office experience and is considered one of the “rising stars” who is “shaping the direction of the NFL”. He was hired by the Lions in 2018, after six years as the Cardinals capologist, and was tasked with heading up the player contract negotiations and handling the Lions salary cap. He was also a member of the Lions search team that helped identify Holmes and Campbell.

Per Breer’s report, “Disner, Holmes and the new coach (presumably, Saints assistant Dan Campbell) will all report to Lions president Rod Wood”. Keep in mind, this is also an area where Chris Spielman, who was hired as a “Special Assistant to Chairman and President & CEO”, can best make an impact on the organization — giving Wood a sounding board and advising him on the football side of the organization.

At his end of season press conference, Wood said: “What we’re looking for is people that can work together and be partners, and not one working for the other necessarily”.

Based on the way this new organizational structure is progressing, they’re doing exactly that.

Rod Wood: ‘Adding more people to the process’ of hiring a new GM is important

Wood talked about learning from the mistakes of his first GM search

The last time the Detroit Lions hired a general manager, team president Rod Wood was new to the job and new to the NFL. Owner Martha Ford was also new to the process of making such a big change.

They leaned heavily on longtime NFL executive Ernie Accorsi, who joined the team to help in the search. Accorsi and the decision-makers interviewed just three people, and it was fairly clear from the onset that Bob Quinn, who had ties to Accorsi through Bill Belichick, was the preferred choice.

That did not end well, obviously. Wood believes he has learned from his first time and is applying the lessons to the new GM search. One big change: involving more people in both the decision-making process and in the candidate pool.

“I think experience is the best teacher, and I think having gone through this now twice, there’s things I’ve learned and things hopefully that we’ll do better,” Wood said in his Zoom media session this week. “I think one of the things is adding more people to the process. When Bob (Quinn) and I interviewed for Matt (Patricia), it was just Bob and I. Now, obviously, Sheila’s (Ford Hamp) involved, (we) added Chris Spielman. (Vice President of Football Administration) Mike Disner’s been very involved.

I think having more candidates is a difference, too. With Bob’s process, we interviewed three people. We’ve already interviewed seven for the general manager and we’ll continue to add to that list.”

Wood added that Spielman has been very active and involved in the interviewing process. Having someone fresh from outside the organization but one with deep ties to the Lions like Spielman, still the franchise career leader in tackles, has been an excellent addition.
“He’s been great in the interviews, really focusing on a lot of the football questions that he brings expertise to,” Wood said of Spielman. “He’s also been great in the building, meeting with a lot of the coaches and players. He has contacts all over the country from his media days and playing days with coaches and others. He’s brought a lot of information to the table on candidates that we’re considering and feedback and research. So, it’s been great having Chris here. He brings energy, as everybody knows, if you know him. He’s a very positive influence in the building. Great addition.”

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Could Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald be a candidate for the Lions vacancy?

Fitzgerald is earning momentum as an NFL head coaching candidate

One of the more interesting notes to scroll across the crawl on the Sunday morning NFL preview shows involves Northwestern Wildcats head coach Pat Fitzgerald. It seems Fitzgerald’s name has been thrown in the hat for NFL head coaching options, presumably including Detroit’s.

It’s an interesting idea, and the recent hiring of Chris Spielman should lend it more credence. Like Spielman, Fitzgerald was a hard-nosed linebacker who thrived on a ridiculously high football IQ and intensity in the Big Ten. Injuries robbed Fitzgerald of any NFL dreams, so he found a home at his beloved alma mater.

For my money, Fitzgerald is the best coach in the Big Ten. Winning at Northwestern is not easy. It was essentially unprecedented before Fitzgerald got there as a player and drove the team’s renaissance in the 1990s. They’re a small, private school with no real major sports heritage, yet Fitzgerald’s Wildcats have consistently competed with the big boys with the big budgets in the conference. Nobody in college football more consistent;y does more with less than Fitzgerald.

They did that on Saturday, scaring the bejeezus out of Spielman’s alma mater before ultimately falling. This was another example of what Fitzgerald has created at Northwestern: an upstart culture or mental toughness, thorough preparation, a natural tight-knit togetherness and maximizing the ability of the key players on the team.

Sure sounds like exactly what the doctor ordered for the Lions, eh?

I don’t know how well Fitzgerald’s style would work away from Evanston. He doesn’t have the Rolodex of NFL-ready assistants and coordinators right off the bat. I think he’d be more apt to stay in Chicago with the Bears for a potential opening there than he would to head to Chicago, too. But it’s worth it for Spielman, Barry Sanders and the rest of the search committee to at least interview Fitzgerald.

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Lions show growth and learning from mistakes by hiring Chris Spielman

Who knows if it will work, but it is certainly worth the try.

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Sheila Ford Hamp is stepping out and proving these are not her father’s, or mother’s, Detroit Lions. In bringing back franchise legends Chris Spielman and Barry Sanders to help choose the new GM and head coach for the team, it’s proof Hamp has learned the lessons from the mistakes of her parents during their ownership reigns.

The last GM search was the first time Martha Firestone Ford was in charge of the organization’s direction. Her late husband, William Clay Ford, had ruled over the team since 1963. Mrs. Ford moved Rod Wood, a businessman with close family ties, into the president role and, with the NFL’s requested assistance, hired legendary team-builder Ernie Accorsi to run the search for Martin Mayhew’s replacement.

Accorsi proved better at building his own team than helping the Lions. A short search produced just three interviews, one of them being Bob Quinn. Now Quinn was a hot candidate for many jobs at the time. He was regarded then the way many speak of Ed Dodds or Mike Borgonzi today. But Accorsi barely kicked any other bushes in his “search”.

Wood didn’t know better at the time. He was new to the job and new to football. By bringing in Spielman and expanding the search committee to also include (among others) Barry Sanders, the Lions have demonstrated they learned from Woods’ ignorant error.

It’s also a smart nod to fans who have grown tired of the way the team has treated popular alums. Spielman has long been a fan favorite from his days playing linebacker the way many of us were brought up to play. He’s shown his intelligence and communication skills as a respected (by many) broadcaster with FOX, a job he resigned to rejoin the Lions. His brother, Rick, has been a very successful GM with the division rival Minnesota Vikings.

In short, Spielman is a known commodity. No Detroit vetting needed. It’s a smart move to reestablish trust with a fan base sick and tired of the “Patriot Way”.

There were allusions to that failed experiment in the introductory press conference. Spielman riffed upon the “One Pride” that is the Lions broad fandom,

“I think that’s something that we are committed to create. The ‘One Pride’ thing, to me, goes beyond the building. Obviously in the building, but the ‘One Pride’ thing is embracing Detroit. The City of Detroit. The fans of Detroit. That’s something that I think I still identify with, I feel a part of, and for lack of another word, it’s really, really good to be home in that regard.”

Nobody ever got that feeling from Bob Quinn or Matt Patricia. The mismatch of Martin Mayhew and Jim Caldwell never really rang that bell, either. Now building a team in the identity and football values of Chris Spielman, with Barry Sanders helping in the process, that’s something even the most recalcitrant and repulsed Detroit fans can support.

And that’s exactly what the franchise needs. Fan enthusiasm. Real enthusiasm coming from a respect for the game. Hamp and Wood have smartly pivoted into embracing the fans and trying a new way. It demonstrates they are listening and aware of the franchise’s recent, and long-running, errant ways. Wood did not handle the first assignment well, and this time he’s smartly asked for better, more invested help in the process. As fans, it’s nice to see the growth and development in the process from the leadership of the team.

Who knows if it will work, but it is certainly worth the try.

 

Social media reaction to the Lions hiring Chris Spielman is overwhelmingly positive

Hiring Spielman has been a very popular move for the Lions

The news spread like wildfire across social media. So did the enthusiasm for the Detroit Lions and their decision to hire franchise legend Chris Spielman to lead the search for the new GM and head coach of the team.

It was genuinely hard to find anyone in the professional media ranks or the Lions fans base who doesn’t applaud the move by new Lions owner Sheila Ford Hamp and team president Rod Wood, who will work with Spielman.

The fans seem to love it too:

And from my friend Neal, my son’s old 8th grade football coach,