Tag: Chris Spielman

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.

[lawrence-related id=59271]

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.

[lawrence-related id=59172]

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.

[jwplayer D5XBrJnD]

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.”

[lawrence-related id=54955]

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.

[listicle id=55332]

Lions show growth and learning from mistakes by hiring Chris Spielman

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

[jwplayer qLoEf0nU-ThvAeFxT]

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,

Chris Spielman leaves FOX Sports to work for Detroit Lions

Chris Spielman and Barry Sanders will be part of the search for the Lions’ new coach and GM

Chris Spielman spent eight seasons as a Detroit Lion. Now, after five years in the broadcast booth for FOX Sports, the former linebacker is returning to his NFL team in a front-office role, it was announced Tuesday.

“This is an exciting day for the Lions organization,” CEO Rod Wood said in a statement. “The Ford Family and I look forward to working with Chris and leaning on his knowledge and advice as we take the next steps as a team. His relationship with our team and our city will serve as a strong foundation for him in helping to fortify and sustain our organization’s culture.”

Spielman, a three-time All-Pro, thanked the network for treating him well.

“I am humbled and excited about the opportunity to be involved with the franchise that is truly a part of me. The opportunity to work with Rod Wood and every single person in the Lions organization can’t get here fast enough. To Lions fans everywhere, I will do everything in my power to help Mrs. Hamp and the Ford Family achieve their vision of something we can all be proud of,” Spielman said.

One of Spielman’s first tasks will be to help the team find a new GM and coach.lions  GM Bob Quinn and Matt Patricia were fired after a Thanksgiving loss to the Houston Texans. He will have big-name help in the search.

The Lions also hired former Michigan State AD Mark Hollis, Hall of Fame running back Barry Sanders, and Fritz Pollard Alliance Foundation executive director Rod Graves to assist with the searches.

Chris Spielman to join Detroit Lions as Special Assistant to Chairman and President & CEO

The Detroit Lions announced that former linebacker Chris Spielman to join the team as Special Assistant to Chairman and President & CEO.

The Detroit Lions announced that former linebacker Chris Spielman will join the team as Special Assistant to Chairman and President & CEO.

Spielman spent eight years with the Lions after they selected him in the second round of the 1988 draft, and he led the team to NFC North (then Central) division titles and an appearance in the 1992 NFC Championship Game. He was a team captain, a Pro Bowler, and team MVP.

After Spielman’s playing career was complete, he entered broadcasting and has spent time across multiple networks including ESPN, FOX, and was the color commentator for the Lions preseason games the last seven seasons.

As this is a full-time role, Spielman will be stepping away from his current broadcasting position at FOX to immediately help Shelia Ford Hamp and Rod Wood in their search for a new general manager and head coach. He will sit in on all interviews moving forward and will go back and revisit the three internal interviews the Lions conducted last week.

“I am humbled and excited about the opportunity to be involved with the franchise that is truly a part of me,” Spielman said in a press release. “The opportunity to work with Rod Wood and every single person in the Lions organization can’t get here fast enough. To Lions fans everywhere, I will do everything in my power to help Mrs. Hamp and the Ford Family achieve their vision of something we can all be proud of.”

Bringing in a football minded advisor in Spielman, to assist business-minded Wood and new principal owner Hamp in their search is a wise move, as it will give them a trusted perspective outside of their own.

Hamp and Wood also issued statements:

Hamp: “Chris Spielman has been a tremendous ambassador for the Detroit Lions since the day he first put on a uniform as a rookie in 1988. He brings great passion for people and the game of football, and we are thrilled to have him on board to help lead our team. This position is a full-time opportunity for Chris that will allow him to work across various departments on both the football and business sides of our organization.”

Wood: “This is an exciting day for the Lions organization. The Ford Family and I look forward to working with Chris and leaning on his knowledge and advice as we take the next steps as a team. His relationship with our team and our city will serve as a strong foundation for him in helping to fortify and sustain our organization’s culture.”

Additionally, the Lions announced that Barry Sanders (former Lions Hall of Fame Running Back), Rod Graves (Fritz Pollard Alliance Foundation Executive Director), Mark Hollis (Rock Ventures Vice President of Business Development) will serve as advisors in the teams search for a GM and head coach.