It’s Friday the 13th of January, but there is nothing scary about what this date represents in Detroit Lions history. Two years ago today, on January 13th, 2021, the Lions completed their in-person interview with GM candidate Brad Holmes.
This was Holmes’ second interview with the Lions and first in-person visit to Detroit. He had already interviewed twice for the GM vacancy with the Atlanta Falcons as well.
He was not considered a slam-dunk candidate. Holmes wasn’t a well-known commodity or candidate outside of Los Angeles, where he had served as the Rams’ director of collegiate scouting for several seasons. His interview appearance in Detroit made him one of the co-favorites to land the job, along with then-Saints VP and assistant GM, Terry Fontenot.
The in-person visit sealed the deal. Holmes was hired by the Lions as the GM the next day. Interestingly, Fontenot would land the Falcons’ job a few days later.
\We broke down our initial thoughts on Holmes as a candidate on the Detroit Lions Podcast later that night:
Head coach Dan Campbell was not officially hired until January 20th, a week later.