Matt Millen to be out by next year

[Bleujayone]

I recall several people in here calling for Millen's head. Here's some hope for you.

November 26, 2006 | FoxSports.com | John Czarnecki

Without a doubt, President and CEO Matt Millen won't be in charge of the Detroit Lions next season. The dilemma for owner William Clay Ford, who likes Millen almost like a son, is that he can't afford to lose his city's loyal fan base.

Nothing has been done yet with Millen. Ford apparently is in Florida and Millen is at home in Pennsylvania with his family during this Thanksgiving weekend.

But the mixture of Marinelli and offensive coordinator Mike Martz definitely hasn't clicked this season and those two were Millen's choices.

Philadelphia GM Tom Heckert, a Michigan native, is the hot candidate to replace Millen. Heckert doesn't have control of personnel with the Eagles, although he does work extremely well with coach Andy Reid. Ford would give Heckert a salary raise, too, but does he really want the challenge of rebuilding the worst team in the NFL?

Tom Kowalski popped into the forum today to discuss Czarnecki's speculation about Heckert.

Tom Kowalski: "Actually ... don't read anything into that Heckert stuff ... his name has been brought up because his family has connects with the Ford family, but if there's a search process, a lot of people are going to be involved ... this is just more guessing ..."

Megcor: "Tom, if you were a betting man, when do you think the hatchet will fall on Millen? Monday? Tuesday? End of season?"

Tom Kowalski: "I've learned ... that it's beyond foolish to try to read Ford's mind ... there's no evidence about which way he's leaning ... "

Highlight Reel MLive.com

[IceCap]

All I can say is, what took them so long?

[Shumway]

That's really all I can say. Maybe we'll start bringing in some real players, rather than Az-Hakim, who lasted only 4 weeks at most on the roster.

Figures Millen was a failure, he did go to Penn State afterall.

[DG_ThenNowForever]

All I can say is, what took them so long?

Seriously. I'm no fan of the Lions, but Matt Millen's continued presence of the GM of that team makes me mad. In his five (has it really been that long?) years as the GM, the team has gotten worse and worse. He has no right to hold that position and I can't think of a more heinous example of mismanagement of a team in the NFL.

[Jigga]

Seriously. I'm no fan of the Lions, but Matt Millen's continued presence of the GM of that team makes me mad. In his five (has it really been that long?) years as the GM, the team has gotten worse and worse. He has no right to hold that position and I can't think of a more heinous example of mismanagement of a team in the NFL.

2006 Oakland Raiders?

[DG_ThenNowForever]

Seriously. I'm no fan of the Lions, but Matt Millen's continued presence of the GM of that team makes me mad. In his five (has it really been that long?) years as the GM, the team has gotten worse and worse. He has no right to hold that position and I can't think of a more heinous example of mismanagement of a team in the NFL.

2006 Oakland Raiders?

I should have added the caveat "over an extended period." If the Raiders continue like this, you and I both doubt that Art Shell will still be coach in five years. What is Ford's excuse for keeping on Millen after all of this time?

[Luigi74]

Seriously. I'm no fan of the Lions, but Matt Millen's continued presence of the GM of that team makes me mad. In his five (has it really been that long?) years as the GM, the team has gotten worse and worse. He has no right to hold that position and I can't think of a more heinous example of mismanagement of a team in the NFL.

2006 Oakland Raiders?

I should have added the caveat "over an extended period." If the Raiders continue like this, you and I both doubt that Art Shell will still be coach in five years. What is Ford's excuse for keeping on Millen after all of this time?

The Ford's don't care about winning the Lions are just their in to the NFL so they can have a hand in tv stuff since the Ford Motor Company buys so much adtime and sponsorships. Millen knows how to sweet talk the old man and that is why he is still around, but the whole Piano Man thing at the Thanksgiving Game was all Millen's doing and I bet Ford is pissed that the Lions are being called low class and such, I wonder if Millen will be able to talk his way out of that one.

[leedsunited]

Seriously. I'm no fan of the Lions, but Matt Millen's continued presence of the GM of that team makes me mad. In his five (has it really been that long?) years as the GM, the team has gotten worse and worse. He has no right to hold that position and I can't think of a more heinous example of mismanagement of a team in the NFL.

2006 Oakland Raiders?

I should have added the caveat "over an extended period." If the Raiders continue like this, you and I both doubt that Art Shell will still be coach in five years. What is Ford's excuse for keeping on Millen after all of this time?

Art Shell is the last person i'd blame for the Raiders' problems. The blame squarely lies with the senile old idiot that owns the team and fostered the culture of paranoia throughout the fractured organization. And there's no doubt he'll still be around in 5 years (or however long he's alive).

[dfwabel]

1-If you haven't been paying attetnion to you news in the past 24 hours, the Ford family has a lot bigger problems than the success of the Lions.

2-I think that they do care about winning. They, like many teams, have hired "football people", but each of them has not been successful. During their biggest "success", since I have been alive was under Wayne fontes. But that was a fairly gimmick offense, an average defense, and Jason Hanson's big leg. I believe the GM before Millen was Chuck Schmidt. He was the one to sign Scott Mitchell, let Speilman go, and not draft consecutive wide receivers. I also do not believe teh ford family caused Barry Sanders to retire, coaching did.

3-The team used to practice in the Silverdome, but the Fords and the city of Allen Park built a new team HQ, to attract players. What I am trying to say is that even teh best executives cannot turn it arround even with money. Seifert did not repeat his success in Carolina, and Carmen Policy and Dwight Clark could nto do it while in Cleveland. This is harder than we all think, and just because an owner likes his workers, does not mean that s/he is not dedicated to winning.

[Saint Zephyr III]

It's really sad, but I won't believe this until it happens. If the Ford Family has kept Millen for five horrible years and STILL hasn't fired him after Joey the Piano Man threw three TDs against them on Thanksgiving, I won't believe it until it happens.

And you can only imagine how sad that it.

[slightly shotgunned]

2-I think that they do care about winning. They, like many teams, have hired "football people", but each of them has not been successful. During their biggest "success", since I have been alive was under Wayne fontes. But that was a fairly gimmick offense, an average defense, and Jason Hanson's big leg. I believe the GM before Millen was Chuck Schmidt. He was the one to sign Scott Mitchell, let Speilman go, and not draft consecutive wide receivers. I also do not believe teh ford family caused Barry Sanders to retire, coaching did.

it was also the lack of putting together a complete team that forced barry to retire. that and i'm sure he was tired of them not counting his sideline to sideline yards as part of his rushing stats.

[NJTank]

Millen will land on his feet back in the broadcast booth where he belongs

[PaperAirplane31]

Not a Lions fan but seriously, it's about f***ing time. Who knows where the Lions might have been had this idiot not shown up?

[NJTank]

Of course this would make Isaiah the lone choice for worst GM in Sports

[tBBP]

Of course this would make Isaiah the lone choice for worst GM in Sports

Well...Isaiah hasn't signed any vets past their primes to any astronomical 15-year, 20 gazillion dollar contracts yet...

...but he's been close a couple times.

[See Red]

I don't understand how it took so long, like most others. Even if the Fords have no interest in winning and look at the Lions completely from a business standpoint, how is defying what your entire fan base wants a good business decision? Certainly if every person that bought a Ford over the last three years came to the company with the same complaint about their car or truck, and made as much noise about it as the Lions fans have, and a pretty large number even cut their loyalties because of it, they would make an attempt to remedy the situation to make their customers happy, right? I would also add that in that case, customers should stop buying the product. Find a new team if you don't like how yours is being run. I've been a 49ers fan my entire life -- even during the Broncos Super Bowl years the 49ers took a backseat. But John York has completely turned me off, and now they're #2 to the Broncos and losing ground fast.

[Lee.]

Of course this would make Isaiah the lone choice for worst GM in Sports

True, but knowing the Lions, it would also make him their top choice to succeed Millen.

[CMUBrent]

Call me pessimistic, or an honest Lions fan (whichever works ), but I'll believe it when I see it. We're talking about the Detroit Lions here, and common sense and logic is thrown out the window with this franchise. The Fords have zero interest in having a winning NFL team. If they did want a winner, don't you think it would have happened sometime during their 40+ year ownership?

If they did care about winning, Millen would have been gone three years ago. Instead, despite 5 total wins on the road in 6 years and a 23-69 (they're losing to New England, count on it) record, Millen gets a 5 year contract extension. Incredible...

Bill Ford Sr. is loyal to a fault (or stubborn), so I don't see him canning Matt Millen anytime soon.

[slightly shotgunned]

Call me pessimistic, or an honest Lions fan (whichever works ), but I'll believe it when I see it. We're talking about the Detroit Lions here, and common sense and logic is thrown out the window with this franchise. The Fords have zero interest in having a winning NFL team. If they did want a winner, don't you think it would have happened sometime during their 40+ year ownership?

Detroit Lions Playoff history of the last 10+ years for the honest Lions fan

1991: Divisional, Conference

1993: Wildcard

1994: Wildcard

1995: Wildcard

1997: Wildcard

1999: Wildcard

The past 6 years have been brutal haven't they?

so brutal that people forget about the success the lions have had in the past. you'd think they'd never made the playoffs before.

[rams80]

At some point ideally the Lions fans would have preferred that their team had managed more than one playoff win in that time frame. (Or maybe you enjoy crashing out in the Wild Card round every year.) Also the "success" as you put it pretty much came on the back of one Barry Sanders, who the Lions drove into retirement with their inability to commit to winning.