Please Bring St. Nick To The D
By: Mike Stone
I, like you, know this will never happen. I, like you, can only dream for this to happen, but I am still going to ask for a belated Christmas gift. Usually it's St. Nick who gives the presents, but in this instance I want St.Nick to be the present and William Clay Ford Sr. to be the gift giver.
Despite Lions President Tom Lewand's claim that the Lions have the nucleus to be perennial championship contenders, (Click HERE to read Lewand's comments) the Lions are certainly not what many would be consider a very good team with good leadership. With all due respect, the Lewand, Mayhew, and Schwartz era is a resounding 22-42 including a horrid 4-12 record in 2012 where they were 0-6 in the NFC North. This organization needs an enema and the guy to clean out the mess is Nick Saban. It is time for William Clay Ford Sr. to give Saban a blank check and let him coach the team and run the football side any way he wants. That means Saban hires the GM, personnel department, coaching staff, and anyone else he wants.
Before you all say I am just knee-jerking to another Saban fueled Alabama national championship game, think about the record. He took LSU from 3-8 to a title in his 4th season. At Bama it took him only 3 years to get his first of 3 national titles. He is a defensive genius who is just what the Lions need. He is hardnosed and to be honest kind of a jerk to the media, but who cares. The guy wins.
I know you are all saying what about his NFL career where he was a failure in Miami. I don't think he was as big a failure as most think. The Dolphins were 4-12 before he took over, they finished 9-7 his first season with the great Gus Frerotte at quarterback. The following year Saban wanted Drew Brees, but team medical personnel would not clear him medically so they settled for Daunte Culpepper. He got hurt so they had to use their backup start 11 games. That backup was some guy named Joey Harrington. Yes he was a jerk the way he left, but I still think he would be much better his second time around. It worked for Bill Belichick and the nine years at USC seemed to do wonders for Pete Carroll.
It certainly would be a bold move, a costly move and yes a risky move, but I think a move worth making. So for the first time Mr. Ford please listen to your good buddy and season ticket holder. Bringing Nick Saban to town would be the right thing to do, after all it could not get any worse.
