>The Ford family wants you to think of your next car.. the Escape.
LOL
Ford Jr. locked up Millen for the bargain price of $20 million for five years....Record 2-19...why do I bother I don't know anymore:-)
Ford Sr. calls the shots
Mornhinweg, Millen still have backing, blessing of owner
By Mike O'Hara / The Detroit News
ALLEN PARK -- William Clay Ford Sr. is still calling the shots on major decisions concerning the football team he has owned for 38 years.
That is the overriding message from Ford's meeting with the coaching staff and players Monday, during which he expressed his support of Marty Mornhinweg and said Mornhinweg will be coach for a long time.
If anyone doesn't like it -- players or anybody in the organization -- they can tell it to Ford.
Ford has taken Mornhinweg off the firing line, at least for a while, with his strong stand. He will not react to outside pressure from fans and media, who have speculated that Mornhinweg's dismissal could be imminent -- perhaps after Sunday's game with New Orleans, if the Lions lose and their record falls to 0-4.
Ford called the players and staff into the team auditorium to tell them about Mornhinweg's status.
"He reiterated his support of Marty to the players and coaches, and he expects Marty to be with them for a long time," Lions vice president Bill Keenist said Tuesday.
Mornhinweg's contract runs through 2003, but there are options that extend it through 2005.
It should not be surprising that Ford would back the coach. He has seldom buckled to outside interests in his tenure as owner. He has stood behind coaches longer than most owners would, considering his team has never played in the Super Bowl since he became sole owner in 1964.
What makes the current situation different is the widely held belief that Ford has ceded full authority in the franchise to his son, Bill Ford Jr., who has taken a more active and public role since being named vice chairman of the franchise in 1995.
In fact, it is still the elder Ford's team, and he is making the major decisions.
Bill Ford Jr. has his hands full as chairman of Ford Motor Co. He has made infrequent visits to the team headquarters and practice facility -- less than a mile from the auto company's world headquarters -- since it opened in April.
But the elder Ford clearly is in command. He has met regularly with Mornhinweg and team president Matt Millen on Monday evenings and has done so quietly -- out of sight of the media.
Ford's comings and goings were visible to the media amid the configuration of offices and parking spaces at the Silverdome. That is not the case at the new facility. Ford is able to park out of sight, at the rear of the complex.
There are solid reasons for Ford to express support of Mornhinweg, even with the team playing poorly and no indication of an immediate turnaround.
The Lions have an odd mix of young players and veterans. Quarterback Joey Harrington is the most visible rookie on the team, but there are other young players with little experience -- offensive linemen Jeff Backus, Dominic Raiola and Stockar McDougle, defensive backs Chris Cash and Andre Goodman, tight end John Owens and wide receiver Scotty Anderson, to name a few.
With the statement that Mornhinweg's job is not in immediate jeopardy, the veterans -- such as defensive linemen Robert Porcher and Luther Elliss and offensive linemen Ray Brown and Tony Semple -- know they will be accountable to the coach for the long haul.
Young players will follow the lead of the veterans, who know they have to play for Mornhinweg, and that a change is not imminent.
The question, then, is obvious: Why is Ford riding it out with Mornhinweg? Part of the answer could be the decision to draft Harrington and make him the starter after two games. The Lions are developing a player who can be a cornerstone for the franchise, but it does not give them immediate help in terms of winning and losing.
Ford cannot be happy with the direction his franchise has taken since he hired Millen as president after the 2000 season. Millen tore apart the front office and coaching staff. Frankly, he has not shown a flair for front-office leadership.
Millen is a bright man with a broad range of friends in the NFL. He is genuinely liked by people with whom he came into contact during 12 years as a player and nine in the broadcast booth.
Strictly as a business enterprise -- and Millen carries the titles of president and CEO -- it is hard to pinpoint an area where the Lions are better and more efficient since his arrival.
Millen's weekly trips home to Pennsylvania, where his family lives, do not go unnoticed by others. As a practical matter, there isn't much for Millen to do on Friday and Saturday morning during the season. He remains in touch with Mornhinweg and the rest of the front office.
But it doesn't send a good message, either. It is understandable that after firing so many people in the front office, and canceling the employees' 2001 Christmas bonuses, in his first months as president, those left behind who saw friends put out of work would wonder about Millen's level of commitment.
That's particularly true, given that the product on the field has deteriorated instead of getting better.
It was Bill Ford Jr. who pushed for the hiring of Millen after the 1998 season. His father backed out on the deal at the last minute, but the bug was in his ear. After the disappointing finish in 2000, when a final-game loss to the Chicago Bears dropped the Lions out of the playoffs, William Clay Ford revived talks with Millen immediately.
In fact, Ford was so certain he wanted to hire Millen that a representative of former NFL coach Bill Parcells, who inquired if the Lions were interested in talking to him, was told that they'd already made up their minds to go in another direction.
That turned out to be toward Millen, who hired Mornhinweg.
Ford is now telling his coach, players and people in the organization that he's sticking with his plan.
If they didn't know already, he's still in charge. |
