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Two days after his team finished 5-11, Lions coach Steve Mariucci fired three assistants. The most prominent release was wide receivers coach Bobby Williams, the former coach at Michigan State.
Offensive line coach Carl Mauck and defensive line coach George Dyer also were
fired Tuesday. Williams and Dyer just finished their first season with the Lions.
Mauck was in his third season.
"Those are three good football coaches, but sometimes things just don't work out and you have to move on," said team president Matt Millen.
None of the three could be reached for comment, nor could Mariucci.
All three were brought to Detroit by former coach Marty Mornhinweg, who was
fired last January. Williams originally was hired to coach running backs, which
he had done at MSU before becoming the head coach. But Mariucci brought running
backs coach Tom Rathman with him from San Francisco and switched Williams to
wide receivers.
Williams, 45, was fired as MSU's coach in November 2002. He was reunited with
his top player, wide receiver Charles Rogers, when the Lions made Rogers the
No. 2 overall draft pick last April. But Rogers suffered a broken collarbone
and played in only five games, and Lions receivers often had trouble getting
open and catching passes.
This was Williams' first coaching job in the NFL. He was the first black head
coach at a Big Ten public university, where he compiled a 16-17 record.
Williams interviewed for Eastern Michigan's opening last month but wasn't hired.
Mauck's offensive line had trouble opening holes for the running game. The Lions
ranked last in the NFL in rushing and total offense. Mauck, 56, has been an
offensive line coach in the league for 20 years, having worked for seven teams.
Dyer, 63, has spent 22 years in the league and was defensive coordinator at
MSU in 1977-79. The Lions' defense was inconsistent this season, shutting down
playoff-bound Green Bay on Thanksgiving Day but getting thrashed by playoff
teams Dallas, Seattle and Kansas City.
The Lions ranked in the bottom third in the 32-team NFL in most major defensive
statistical categories.
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