That's One Down, But Who Is Left?

For those of you playing along at home, scratch Mike Singletary off your list of potential Detroit Lions head coaches. ESPN.com is reporting that Singletary has been told he's been voted off Lions' Island.

I hate to say this, but with Singletary out and Maurice Carthon and Tim Lewis getting zero buzz around town, I'm beginning to wonder about "token interviews". To date, there's not been a single sign indicating any man of color was (or is) seriously in the running for the Lions gig. Now, there could be very legitimate reasons for that, but you have to wonder what the Lions' brass is looking for?

Do they want a guy with credentials? Lewis is a coordinator, not a position coach. He's coached solid units under Bill Cowher and Tom Coughlin. He's been to the playoffs. How much more experience do you need to have? Yet, in spite of this, Lewis has gotten almost no play around town. Either he's not in the running at all or Matt Millen has done a masterful job decoying every writer in the land.

I'll give the Lions and Millen the benefit of the doubt that they haven't earned. I'll just assume Lewis just isn't their cup of tea. Fine. Then why are the white position coaches still in the running, but Singletary is bounced at the first opportunity?

Russ Grimm and Rod Marinelli are far more suited to run the Lions than Singletary? Forgive me, but I'll take Singletary over both. Maybe that's just my remembering his playing career so fondly, but I just envision Singletary as an organized workaholic. If Singletary is a reach because this is so early in his coaching career then should I assume he never had a chance at the job anyway? Wouldn't that define "token interview"?

Each day that passes, this process just gets uglier and uglier. There are rumors that Jim Haslett will be the Lions new coach by tomorrow. It's about the third such rumor in the last ten days. Each time, however, a different coach was named. I'm hoping this is just smoke being blown about and that Lewis, my favorite from the outset, is still a viable candidate. Somehow, though, I just don't get the feeling that's very likely.