Millen: I would have fired myself

Millen: I would have fired myself
January 4 Detroit News

"Former Lions president Matt Millen made his first public comments Saturday since being fired Sept. 24, three games into what would become a record-setting 0-16 season in Detroit.

Millen, in a brief introduction as a new member of the NBC studio team, sat down for an interview with co-host Dan Patrick, answering questions about his tenure with the Lions. Contrite at times, defiant at others, Millen was asked about his reputation after presiding over a league-worst 31-84 record in seven-plus seasons.

"Oh, if you're just gonna say, 'Oh, that's the stiff who used to be up in Detroit and they lost all those games, it's gotta be on him,' I would say, 'Yeah, I was in Detroit and you do have to blame me.' " Millen said. "But there's a lot more to it than that. Listen, I could give you excuses. I'm not gonna do that. I can give you explanations. To me, that's just an excuse after the fact. So you take the hit and you move on. How they look at me? I know what I am. You can say whatever you want about me."

But for the first time, Millen acknowledged he wasn't fully prepared to take on the task of running an NFL franchise when the Lions hired the Fox broadcast analyst in 2001. Was he qualified for the job?

"In some areas, yes. In some areas, no," Millen said. "Certainly from a football point of view, and the Xs and Os, and that's something that you study for a long time and you understand. But there's a whole other side to that job that you have to learn. And, frankly, I didn't understand it going in and I had to learn it."

He admitted the changes he made -- from coaches to offensive philosophy to draft strategy -- were detrimental, in hindsight.

"Well, you change coaches because obviously you're not having success," Millen said. "But that's a great point that you make. Because any organization that's gonna have a winning record, it all comes back to not only stability, but consistency. You have to have consistency in philosophy, you have to have consistency with scheme and that type of thing, and so when you're changing things over, that's tough to do."

Asked if he would've fired himself, Millen, whose dismissal was made three days after a lopsided loss at San Francisco dropped the Lions to 0-3, didn't flinch.

"Yeah, I would have, actually," he said. "I wouldn't have -- probably not this year, until after the season. Because I think when you start having change over in an organization, it filters down to the locker room, and that's tough to do. And I thought that was a tough position for Rod Marinelli to be in, who I think is -- Rod's a stud. I mean, Rod's an outstanding football coach, and obviously the thing went the other way on him this year. But that's a tough position for him."

Marinelli, who was 10-38 in three seasons as the Lions coach, was fired Monday at the completion of the first 0-16 season in NFL history. But Millen said he shoulders the blame for that record.

"CompletelyLink