coldarmy20

Rod Marinelli looked like he had been sent from central casting.

The Lions’ new head coach, wearing a leather jacket over his shirt and tie, stood at the podium with perfect posture. He looked every questioner in the eye and delivered many answers with a smile.

Local and national media had taken some time away from covering Super Bowl XL to catch Marinelli’s briefing on his search for assistant coaches. For those like me who had never heard him speak in person before, it was a valuable experience. He emitted an unmistakable aura of leadership.

He looked like a head coach. At the very least, embattled team president Matt Millen had hired someone with a presence. Someone who has the right attitude for the job.

I know, I know — first impressions can be deceiving. But the last time I was impressed by the way rookie head coaches came across early in their tenures, it was early 2003, and Marvin Lewis and Jack Del Rio were trying to get settled in their new positions.

Del Rio’s introductory press conference had the tone and rhythm of a politician’s stump speech: Del Rio would speak for a few moments, and the crowd would break into applause. Within three seasons, Del Rio had the Jaguars in the playoffs. So did Lewis, who impressed with his confident tone from the start.

Marinelli has been waiting a long time for his shot at a head-coaching job. In the past few years, he had been mentioned as a candidate for defensive coordinator vacancies, but the Buccaneers would not allow him to interview for coordinators’ jobs. So Marinelli, 56, plied his trade as one of the league’s most respected DL coaches.

Marinelli is said to relate well to his players, a skill invaluable in his new position.

“I guess they know how much I like football,” he said last week. “They know how hard I’ll push them. They’ll all identify with that. I’m going to make them all accountable. They’re all different, unique personalities. Then I’m relentless. I’m relentless. I just am. I state something: ‘(Former Bucs DT) Warren (Sapp), this is what you’re going to be. Do you agree to that? Do you want that? Yes. Here we go.’ And it’s just … boom! I just stay after it. And they respect that.

“You tell men the truth. You don’t hide anything, you don’t skirt the issue. You just be direct with these men — that’s all they want. Be direct. And tell them what they need to hear, not what they want to hear. And it’s the same with some of the coaches I’m talking about right now. They’re different personalities, but they’re all strong. I like that.

“You just tell them what you need, tell them what you want. And then you stay after it and stay after it and stay after it. It’s a daily effort. And they see how hard I go after them every day. You just love it. It’s fun.”

That was a mouthful. But Marinelli has bitten off quite the big piece of a rebuilding project in Detroit. The Lions, forgotten bystanders as their city hosted Super Bowl XL, are well behind the Bears and Vikings in the NFC North pecking order, and it will be hard for them to compete with either club for a division title in 2006.

The Lions will try to fix a longtime problem by allowing incoming QBs Josh McCown and Jon Kitna to compete in training camp. McCown is more athletic, but Kitna could win the job with his leadership presence and preparation. Marinelli would be wise to pick a starter early in the preseason; a QB controversy is a distraction he can't afford.

Both quarterbacks will benefit from the tutelage of offensive coordinator Mike Martz, the former St. Louis head coach. Martz is the star of an impressive coaching staff. OL coach Larry Beightol is among the best in his profession. The defense should respond well to defensive coordinator Donnie Henderson, who kept the Jets’ defense competitive last season and gets through to players. And given Marinelli’s success working with defensive linemen throughout his career — and Detroit’s talent at end and tackle — the Lions have the makings of a solid defense.

Now Marinelli must go about the business of installing his program and improving the team’s attitude. He spoke with admiration of the Steelers’ remarkable consistency in Bill Cowher’s tenure in Pittsburgh. There is no mistaking Cowher’s philosophies.

“They seem to run the same systems, they get better and better at it, they improve at it,” Marinelli said. “Continuity. That’s the thing that really impresses me with the Pittsburgh Steelers: (physicality), hitting — those things. … They have done a great job over a long period of time. It’s impressive.”

Cowher has been blessed with patient ownership who stuck with him even after the Steelers missed the playoffs from 1998 to 2000; by contrast, the Ford family has allowed Millen to fire two coaches in less than three years.

How long Marinelli gets in Detroit is anyone’s guess, but there is considerable work that needs to be done. The good news: He’s organized and passionate. He’s well aware that “it’s a show-me game, and we’ve just got to go out and do what we do. And define me off that.”

He will be. And my hunch is he’ll be remembered favorably.

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