8702280335
DETROIT FREE PRESS
871206
Sunday, December 06, 1987
METRO FINAL
1D
Photo Color MARY SCHROEDER
MITCH ALBOM
Copyright (c) 1987, Detroit Free Press
ROGERS FACES MORE OF SAME
LIONS COACH'S REPRIEVE LIKELY WON'T MAKE ANY DIFFERENCE
Fine. He keeps the job. Now what? Darryl Rogers' football team has lost
nine of 11 games this year, the fans have gone from screaming to yawning, and
now it's Sunday again. When owner William Ford gave Rogers his vote of
confidence last week -- told the media he wouldn't be fired, he'd be back next
season -- he should have handed him a shovel, too. Have fun in the hole,
coach.
"What did that announcement really mean?" Rogers, who has two years left
on his contract, was asked Friday afternoon, as he sat behind his desk at the
Silverdome.
"You know," he said, shrugging. "I haven't figured it out yet. I mean, it
helps me, that's obvious. Unless I wanted to take a two-year vacation. . . . "
He grinned.
"Which I don't."
He grinned? Well. Listen. If, by now, you have built up a nice, thick
hatred for the Detroit Lions, do not -- and I repeat this -- do not go into
Darryl Rogers' office for an hour's worth of conversation. You will emerge
shaking your head, feeling a mixture of sympathy and admiration, while still
knowing the team will be lucky to win six games next year.
Rogers has that effect on people. He spins you around. Makes you feel
he's not the problem. Nice guys don't make good football coaches. Nice guys
don't have the brashness. Nice guys can't motivate young players. Can they?
Under his tutelage, the Lions have sunk from 7-9 to 5-11 to 2-9. Yet Darryl
Rogers, a nice guy, believes there's hope.
You see the problem.
"Looking at it objectively," he was asked, "do you think you deserve to
have your job right now?"
He thought for a moment. "If I went just on won-and-lost records," he
said, "I'd say no."
A pause.
"And if you considered things other than won-and-loss records -- ?"
"-- like personnel, developing a young quarterback, the strike season,"
he added, finishing the sentence, "then I'd say yes, I deserve to still be
here."
And on he goes. Whoever coined the phrase "nice guys finish last" surely
wore silver and blue underwear. Rogers, 52, currently commands a punchless
offense and an ice cream defense, and, if that weren't bad enough, he works
for an organization that is Neanderthal in its approach to today's NFL. With
the Lions, money is saved not spent. Chances are viewed as too risky, rather
than worth taking. Everything is kept safe and "status quo" -- which, in
Detroit football terminology, means: fair-to-lousy.
Much of that is Russ Thomas' fault. He is the general manager with the
skills of an accountant and the sense of adventure of, well, of an accountant.
Bad football teams do not get better by guarding their ledgers. They take
chances -- a la Indianapolis, New Orleans -- they make trades, they get
aggressive. The Lions' front office is as aggressive as oatmeal.
And yet Rogers is not faultless. He came here from the college ranks
with Haggar slacks, a goofy voice and a low-key approach. The last may have
hurt him the most. Oh, no doubt he needed time to learn the pro game, much as
his quarterback, Chuck Long, must do now. But he was given mediocre talent to
work with, and his strength may not be in whipping mediocre talent into
excellence. Or whipping, period.
"Do you think you're the best type of personality to coach this
particular team?" he was asked.
"I don't know," he answered. "That's difficult to say. . . . There are a
lot of ways to motivate people. Bill Walsh (of the 49ers) is quiet, yet I'd
say he's a motivator. Does Tom Landry motivate? I think he does.
"Having a quieter style doesn't mean you're low-key. Those other 'quiet'
guys get plenty upset when they lose. The ones that last the longest are the
ones that don't get too affected by either success or failure."
"Still," he was reminded, "the cynics will say your record suggests a team
going in the wrong direction."
"Not just the cynics," he quickly replied. "I'll say it. You don't have to
be a Phi Beta Kappa to know you're going in the wrong direction."
Well. Credit the guy for honesty. Rogers, who keeps things to himself
(his private life is strictly off-limits), is at least realistic:
About the Lions' running game, he said: "We don't have a running game. We
haven't had one since Billy Sims."
About the receivers: " . . . (long pause) . . . I think Pete Mandley is
developing into an excellent receiver."
About the defense: "We have problems." About his quarterback, Long: "I
don't know how long it will take him to develop. But it's not fair to blame
him for everything. . . . Give him the same situations next year, and I'll bet
he makes a lot more of the plays."
So go ahead. Curse, spit, kick the TV. But don't think that Darryl Rogers
thinks he has a great football team that's just not getting the breaks. "We
are lacking in personnel is some areas," he admits, without hesitation. "I
don't think we ever said we weren't."
And, as Rogers says, it is the players who play. All the coaches do is
call the plays. You tell one NFL player something, he executes, you look
good. You tell another the same thing, he blows it, you look stupid. Fans who
die with the Lions each Sunday generally scream about ineptitude -- an
interception, a missed tackle, a lousy block. They don't attack the defensive
scheme, or the play-calling.
So, is Rogers absolved? Not to blame? Not his fault? Not exactly. The team
has still gotten worse, if you go by the standings. Rogers, not
coincidentally, does not. "I believe the 7-9 team we had in 1985 was not as
good as the 5-11 team we had last year. And this year has been so strange,
with the strike, and a new quarterback. . . .
We'll stop. You've heard this before.
So we are back to the age-old question about coaching. Is the talent
here so poor that any coach would have problems, or is the coaching the weight
that drags down the players? The Lions have been a losing franchise for
nearly 20 years -- far longer than Rogers has been here. It would be nice to
see what he, or anyone, could do with a different GM (perhaps one who would
have more aggressively pursued an Eric Dickerson or Herschel Walker). And
because Thomas is due to retire in two years, that may happen, should Rogers
steer the team forward.
Then again, if he loses the first four games next season, forget it.
"I have to believe things can get better," Rogers said, sighing,
"otherwise, frankly, why go through this all again?" You hear that, and you
realize, no matter who's responsible for this mess, things have not been easy
on the guy. This season has been a series of lousy Sundays followed by lousy
Mondays, on which someone always asked if the coach's job was in trouble.
Last Monday, at the weekly Lions luncheon -- designed by the PR office in
hopes of building community support -- the ballroom was glaringly empty,
just a handful of media, a table of guests, and the coach. The silence was
embarrassing. And Rogers had to walk to the microphone, like a candidate
addressing a disinterested church group, and try to sound positive.
"I understand why fans feel the way they do,' he said now, in his office.
"I read my mail. A lot of it rips me. I still answer it. . . . I don't read
newspapers or watch TV. None of those people are in the position I'm in.
It's easy to criticize, to say what you would do. . . . But you've never been
there."
So here is your coach, Detroit. Good or bad, he stays, at least until next
season, inviting criticism, yet explaining it away. It is no surprise that
this city seems split on whether Rogers should have been fired. He is like a
voice in both ears. From a distance he says: "Ax me." Up close he says:
"Why?" But if, as Rogers maintains, the bottom line is winning, then for all
that happened last week, the bottom line hasn't shifted very much.
"To be honest," he said, "a .500 season next year would be a hell of an
effort."
We can hardly wait.
CUTLINE
Darryl Rogers: Lions' record going in the wrong direction.
DLIONS;FOOTBALL;Lions