9701020245
DETROIT FREE PRESS
970114
Tuesday, January 14, 1997
METRO FINAL
1A
Photo JULIAN H. GONZALEZ
New head coach Bobby Ross tries on a Detroit Lions cap as he
addresses a news conference Monday at the Pontiac Silverdome.
"I am not a big talker," he says. He already has specific
plans for the team, though.
MITCH ALBOM
Copyright (c) 1997, Detroit Free Press
NEW LIONS COACH LOOKS LIKE A PERFECT FIT
NO MADNESS, JUST METHOD
The paper. I kept looking for the piece of paper. The crib sheet. The
notes. Something written down that Bobby Ross was no doubt checking as he
stood at the microphone, neatly coiffed, rattling off his coaching blueprint.
Methodically, he outlined why he came here, how he operated, and the steps he
would take to build a winner in Detroit. Surely he was working from a script,
no? It was too logical. Too orderly. The Lions haven't witnessed this kind of
organization since the Silverdome crowd sang an on-key verse of "Another One
Bites the Dust."
Straighten up, fly right. You know what Monday really was? The day Wayne
Fontes was fired as Lions coach. Oh, his smiling mug was shown the door last
month. But his way of doing things was only officially broomed out Monday at
11 a.m., an efficient hour, when Bobby Ross, proven winner, man with a plan,
stepped to the podium to start a new era.
Straighten up, fly right.
"If you've ever been a player or coach in the NFL," announced Ross, 60, in
front of his new bosses and a room packed with reporters, "then you know this:
If you're not playing at this time of year, it eats away at you. There's an
empty feeling inside."
How do you like that? He's here five minutes and he's lamenting the fact
that the Lions aren't in a Super Bowl.
Straighten up, fly right.
There was no crib sheet in front of Ross. This is simply who he is:
organized, meticulous and thorough, without being a robot. He did not talk of
frivolous things, of cigars, food, hugging. He talked of winning. That is his
calling card.
This is a man who is hailed by everyone he works with as a winner and an
admirable guy, a man bold enough to lead the greatest comeback in the history
of college football -- when his Maryland team beat Jimmy Johnson's Miami
Hurricanes on the road, 42-40 -- yet modest enough to pay a parking fee at
Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego because he forgot his pass and didn't want to
drop his own name.
Here is a guy who lived five years in San Diego and "never saw the ocean,
except for a few walks with my wife." The rest of the time he was working.
Here is a guy who believes in using referees in practice, so his teams
don't develop penalty habits.
Here is a guy who is not yakking about his childhood, his food habits,
being "the Big Buck" or any of the other comedy material that has defined
recent conversations with the Lions' head football coach.
Instead, on his first day, Bobby Ross determined: 1) They will use a
blocking back for Barry Sanders. 2) They will want Scott Mitchell as their
quarterback. 3) They will play a 4-3 defense. 4) Former coaches will be given
a chance to interview for jobs "with no promises." 5) He will move here with
his wife into a house "close to the stadium, so I can have quick access to my
office."
He then flew to Mobile, Ala., to begin scouting college seniors.
All that in his first hour. That's more definitive action that we got in
six months' worth of Fontes.
Straighten up, fly right.
The man with a plan
"How would you characterize your coaching style?" someone asked Ross, who
brings a Super Bowl appearance and a college national championship to the
job.
"I believe in communication," he said. "My door in my office and my house
is always open. But I also believe in discipline. And there will be no doubt
who's in charge."
Fine with me. I liked this move when it was announced. I liked it more
after hearing Ross. I do not think he is perfect, but I do think he is a
perfect fit. This team has become slipshod. Too much talent wasted. Too much
time zigging and zagging, no plan, no focus, no clue.
Ross will go forward, with a definite attack. Remember, he did not need to
jump on the first vine that swung past him. He was wanted by several pro
franchises. He could have gotten rich anywhere. He chose this team. And seeing
as Ross is a guy who arrived for his interview with four pages of his own
notes and questions, and who gives his players written summations of
opponents before each game, well, you can bet he chose the Lions for a reason.
He thinks they can win.
An organizational man
When Ross left the news conference to go to the airport, owner William
Clay Ford hung around. He was in an unusually conversational mood. I asked
whether he understood why fans had been skeptical of whom he would hire this
time. To his credit, he said he did.
"You can't argue with the record over the years," he said. "Maybe I haven't
always hired the right person to lead this team."
I believe he did this time. For comparison, I went back and checked the
news accounts from the days the previous two coaches were hired.
On Dec. 22, 1988, the Lions officially hired Fontes. At his news conference
he talked about not being able to find his way out of the parking lot. He
also promised to remain the "same guy I always was." He talked about hugging
the owner, and he promised "Wayne Fontes will be visible in the community.
I'll be at baseball games and basketball games."
As for concrete football plans? He didn't say much, except that with his
upcoming first draft pick, the Lions "need a guy who will block out the sun, a
defensive end."
He drafted Barry Sanders.
So much for a man with a plan.
Darryl Rogers, on Feb. 6, 1985, was even worse. When news broke of his
hiring, his most memorable quote was, "I'm honest: I don't know a thing about
the Detroit Lions."
He came here and coached like it.
You needn't worry about that with Ross. He was organized at Maryland, where
he boosted a program; organized at Georgia Tech, where he rebuilt a program;
organized at San Diego, where he built a Super Bowl team, and he will be
organized here. Practices will be sharper, plans will be clearer, and no
matter what the results, people will not feel that the head man is asleep at
the wheel.
As for fans' and critics' traditional impatience?
"No one's going to be more impatient than me," Ross said. "And I'm going to
be the one putting in all the hours, more than you, more than anyone in this
room. I want to win."
Straighten up, fly right.
I feel so much better about this team right now, I could bust a seam.
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LIONS; ANNOUNCEMENT; APPOINTMENT; BOBBY ROSS; SPT