Scott Linehan has reportedly agreed to become the Detroit Lions' offensive coordinator, and my faith in humanity has been restored - at least until I learn something different.
Linehan cited familial concerns as to the reason he did not accept the 49ers' job offer. But when reports surfaced last night that he might be heading to Oakland for an interview, it left a lot of people - myself included - wondering if he had pulled a Saban-Petrino.
Linehan gave me the impression when I spoke with him Sunday that he planned to keep his family in St. Louis. He has three boys, the oldest of whom will be entering high school next year. That kid has already been in seven different schools. The best possible scenario for Linehan and his family would've been for him to accept a job within a two-hour flight of St. Louis. With the Lions, he is getting that.
He can leave his family in St. Louis and take direct flights to and from Detroit that are about 1 hour, 45 minutes in duration. So he can actually come home to visit his family -- and they can visit him -- on a regular basis. If he had taken a job with the 49ers, he would've been looking at flights lasting more than seven hours (including layovers) from St. Louis to San Jose.
Granted, the 49ers were left wondering why Linehan met with club officials twice if he wasn't sure he wanted to take the job. That is certainly a legitimate complaint. It would have looked really, really bad had Linehan ended up taking a job with the Raiders.
So, another question to ask is: Was Scott Linehan really in play with the Raiders or were they just trying to tweak the 49ers a little?
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And, furthermore, this should also put to rest the notion that what kept Linehan from accepting the 49ers' job was the QB situation. In the words of new coach Jim Schwartz, the Lions are still trying to find a replacement for Bobby Layne . . . and he last played for the Lions in 1958.
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ROSTER UPDATE (11:10 a.m.): The 49ers announced today the signing of receiver Micheal Spurlock (5-11, 200). He was originally signed as an undrafted rookie free agent in 2006 by the Cardinals out of Mississippi. He spent the entire 2008 season on the practice squad of the Buccaneers. In 2007, Spurlock saw action in seven games for the Buccaneers, returning 16 kickoffs for 444 yards (27.8 avg.), which included a 90-yard touchdown return, to go along with four punt returns for 30 yards. In his rookie season with the Cardinals, he was promoted from the practice squad to the active roster for the season finale at San Diego. In that game, Spurlock caught four passes for 31 yards and returned five kickoffs for 106 yards.
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No doubt about the familial concerns now. Detroit's offense makes us look like the Niners of old.
Matt, your analysis seems quite solid and, in addition, you can't always know what you really want until something is a reality. But still, the whole thing does leave some serious question marks about Linehan and, secondarily, the 9ers management.
How low has this organization sunk when someone declines your offer to work for the Lions?
east coast bias MM, people are always hatin' on west coast (Bay Area) squads. It's alright though, our moment in the sun is over the horizon.
It had to be that the Raiders leaked a little mis-information to tweak the Niners. I mean the day after Kawakami's buddy Herrera said Linehan was a Raider OC candidate, Linehan suddenly signs with Detroit?
Not buying it. My guess is that Linehan rebuffed the Raiders request to interview and Big Al took the opportunity to make Linehan look like a jerk and embarrass the 49ers at the same time. CLASS-E.
Jay Glazer is reporting the 49ers are going to interview Dan Reeves fo the position. Interesting.
Spurlock = Rossum's replacement.
brent, are you serious? Dan Reeves? That makes no sense.
Yeah i am serious. Just google 49ers and it comes up.
Adam Schefter is also reporting it: http://blogs.nfl.com/category/adam-schefter/
Matt,
Your faith should only be restored if Linehan actually leaves his family in St Louis.
I just read Glazer's story on Dan Reeves interviewing with the 9ers as OC. I also took the poll and was suprised to see over 67% of people polled thought Reeves would be a good fit. This is the guy who kept Elway down for a decade. He never put together a good ground attack. How in the world does this fit with Sing's philosophy? As long as the 9ers are interviewing guys of Reeve's stature, why not interview Shanahan and/or Gruden? I know they were HC's very recently but as re-treads go they're a better option than Reeves. On the other hand he did take teams to 5 Superbowls. Jeez, I guess I'm conflicted on this one.
Wow. That came out of no where. Very off the wall if you ask me. He has not been an OC in over 30 years. Really don't what to say other than, wow.
I think Linehan probably would have flown direct to SFO and lived with the extra 20-30 minutes of driving (there would have been driving from SJ, too) rather than add 3 hours with a layover, but I digress...
Adam Schefter is also reporting it: http://blogs.nfl.com/category/adam-schefter/
It's the money. Its always the money. Lions will pay Linehan more than the 49ers offered. Simple as that.
And Linehan still gets to wear Martz's hand-me-downs ;).
I'm a Navy-brat and also went to 7 schools before entering H.S. (4th was in 3 schools). If the Lions are a brief lay-over for Linehan, in that he moves on after a year It's probably the best family decision, not if it last for years. I don't care for the part-time Dad idea. Possible that Linehan was on the radar as the Traitor's HC? Or have they made the announcement that Cableman is their pick for now?
Well what can we say? We clearly are not the prettiest girl at the dance.
Following the Martz path, does this mean Linehan is on pace to be the niners offensive coordinator in two years?
I warned Scott not to get involved with this team or he would become a Prozac addict like myself, i wish him a prozac-free time in Detroit.
RealFan49 is exactly right. Detroit offered more. Period. The family thing is only true to the extent that at a certain price it is worth it to move your family. Obviously the Niners' offer was below that price and Detroit's was above it. Very simple. The flight time stuff is prattle.
Not that I think this had anything to do with his decision, but he also gets the added benefit of looking good no matter what he does there -- unless the Lions figure out a way to go 0-17.