So, everywhere I go and see someone talking about a hypothetical future coach for the Lions, I always see Bill Cowher's name thrown around. An internet message board, talk radio, the bar -- wherever. It's like the most common "dream" Lions coach. And frankly I just don't understand it. Can someone explain?

He was the coach of the Steelers for 15 years. In that time, he had a great overall record, but only won the AFC championship twice and the Superbowl once. And, that Superbowl victory was more a product of luck than Cowher's talents -- the refs gave the Steelers the game.

His roughly 2/3 win percentage is impressive but consider: It's the Steelers. The entire organization is golden. They won the Superbowl again after he left, and they won many Superbowls before he got there.

I think when people talk about getting Cowher they think they would somehow be getting the entire culture of the Steeler's organization. That hard-nose, consistently good Steelers squad. Unfortunately, that isn't the case. You'd be getting one guy who hasn't coached for five years and evidently wasn't that important to the Steeler's winning ways.

It would be nice to get a veteran coach with a proven track record. But Cowher is overrated to an ungodly degree.

And why in the hell would he come to the lions and be fully invested in the cause? The guy bleeds the yellow and black and I would be shocked to see one of the longest tenured coaches for a single team come out of retirement to coach the lions.

They'd have a better shot at gruden.

1) I think you're underestimating Cowher. He literally has part of the culture in him, and with the right personnel change I think he could bring it here. Harbaugh brought it to SF, and they were lower than us in terms of team morale.

2) You're not just getting Cowher, you're getting Cowher and staff (new OC, new DC, new position coaches, etc).

3) That being said, I don't see Cowher coming here either. We should sell the farm to get him here, but I think he'd rather go to a team like Chicago. FWIW there is a rumor that Chicago is the only team he would come back for, and it makes sense. They're much closer to the Steelers when he took them over than we are in our current state. Like I said after last season, with the bargaining chip of "we're a playoff contender" is when we should have made our moves.

I said this already in the lovie thread, but our ideal hypothetical coach of the future should be chucky himself, John Gruden. He is a QB wizard and would poop himself at the chance to coach a talent like Stafford. He is also a fiery guy that knew how to set the law from day one if I remember is tenure in Tampa correctly..

He may do well with Staff and the offense, and he's a helluva lot smarter than Schwartz. He knows how to keep his wits about him when he's mad, and that's huge, Schwartz doesn't. Gruden would be a huge upgrade, but I do think he too is an emotional tool.

I mean, I know he won the SB, but I still don't think he's the guy to whip this team into shape. I don't see him having that kind of discipline, but I do like him a lot more than Schartz. You gotta love the fact that he has the rings to prove that he knows what's up. Whether he built that D or not, he still coached them through the SB.

Suh is a lot like Sapp, but better IMO. Avril is a like like Rice, but not as good, IMO. We have pieces similar to TBs SB team, but our offense would have to be great to get it done. Maybe Gruden working with Staff and CJ could do it? They'd have a helluva better chance than what we're currently dealing with.

I don't understand why people keep saying that Gruden is some kind of QB guru. He may know the position and what not but he's never even had a good QB. Who is even his best guy? Brad Johnson when they won the SB? That left handed QB from Texas who busted his spleen a few years ago? Say what you want but he's never had a top flight QB.

I dont even know why were discussing coaches anyway. Schwartz aint going no where.

Rich Gannon was no slouch under Gruden.

That's only one player though. He might be a QB guru but there haven't been too many results as far as I'm concerned.

Footsoldier, being a "Qb guru" is not about having a great Qb, it's about taking a Qb and getting the most out of him. He took Johnson to a SB, that's saying something. The guy was average at best.

Touche'

Let's see, Gruden and Johnson were together in TB for 4 years. Brad had one good year, the year after the SB (02') when he threw 22 TDs with just 6 INTs. The rest of the years his TD-INT ratio was (01') 13-11, (03') 26-21, and (04') 3-3. You could argue that Johnson had his best years in Washington prior to TB when he had his only 4,000 yard season and led them to a division title and beat the Lions (27-13) in the first round of the playoffs before losing by a point to TB of all teams in the next round.

BTW - if you look at Gruden's last 6 seasons (those in Tampa after the SB), he finished last in the divison twice, third twice and had more than 9 wins just once. His record for those six years was 45-51 and none of those teams did not win a playoff game.

Would you be satisfied with a 6-year run like that by Gruden?

If you're askin' me... Nope... He's not my guy. Like I said, I think he'd be an upgrade, but not "the guy." I wish we would have landed Jeff Fisher last year. I think he could have been it.

I do like the idea of Jim Tressel or Kirk Ferentz though.

I would go with a winning College coach. Didn't work in the 90s, but it apparently works now. Don't see much sense in bringing in a coordinator or a guy whose glory days are behind him.

Id like Chip Kelly. Wonder what kind of offense he could bring.