Getty Rod Wood and Arthur Blank before a Lions-Falcons game.
The Detroit Lions are beginning to take the next steps toward finding their permanent general manager for 2021 and beyond, and have taken the steps of getting their in house interviews out of the way.
This week, the Lions revealed that they had completed interviews with the internal trio of Kyle O’Brien, Lance Newmark and Rob Lohman for the general manager job.
The #Lions completed General Manager interviews this week with the following candidates:
O’Brien was a deputy to Bob Quinn since coming to Detroit after Quinn’s hiring in 2016 and has been the team’s VP of Player Personnel. Newmark is Detroit’s Director of Player Personnel and has been in the organization since 1998 when he started in the scouting department. Lohman is the team’s Director of Pro Scouting and has been with the Lions since 2007.
Obviously, fans will likely have strong reactions to this news considering the team has not yet officially looked outside of their own building for candidates. That’s to come after the season in some cases with those employed in other league jobs and likely in the next few weeks in terms of external candidates not currently working with another NFL team.
This trio has been promoted since the firing of Quinn a few weeks ago and is now helping to run football decisions in Detroit until a new boss has been selected.
Lions Still Likely to Look Outside Team for General Manager
Many fans will likely panic about the news that these long time internal front office folks are the first round of interviews, but the fact is, the Lions promised a thorough search and that means starting within the building and getting an idea of what needs to change. It’s more than likely that the chances of O’Brien, Newmark or Lohman getting promoted to general manager are slim considering the candidates on the market and those who will soon be able to interview. It’s likely a professional courtesy for the Lions to interview these men first and get their take. Detroit has done this with their coaching staff before, interviewing Jim Bob Cooter for the head man role in 2017 before the job eventually went to the open market and was filled by Matt Patricia. Nobody would have called Cooter a front runner for the gig after his interview then, and it seems the same is true in this case.
It certainly doesn’t hurt the Lions to get an idea of who they have in the building and their ideas for the franchise. It might only make the entire search stronger in the end.
Lions General Manager Search Thus Far
Detroit has committed to change on a deep level for the future since the firing of Bob Quinn and Matt Patricia a few weeks ago, and are looking for a new voice in the front office to help set the tone from the top down. An experienced name could be what the Lions need the most considering the problems they have had on the field and with regard to roster construction the last handful of seasons. Early on, John Dorsey and Jerry Reese have been the two candidates with the most traction in terms of the general manager position, and it’s no surprise that both of them are experienced. Look for those interviews to happen in the next few weeks.
No matter what happens, fans will simply have to sit back and be patient to see what everyone’s role ends up being and who manages to get the jobs.
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