- Rod Marinelli
Rodney (Rod) Marinelli (born
July 13 ,1949 inRosemead, California ) is thehead coach of theDetroit Lions , the twenty-fourth in franchise history.Marinelli's coaching career began in 1973 as an assistant at Rosemead High School in suburban
Los Angeles from 1973 to 1975. He earned his first collegiate job in 1976, serving as an assistant atUtah State University until 1982. He then moved on to the University of California for nine seasons, serving as the offensive line coach and later the assistant head coach. He was then on staff withArizona State University for three seasons, again holding a dual role as defensive line and assistant head coach, between 1992 and 1994. Marinelli spent his final year in college football atUniversity of Southern California in 1995.Marinelli went to the
Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 1996 and was the defensive line coach for six seasons under head coachTony Dungy . The latter four seasons he also served as assistant head coach. He was known for his strict disciplinary style and his commitment to getting the most out of his players. There he worked to develop lineman such asWarren Sapp andSimeon Rice into Pro Bowl caliber players. During Marinelli's tenure in Tampa Bay, the Buccaneers earned more sacks than any other franchise.Detroit Lions
On
January 18 ,2006 , Marinelli was named the head coach of theDetroit Lions , replacingDick Jauron . Marinelli was the fourth coach hired by Lions CEOMatt Millen , preceded byMarty Mornhinweg ,Steve Mariucci andDick Jauron .The Marinelli era began poorly, as the Lions lost the first five games of the 2006 season before beating the
Buffalo Bills 20-17. The Lions lost seven games in a row between weeks 10 and 16 before ending the year on a high note by beating theDallas Cowboys 39-31.The 2007 season started off well for the Lions as they roared to a 6-2 start, with credit being given to Marinelli's "Pound the Rock" approach. At one point, receiver
Mike Furrey boasted, "The Lions are 4-2, media! "You can kiss my ass!" [Detroit Free Press, http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071024/SPORTS01/710240364/1049/SPORTS]Despite winning the next two games after Furrey's comments, the Lions lost seven out of their last eight games, and finished the 2007 season with a 7-9 record, good enough for 3rd in the NFC North.
Rod Marinelli Quotes:
2007: "Even if you don't play well, you've got to play hard. If you don't, you become what you tolerate. If you tolerate poor practice habits, if you tolerate not finishing, if you tolerate lack of execution, that's what you become."
References
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