The Lions seem to be favoring a defensive mind. Do you agree with that line of thinking?

We are now into Day 4 of the Detroit Lions head coaching search. the Lions have already interviewed three candidates for the job: Teryl Austin, Jim Bob Cooter and Mike Vrabel. Thursday, the Lions will interview two more candidate: Vikings offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur and Packers assistant head Coach and linebackers coach Winston Moss.

If there’s one thing we’ve learned about the candidates the Lions are interviewing thus far, it’s that Detroit seems to favor defensive coaches. Of the seven candidates they’ve reportedly expressed interest in, five of them come from a defensive background.

That’s not all that surprising. Most of the time when a team makes a coaching change, they choose a man from the opposite side of the ball than their previous coach. Jim Caldwell obviously was more of an offensive mind, so it stands to reason that the Lions would seek out a defensive mind.

But is that the right move? Today’s Question of the Day is:

Do you prefer the next Lions coach to have an offensive or defensive background?

My answer: I have literally no preference. I want the Lions to get the best football mind out there with a dash of good leadership. I don’t care which side of the ball that comes from.

I understand that getting a guy with a defensive mind likely opens up the opportunity of keeping Lions offensive coordinator Jim Bob Cooter around next year, but as I stated yesterday, I’m not so sold on that idea anyways. While bringing a guy like Matt Patricia or Mike Vrabel in as head coach may leave Detroit vulnerable on offense, considering neither of those guys would necessarily be able to bring in a great offensive mind to coordinate that side of the ball, I trust in the personnel enough to carry the offense.

As for an offensive-minded coach, I, too, get that finding someone that could finally help establish a running game could be absolutely huge for this team. But I would hope that the new coach recognizes that weakness right away anyways and seeks as much help as they could possibly get to remedy that situation.

Remember that whoever the Lions’ next head coach is, they will be the head coach, not the coordinator. It will likely not be their job to “fix” a particular unit, but to lead. And that is the main reason I don’t care which side of the ball the next coach comes from.

Your turn.