He Goes Into Shock, Wakes Up With Lions

Steve Mariucci, who coached the San Francisco 49ers to four playoff appearances in six seasons, is now determined to reverse the fortunes of the Detroit Lions. That’s no simple task, considering the Lions went 5-27 during the last two seasons, need to patch all sorts of holes on defense, and have a promising but unproven quarterback in Joey Harrington.

Mariucci welcomes the challenge. The way he sees it, coaching is the easy part. The hard part was the way he was abruptly dumped by the 49ers, shoved out the door last month three days after his team was eliminated from the playoffs.

Question: Were you floored when the 49ers fired you?

Answer: I guess I was in disbelief. I wasn’t prepared for it. My family wasn’t prepared for it. I wasn’t anticipating it at all. It came as a shock to me. I didn’t feel like I failed at all, but I did feel like I hadn’t succeeded yet.

Q: Meaning you never won a Super Bowl?

A: Yes. It’s that simple. But I also felt we were on course and on track, headed there on a fast track. I was really proud of what we did. I was really proud of the team and the organization, to reload and rebuild quickly. It was a great experience for me. When I retire someday, and look back at those six years, they’re in my mind going to be considered awesome years. Great learning experience.

Q: What, specifically, do you remember about the firing?

A: When I was in with [49er owner] John York in his office, when he was explaining to me that we were going to part ways, my wife heard it on the radio and our coaches heard it on “SportsCenter.” It was out before I left the room. So my wife was in my office. [Dana Stubblefield] and [Derrick] Deese were in my office consoling her. I got out of John York’s office and she was there. Players were coming in. There were fans outside, media outside. It was crazy. And T.O. [Terrell Owens] came up to my office, came in shook my hand and said, “I appreciate everything you’ve done.” I said, “I appreciate you too, man.” He said, “Good luck.” And I said, “You just keep it going. You had a great year.” And then we just kidded about sharing the same sideline again sometime. He is going to be a free agent in a year.

Q: So you and Terrell mended fences?

A: We went through a tough time for a year and a half. Our relationship was good initially, and then it became strained, and then we were both man enough to work through it. And it was constantly talked about and watched. People would watch, “Hey, you talked to him in practice today.” It was ridiculous how much it was talked about. He’s a special guy.

Q: Were you bracing to be out of coaching longer?

A: Yes. I had coached for 24 years. This is what I do. I’m hooked, I’m addicted to it. There are some parts to it that are very challenging: We live in a fishbowl; everything we say, do, wear, where we go is scrutinized to the nth degree. I understand all that. That’s the environment we live in. That’s the business we chose. And you get addicted to it. You get hooked on being in the hot seat. You almost learn to enjoy the hot seat. When you’re off the hot seat it’s, like, “I gotta get back on the hot seat because the other stuff’s not challenging enough.” It’s a sickness.

Q: What were you going to do as an ex-NFL coach?

A: I was trying to plan a year of vacations. I had it all planned out. I was going to take the kids to Hawaii for spring break -- they’re still going -- and I was going to take my wife to Italy. I was going to spend much more time with my folks back in Michigan, who are getting up in age. Much more time getting in shape. Spending more quality time with my kids instead of hit and miss. Sleeping in once in a while. I was beginning to put those sort of calendars together. I was thinking, “OK, I’ve got 11 months to do this, and then I’m going back in that [coaching] arena.” And I didn’t know where it would be.

Q: Have you gotten over the emotion of being fired?

A: I’ve turned the page. Big time. Turned the page. My family’s still back in the Bay Area. I’m living in a hotel for five months. The kids have got to finish the semester.

So they haven’t turned the page the way I have.

Q: Is page-turning mandatory?

A: We ask our players to have a short-term memory. Whether you’re a quarterback and you just threw a pick, or you’re a corner and you just got beat for a touchdown, you’ve got to have a short-term memory, shake it off and play the next play. I have to tell myself that too in this scenario. So I’ve moved on. I’ve tried not to expend any energy at all thinking about the what-ifs or the whys or anything like that.

My mind-set is focused on winning a championship for the Detroit Lions, winning a championship for Mr. Ford. I didn’t expect to be coaching this year, and he brought me in here to do a job. It’s full speed ahead in trying to get that done.

Q: Joey Harrington’s your quarterback now. What did you notice about him when he was playing at Oregon?

A: He’s a winner, obviously. He had some charisma, a little something about him. I’m not talking about that big [billboard] in Times Square, either, I’m talking about how it seemed like he had those intangibles -- a confidence on the field, an athletic confidence, confidence with the media. He’s had a quarterback-type swagger. It’s a good start.

Q: So is it all on Harrington?

A: Young quarterbacks do well because they have a great defense. If you have a great defense and teams don’t score but 10 or 14 or 17 points, you’re never playing from behind, you’re always in the game. That’s when a quarterback can play his best. If he’s down by three touchdowns early, that guy has no shot. He’s trying to play catch-up, he’s passing against pass rushers all day long, and it’s not going to happen for him. He’s going to get discouraged.

Q: Where does he go from here?

A: I see a guy that’s got a lot of good football in front of him. I’m going to coach him hard. I’ve been a lucky guy. I’ve been in this league 11 years, and the quarterback on the team that I’ve been coaching has been in the Pro Bowl 10 out of 11 years. [Brett] Favre and [Steve] Young and [Jeff] Garcia. And I’m going to demand that from him.