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Footballguy
Marinelli says hiring of son-in-law is due to ability, not family tie
Thursday, January 04, 2007
By Tom Kowalski
ALLEN PARK -- As expected, Detroit Lions head coach Rod Marinelli hired his son-in-law, Joe Barry, to be the team's next defensive coordinator. And, as expected, Marinelli was questioned about hiring a family member for such a key position.
Barry, the former linebackers coach for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, has spent a lot of time working in the Tampa Two defensive system, including five years with Marinelli in Tampa.
"I hired one of the best," Marinelli said. "If we didn't get him, he'd be defensive coordinator in some other place right now. So I went and got the best guy to run this defense.
"People can look at it how they want to look at it; I'm not interested in that. I'm interested in winning. I'm getting the best guy to run this defense to get this thing exactly how I want it. He's been trained by (Indianapolis coach and former Bucs head coach) Tony Dungy under this system, under (Tampa Bay defensive coordinator) Monte Kiffin, and he understands it, every part of it. He's also trained with (Bears head coach) Lovie Smith. I've worked with him, I know what he's got, and that's what I'm excited about."
Barry replaces Donnie Henderson, who was released earlier this week after just one season with the Lions, mostly because he wasn't highly trained in the Tampa Two system. Barry is coming from a far different background.
"I believe that whether you're a coordinator or an assistant, you have to believe in your head coach and you have to believe in what he stands for, and I do whole-heartedly with coach Marinelli," said Barry, also a firm believer in the Tampa Two. "I think it's time-tested. I was involved with it for six years and had great success with it. We finished No. 1 in the league in defense and we won a Super Bowl one of those years. So, I believe it's a system that works as long as everybody involved in it -- from the top to the bottom -- buys into it and believes in it."
Barry admits he hasn't seen much of the Lions defendive players lately but he knows who many of the players are.
"I think we have two great players, not good players, but great players: Shaun Rogers and Cory Redding," Barry said. "I have not watched them play a down of football this (season), but I know them from their past. I know them from looking at them when they came out of college. They're both dominant defensive linemen and that's what you have to have in this package.
"At the linebacker spot, I loved Ernie Sims coming out of Florida State a year ago. I didn't get a chance to watch him (this season) but I know what he's about. Boss Bailey, the same thing -- I was at his pro workout three or four years ago, whenever it was. I know what he can do. Kenoy Kennedy, shoot, great safety and you've got to have a safety, you've got to have a hammer in this package. So, I think the base is there. Just mentioning those five names, I feel good with that and I'm excited about it."
An interesting part of Barry's football past is that he's one of the few who played for both the University of Michigan and the University of Southern California. Barry went to U-M because he wanted to play linebacker for former head coach Bo Schembechler.
"I played on his last team. He announced his retirement at the end of my freshman season," Barry said. "Ultimately, what caused me to transfer (to Southern Cal) is that I realized I wasn't good enough to play at Michigan and I wanted to play. It just wasn't going to work out at U-M. So I decided USC was my second choice."
http://www.mlive.com/lions/stories/index.s....xml&coll=1
Thursday, January 04, 2007
By Tom Kowalski
ALLEN PARK -- As expected, Detroit Lions head coach Rod Marinelli hired his son-in-law, Joe Barry, to be the team's next defensive coordinator. And, as expected, Marinelli was questioned about hiring a family member for such a key position.
Barry, the former linebackers coach for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, has spent a lot of time working in the Tampa Two defensive system, including five years with Marinelli in Tampa.
"I hired one of the best," Marinelli said. "If we didn't get him, he'd be defensive coordinator in some other place right now. So I went and got the best guy to run this defense.
"People can look at it how they want to look at it; I'm not interested in that. I'm interested in winning. I'm getting the best guy to run this defense to get this thing exactly how I want it. He's been trained by (Indianapolis coach and former Bucs head coach) Tony Dungy under this system, under (Tampa Bay defensive coordinator) Monte Kiffin, and he understands it, every part of it. He's also trained with (Bears head coach) Lovie Smith. I've worked with him, I know what he's got, and that's what I'm excited about."
Barry replaces Donnie Henderson, who was released earlier this week after just one season with the Lions, mostly because he wasn't highly trained in the Tampa Two system. Barry is coming from a far different background.
"I believe that whether you're a coordinator or an assistant, you have to believe in your head coach and you have to believe in what he stands for, and I do whole-heartedly with coach Marinelli," said Barry, also a firm believer in the Tampa Two. "I think it's time-tested. I was involved with it for six years and had great success with it. We finished No. 1 in the league in defense and we won a Super Bowl one of those years. So, I believe it's a system that works as long as everybody involved in it -- from the top to the bottom -- buys into it and believes in it."
Barry admits he hasn't seen much of the Lions defendive players lately but he knows who many of the players are.
"I think we have two great players, not good players, but great players: Shaun Rogers and Cory Redding," Barry said. "I have not watched them play a down of football this (season), but I know them from their past. I know them from looking at them when they came out of college. They're both dominant defensive linemen and that's what you have to have in this package.
"At the linebacker spot, I loved Ernie Sims coming out of Florida State a year ago. I didn't get a chance to watch him (this season) but I know what he's about. Boss Bailey, the same thing -- I was at his pro workout three or four years ago, whenever it was. I know what he can do. Kenoy Kennedy, shoot, great safety and you've got to have a safety, you've got to have a hammer in this package. So, I think the base is there. Just mentioning those five names, I feel good with that and I'm excited about it."
An interesting part of Barry's football past is that he's one of the few who played for both the University of Michigan and the University of Southern California. Barry went to U-M because he wanted to play linebacker for former head coach Bo Schembechler.
"I played on his last team. He announced his retirement at the end of my freshman season," Barry said. "Ultimately, what caused me to transfer (to Southern Cal) is that I realized I wasn't good enough to play at Michigan and I wanted to play. It just wasn't going to work out at U-M. So I decided USC was my second choice."
http://www.mlive.com/lions/stories/index.s....xml&coll=1
Cardinals were denied an interview with him 3 years ago...Green Bay tried to in 2005. Marinelli wanted to hire him last year but the bucs refused.
I'm sorry, you were saying something about Cameron?....
