There’s a new general manager in the Motor City.
The Detroit Lions officially hired Brad Holmes, who previously served as the Director of College Scouting for the Los Angeles Rams, as the successor to Bob Quinn.
He’ll be aiming to use his passion for the game and experience to turn things around for the better in the Motor City.
Holmes joined “The Stoney and Jansen Show” on 97.1 The Ticket on Friday morning, and touched on an array of subjects.
Jansen, a former offensive lineman in his own right, kicked off the questioning by asking Holmes where he would start when thinking of building a football team and re-designing a franchise in your image and with your ideas.
“You know, that’s a good question and I way it’s good because it can go in a myriad of ways,” Holmes said. “I do believe that as you know as an offensive lineman and going up against talented strong defensive lineman, I think it’s critical to make sure you’re solid up front on both sides of the line. I know it’s the old cliche of building inside out, but there have been other approaches where you can get some pieces inside and get some talented skill on the outside as well, but I definitely think it’s critical that both lines are solidified, and I know the buzzword of re-tooling will be done on the defensive side of the ball, but I like the promise of the offensive line.”
With several holes on the defensive side of the ball, how will Holmes go about addressing those needs this offseason?
“I will say this – there are building blocks there, but I do say that when you talk about the re-addressing of being frank, I could see more re-addressing on that side of the ball,” he responded.
The Lions feature several young players on the roster, many of whom are going to be expected to take the next step in their careers in the Motor City. How long does Holmes anticipate being patient with their development? For him, new head coach Dan Campbell will play a huge role in player development.
“That’s going to be really – I think that’ll be the great thing of Dan and his staff,” Holmes said. “He has an incredible passion to develop players, and they all kind of developed and respond in different ways. I have ull trust in Dan and the staff he’ll bring in; we’ve had a lot of long conversations of player development, and I belive those players will be in good hands.”
Holmes was then asked about his influence in the decision to hire Campbell as the official successor to Matt Patricia and interim head coach Darrell Bevell.
“I had a lot of talks with Dan and it was all positive – we were aligned on all of the same area, and it worked out great. I couldn’t be more excited.”
How does Holmes anticipate handing any potential disagreement between him and Campbell?
“I say this gingerly, because Dan and I have to just figure that one out. But I say it gingerly because I think Dan mentioned we need to lock the doors and battle it out. Dan isn’t a guy that I want to battle out with,” he said with a laugh.
“It goes back to what I said about communication,” Holmes said. “We were so alinged in the same areas in terms of philosophy, personnel, how we see player personnel, vision; it’s his philosophy, and I want to provide him with the best resources. I don’t foresee a situation where we don’t agree on a player.”
Holmes went on to describe “healthy dissent” as a critical part of reaching a solution that works for both parties in the event of a disagreement.
Dan mentioned it in his presser of not seeing eye to eye, but healthy dissent is a great way to get to a winning solution,” Holmes said. “That’s something that I would encourage – healthy dissent. I embrace uncertainty, and because I embrace that, that’s why it’s always driving me to get to the actual solution in the right solution for the Lions. With all those areas, I don’t have a concern that we won’t come to a good agreement.”
Lastly, Holmes was asked about Detroit’s quarterback situation, and what he envisions for the future of Matthew Stafford.
I’d say that’s premature to discuss,” Holmes said. “We all know how great a quarterback Matthew is, but I do know that there will be lots of roster evaluation that’s already started and will go on the next week or so between dan and myself. But that’s very premature to put a timeline on anything, because we still need to finish eveluationg the roster.”
