By waving white flag, Detroit Lions interim HC Darrell Bevell raised giant red flag

Darrell Bevell is currently in the process of “auditioning” for the Detroit Lions current head coach opening and if Sunday was any indication, that audition should be over immediately.

The Lions, who have one of the worst defenses in franchise history, were playing against one of the most efficient offenses in the NFL on Sunday afternoon and the only way they were going to stay in the game was to score a lot of points.

But apparently, Bevell did not agree with that as he made a boneheaded decision to waive the white flag when the Lions’ offense had the ball.

That decision came with 12:49 remaining in the second quarter with the Lions trailing 14-7. The Lions offense had the ball on the Tennessee Titans 43-yard line and it was 4th & 6. Rather than trusting Matthew Stafford and the offense, Bevell waived a white flag and decided to punt the ball away. The decision, according to the Surrender Index, ranked in the 97th percentile of cowardly punts since 2009.

Then, on Monday morning, news broke that the Lions had made the surprising decision to fire special teams’ coordinator Brayden Coombs. According to multiple reports, it was Bevell who made the decision to fire Coombs after he went rogue and decided to run a fake punt without Bevell knowing. It was a move that was reportedly agreed upon by team president, Rod Wood.

The problem here is that Coombs is the best coach the Lions have and Bevell decided to make what may or may not have been a knee-jerk decision to fire what has been a bright spot this season. To be fair, there are reports that moving on from Coombs has been brewing for a while as he has not been a fit for the culture of the organization.

Darrell Bevell seems like a likable person and his players seem to play for him, which is a great sign. That being said, if I am involved in the hiring process for a new head coach, I am lobbying for a candidate who is not afraid to trust the strength of his team. In my opinion, Bevell is scared to make big calls and that is not what I want in a head coach.

By waiving a white flag and not trusting Matthew Stafford, Darrell Bevell just raised a giant red flag when it comes to considering him as a head coach candidate.