Dan Orlovsky spent all or parts of four seasons as a quarterback for the Detroit Lions and apparently, he was not too happy with the play calling.
Orlovsky, who now works as an analyst for ESPN, joined the The Ringers “NFL Show” podcast last week and he had no problem calling out former Lions' offensive coordinators Joe Lombardi and Mike Martz for their unwillingness to adjust.
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When Dan was asked about why more NFL teams do not try to replicate what the Rams and Chiefs do on offense, he said it had to do with coordinators being stubborn.
Quotes via Pride of Detroit:
“A lot of coaches in the NFL haven’t done it and haven’t been exposed to it, but they’ve been exposed to other things that have worked in the past,” Orlovsky said. “Coaches are hard-headed, guys. Coaches think that, ‘I can fix this guy. I can make this guy a player. Oh no, this offense has been great.’”
Orlovsky used Lions' former offensive coordinator Mike Martz as an example.
“We would do all the stuff that the Rams did,” Orlovsky said. “We would do all the drop-back game that the Rams did. And we could not do it. And Mike Martz kept calling all that stuff that the Rams were great at.
“And one time, I remember having a conversation with Jon Kitna, and we were talking about the struggles. I said, ‘Here’s the reality dude: This offense is great… when you have Torry Holt and Isaac Bruce and Orlando Pace and Marshall Faulk. When you have those guys, this offense is great, but we can’t run this offense.’”
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Orlovsky then went on to use former Lions' OC Joe Lombardi as another example of a coach being to stubborn to change his ways.
“He kept calling plays that the Saints would be very good at,” Orlovsky said. “The Lions and Matthew Stafford weren’t (good at those plays). But he kept calling it, because that’s all he knew. One, that’s all he knew. Two, he saw it be successful somewhere else, so he’s like, ‘No, this works. I’ve seen it work.’”
All of that being said, the Lions have a new offensive coordinator in Darrell Bevell, let's hope he not to0 stubborn to adjust his play calling if need be.
