By George Eichorn
The recent turn of events in Detroit sports with the Pistons hiring Monty Williams as their new head coach got me thinking. Just how often is it that the Pistons, Lions, Tigers and Red Wings ownership make such a bold coaching move?
Looking back at the Tigers history, you see several instances when the club was aggressive enough to hire a big name manager.
Feisty Billy Martin, a former Yankee, was hired by Tigers owner John Fetzer and GM Jim Campbell in 1971. It was a bold move by Detroit and paid off in a 1972 division title. Detroit lost in the ALCS to the Oakland Athletics.
Campbell went out again and grabbed ex-Yankees skipper Ralph Houk in 1974. Houk helped handle several young Tigers as they reached the majors under his regime. Another huge hire came in 1979 when Campbell fired Les Moss (27-26 at the time) to pirate George “Sparky” Anderson, last with the Cincinnati Reds and their Big Red Machine. Sparky would lead the Tigers to the 1984 World Championship.
Another huge hire was in 2006 when veteran manager Jim Leyland was signed to skipper the club. The Tigers would make two World Series trips in 2006 and 2012 under Leyland.
The latest big hire was signing A.J. Hinch as owner Chris Ilitch and GM Al Avila brought in a World Series winning skipper from Houston. What still remains to be seen is how much Hinch can succeed here.
The Detroit Lions hired two big coaches who eventually won NFL Championships here. Buddy Parker came over from the Chicago Cardinals and George Wilson from the Chicago Bears. Smart moves by the Lions as the club won NFL title games three times. GM Nick Kerbawy helped hire these championship coaches.
Owner Bill Ford and GM Russ Thomas nabbed Super Bowl winner Don McCafferty in 1973 from the Colts only to see him lose his life as he suffered a fatal heart attack that same year.
Ford and GM Matt Millen inked one-time Niners Coach Steve Mariucci who had a nice national recognition. “Mooch” failed here as did so many of Millen’s coaching hires, finishing 16-32.
The Red Wings have had several big name hires. Jacques Demers was a big name hire in 1986 as was Bryan Murray in 1990. Yet the biggest haul was the Hall of Fame Coach Scotty Bowman who started here in 1993 and stayed through 2002 winning three Stanley Cup championships.
Mike Babcock led the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim to a Stanley Cup Finals appearance. That was enough to convince owner Mike Ilitch, Senior VP Jimmy Devellano and GM Ken Holland to entice Babs to coach here. The Red Wings won their 13th Cup under him.
The Pistons have wooed many big names to become their head coach. Although I would like to include Chuck Daly who won two NBA titles here it’s not legit. Daly toiled as a losing coach with the Cavaliers. Owner William Davidson and GM Jack McCloskey do look like geniuses as Daly was a true winner here; a Hall of Fame coach and Olympic gold medalist.
Larry Brown was wooed by management to coach the Pistons and the team won a third NBA crown under him. Other big names who came to Detroit were head coaches Doug Collins, Rick Carlisle, Flip Saunders, Stan Van Gundy and Dwane Casey yet none of them produced titles like Daly and Brown.
Now, owner Tom Gores and GM Troy Weaver made a huge hiring in signing 2022 NBA Coach of the Year Monty Williams to a lengthy contract. He led the Phoenix Suns to the 2021 NBA Finals only to lose to eventual champion Milwaukee Bucks.
Williams was fired by the Suns on May 13 and signed by the Pistons on June 2. He became the highest-paid coach in NBA history. The Pistons are to be applauded for this aggressive signing. Time will only tell if Williams can resurrect a once-proud NBA franchise.
Reach George Eichorn at [email protected] or @Sandgsports99 on Twitter.
