Drew Sharp

Detroit Free Press Columnist

It’s Jim Bob Cooter’s time. He’s the next savior up. He’s got the perfect environment for a novice NFL offensive coordinator.

The Detroit Lions remain more confident in the message than the messenger. They’re still an organization more interested in theory than application. Give the terminally frustrated any semblance of change and they’ll excitedly invest emotionally that this latest strategic incarnation somehow will find the right key that unlocks an offensive approach that’s efficient and effective.

And then the actual season sends them crashing back down in flames into the earth’s atmosphere.

Perhaps Cooter FINALLY can tap into Matthew Stafford’s undeniable talent and temerity and turn him into a quarterback capable of making those around him better. There’s an inch of hope. But the problem is that if Cooter fails and the Lions struggle again, this time without Calvin Johnson, there will be a readily available bevy of excuses as to why it’s not Cooter’s fault. Another rationalization for giving the Lions even more time to FINALLY get it right.

That’s why this team never has to win big for public appeasement.

Just try anything different. That’s enough. That buys more time.

It’s a great situation for Cooter. If he fails this season with the Lions, at least he tried.

“It’s been said 100 times in 100 newspaper stories,” Cooter said regarding Johnson’s retirement. “I’ve read them all, I think. It’s going to be different. But that’s the NFL. There are good players. There are great players. There are guys that you guys that haven’t heard a lot of that come and go every year, and they will all have an impact on our team.”

Cooter definitely is fired up at the opportunity. He said plenty Thursday with reporters following organized team activities while saying nothing — a prerequisite for Lions coaches. He wouldn’t discuss what he communicatively brings to the offense that predecessor Joe Lombardi didn’t through the first half of last season.

Is that because he really brings nothing different except a different name?

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“I can’t speak to that,” Cooter said. “We’re going to try and keep the train rolling the second half of (last year) and hopefully have a good season this season.”

Only the Lions value a 6-2 finish to a 1-7 start. The second half was The Meaningless Season. A haven for “ifs” and “what could have been.” But another reason for this franchise to live in the denial that they aren’t as bad as the unimpeachable evidence suggested.

The Lions remain a team that believes tomorrow will prove better than today. That’s all they have left.

Golden Tate said Thursday that Stafford and Cooter were “both on the same page” and there’s confidence that a different voice will make a difference in game-day execution.

But the Lions can’t be better offensively without Johnson. That’s not happening.

“The only time I hear about Calvin is when I talk to you guys in the media,” Tate said. “We’re not dwelling on it. He was a great player. He’s a Hall of Famer. But he’s not here, and we’ve got to move on. Nobody around here is jumping up and down that, with him gone, there are going to be more opportunities for the rest of us. We’re looking at it from the standpoint that we still have the ability to be a great offense and we’re working toward taking full advantage of what we have.”

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Tight end Eric Ebron said Thursday that Cooter’s offense will take more chances.

That’ll certainly accelerate the pulse of fans. But any NFL offense is predicated on the quarterback’s ability to read and adapt to the instantaneous defensive changes that occur on every snap. It’s all on Stafford this season, regardless of the voice in his ear. He must make the offense better, regardless of whether he’s Cooter’s conduit.

Contact Drew Sharp: dsharp@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @drewsharp. To read his recent columns, go to freep.com/sports/drew-sharp/. Download our Lions Xtra app for free on Apple and Android!

Meet Jim Bob Cooter

Who: Lions offensive coordinator.

Full name: James Robert Cooter.

Age: 31.

From: Fayetteville, Tenn.

College: Tennessee.

Previous coaching jobs: Tennessee, 2007-08; Colts, 2009-11; Chiefs, 2012; Broncos, 2013.

As a player: Played quarterback in six games for the Vols.

Lions’ key dates

Detroit Lions WR Corey Fuller undergoes foot surgery

Tuesday-Thursday: Minicamp.

Aug. 12: Exhibition opener at Pittsburgh.

Sept. 11: Season opener at Indianapolis.

Sept. 18: Home opener vs. Tennessee.