Ex-NFL GMs Accorsi, Wolf on what's ahead in Lions' search

Ernie Accorsi spent three weeks crisscrossing the country last January, running a two-headed search for the Chicago Bears not too dissimilar to the one the Lions could be headed for this winter.

The Bears, after a hugely disappointing 2014, fired coach Marc Trestman and general manager Phil Emery and hired Accorsi as a consultant to help find their replacements.

A longtime GM with the Baltimore Colts, Cleveland Browns and New York Giants who now serves on the NFL's career development advisory panel, Accorsi flew some 24,000 miles to interview candidates on some of the most successful teams in the league.

Now the Lions might be turning to outside help in their hiring efforts. According to NFL.com commentator Gil Brandt on Twitter on Sunday, the Lions have hired a search firm to help identify replacements for general manager Martin Mayhew, who was fired after seven seasons as GM last week.

Jim Caldwell, 1-7 midway through his second season as coach, eventually could join Mayhew in the unemployment line.

In the Bears' case, however, because NFL rules allow coaches on playoff teams to be interviewed only at certain times in the postseason, Accorsi conducted some of the coach interviews before the Bears had a general manager in place.

Ultimately, Bears ownership — chairman George McCaskey and president Ted Phillips — picked 37-year-old Ryan Pace to run their franchise, and Pace soon hired John Fox as coach.

But Accorsi, who also has assisted with GM searches for playoff-bound teams Carolina Panthers (that yielded Dave Gettleman in 2013) and Atlanta Falcons (that produced Thomas Dimitroff in 2008), played a big role in identifying both men.

"It was really hard (to run parallel coach and GM searches), that balancing act, but it worked out," Accorsi told the Free Press last week. "My cardiologist told me, he says: 'You guys are decision makers, now you're consultants.' He said medical people are consultants all the time. You've got to go in and give your opinion and go home. You don't sit there and debate.'

"But you basically set up an outline. We try to find out exactly what (the owners) want, for them to define it, and then you give them a list. And you're not necessarily recommending anybody on the list, but it's their decision. You have to realize that all the time, and you're just there to advise."

Accorsi and Hall of Fame general manager Ron Wolf, who has consulted on recent GM searches for the San Diego Chargers and New York Jets, said they have not been contacted by the Lions, and Accorsi said: "I don't know whether I want to do (consulting) any more."

But both are part of that panel of ex-NFL officials, along with former Lions senior executive Shack Harris, whose comprehensive list of top coach and GM candidates are available upon request to every team.

The group is scheduled to meet this month to finalize its list that will include Green Bay Packers director of player personnel Eliot Wolf (Ron's son), Baltimore Ravens assistant GM Eric DeCosta and Jacksonville Jaguars director of player personnel Chris Polian.

Last year, the group's coaching list included Lions defensive coordinator Teryl Austin and since-fired Lions offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi. Pace and Mike Maccagnan, whom the Jets hired as GM, were on the executive side.

"There's a lot of people on the committee. Everybody has an opinion. Opinions differ," Ron Wolf said. "I've always been (of the belief) that more is not better. Quality. Less is better. But other people don't operate that way. So there are a lot of names. And put it like this: The cream's going to rise to the top, there isn't any way of separating that. And the good people will be the good people."

Wolf said teams operate their searches and use consultants in different ways.

When he helped with the Chargers GM search that produced Tom Telesco, Wolf said the team already had generated a list of potential candidates, and he helped with the vetting process. Last year, the Jets used the NFL's list of recommended candidates, and another member of the league's advisory board, Charlie Casserly, was the lead consultant in the process.

"Let's face it, a lot of the owners don't know a damn thing about football," Wolf said. "I mean, they think they do, but they really don't. So the object is to make the owner feel comfortable with the individual that's being interviewed."

Wolf and Accorsi said consultants sit in on interviews and occasionally led them as they try to discern how prepared he is for the job.

"I look for people that have been successful, with successful teams," Wolf said. "I think that's very important to come out of that kind of background. I mean, that's what this is all about. That's why you're calling me. You're calling me because the team you cover has suffered for a long time and hasn't been in that situation.

"To me, and it seems real obvious, the teams that have been successful, say, in the last 10 years, they have something going on. They have a system, they have something that needs to be explored. And I'm talking about me personally here, I'd rather delve into that area than into some place that didn't really work."

The Lions have been mum about what they're seeking in their next GM, but people across the league expect them to hire a president or chief operating officer to replace Tom Lewand first before addressing the football side of the operation.

"To me, the Lions are an interesting franchise because they have a marvelous history and tradition," Wolf said. "Some young guy really gets an opportunity to fix that and make that work, that'd be a tremendous (accomplishment). Because you're looking at 1957 was the last time they won there. So you imagine turning that around, what a thrill that would be."

Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett. Download our free Lions Xtra app on your Apple and Android devices.

Up next for the Lions

Matchup: Lions (1-7) at Green Bay (6-2).

When: 1 p.m., Sunday.

Where: Lambeau Field, Green Bay, Wis.

TV: Fox (Channel 2 in Detroit).

Line: None.