Detroit Lions
Current favorite: Robert Saleh
Like the Urban Meyer situation, this is another one that has been telegraphed for a while now.
The story from the Detroit Free Press that I linked to has a quote from Saleh basically admits that he wants to be the Lions head coach as much as a coach can during the middle of the season:
"Saleh, the San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator, said Monday on The Adam Schefter Podcast that his family is “uber excited” about the possibility that he will replace Matt Patricia as Lions coach. “Friends in high school and all that, they blow my phone up every day and they’re super excited,” Saleh said. “But I am not lying to anybody when I genuinely can say that it would be irresponsible for me to really think about it when there’s an organization who’s counting on every person who is involved in the organization to do the best they can, and if my mind is elsewhere than there’s no way in heck I can do my best."
In the extremely rare event that you find a coach who wants to go to Detroit, you have to lock that down because there isn’t a lot of enthusiasm for that franchise even at the best of times.
Saleh is a great DC and he has done everything from take rookies and make them Pro Bowlers, to revitalizing the careers of journeymen free agents. There are coaches with similar resumes on the offensive side of the ball, but if you want to build the idea of a gritty, next-man-up football team, few coaches are going to give you that like Saleh.
Prediction: Robert Saleh