Rod Wood: 'We're Not as Far Away as It Might Appear'

Read more on Detroit Lions team president Rod Wood's opinion on how the roster needs to be constructed moving forward.

Detroit Lions team president Rod Wood addressed the media on Tuesday, following the team's disappointing 5-11 record during the 2020 regular season.

One of the primary areas of concern from supporters of the team has been how to move forward with a roster that simply hasn't accomplished many of the organization's goals. 

One school of thought is to "blow it all up" and start over by trading away each and every roster asset for draft picks.

Another is to retool the roster with the new general manager and head coach. 

Wood provided his personal opinion regarding the roster when asked about the topic by SI All Lions. 

"My personal opinion is going to only matter a little bit," Wood said. "The opinion of who we hire -- the coach and the general manager -- is going to matter a lot more. I do think, despite the record, we're not as far away as it might appear. I would think that we can retool some things and continue to be competitive. I think in some cases, certainly on the defensive side of the ball, having to rebuild the roster a little bit. So, it's a little maybe a combination of both. There'll be other people here in the building soon that will have big votes on those two questions."

Update on the general manager and coaching searches

Near the completion of his 20-minute Zoom video conference, Wood expressed that the team is likely to hire individuals for general manager and head coach from the names that have been already released.

“I think we’re probably to the point where we’ve put forward every name that we’re going to consider. But, we’ve had names that we’ve considered and restacked and reordered, and there’s a handful we may still pursue," Wood explained. "But, right now, I'm assuming that the candidates that we’re interviewing, one of them will be our next head coach and one of them will be our next general manager."

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