2019 Team Records (Coach, Quarterback, Rushers, Receivers)

2019 Team Records (Coach, Quarterback, Rushers, Receivers) – Lions

by Chase Stuart on July 31, 2019

In this series, I will be looking at the history of coaches, quarterbacks, rushers, and receivers for all 32 franchises. For coaches and quarterbacks, I will be looking at how much their franchise’s career records (regular season only) would change if we removed the games with that person. For rushers and receivers, I will note how many times that player was the team’s leading rusher/receiver over the course of their time with that franchise (regular plus postseason).

Previous Teams:

AFC East: Dolphins, Bills, Jets, and Patriots
NFC East: Cowboys, Eagles, Giants, and Redskins
AFC North: Steelers, Browns, Ravens, and Bengals
NFC North: Packers, Vikings, Bears

The Detroit Lions began as the Portsmouth Spartans before the Great Depression led to a sale and a five hour move north out of Ohio. Depressing is also a good way to describe much of the Lions history, too. The best coach in Detroit football history is… ??? Well, that’s probably a question most modern fans can’t answer. Potsy Clark won a title with the team in Portsmouth, while Buddy Parker helped guide the team to two titles in the ’50s, with George Wilson being the head coach for a third championship in ’57. And asking who the worst coach in Lions history isn’t an easy one, either: four men finished their tenures at 20 games below .500. The table below shows the full list, and you can see how each man changed the team’s all-time record:

Ovr Rk	Coach	G	W	L	T	HC Win %	FrG	FrW	FL	FrT	Fr W%	Win% w/o HC	Diff
43	Potsy Clark	85	53	25	7	0.665	1249	559	658	32	0.46	0.445	1.5%
52	Buddy Parker	72	47	23	2	0.667	1249	559	658	32	0.46	0.448	1.3%
79	George Wilson	104	53	45	6	0.538	1249	559	658	32	0.46	0.453	0.7%
82	Joe Schmidt	84	43	34	7	0.554	1249	559	658	32	0.46	0.454	0.7%
91	Jim Caldwell	64	36	28	0	0.563	1249	559	658	32	0.46	0.455	0.6%
103	Wayne Fontes	133	66	67	0	0.496	1249	559	658	32	0.46	0.456	0.4%
118	Dutch Clark	22	14	8	0	0.636	1249	559	658	32	0.46	0.457	0.3%
161	Gus Henderson	11	6	5	0	0.545	1249	559	658	32	0.46	0.46	0.1%
167	Bobby Ross	57	27	30	0	0.474	1249	559	658	32	0.46	0.46	0.1%
168	Gary Moeller	7	4	3	0	0.571	1249	559	658	32	0.46	0.46	0.1%
180	Rick Forzano	32	15	17	0	0.469	1249	559	658	32	0.46	0.46	0%
188	Don McCafferty	14	6	7	1	0.464	1249	559	658	32	0.46	0.46	0%
189	Hal Griffen	14	5	6	3	0.464	1249	559	658	32	0.46	0.46	0%
194	Tommy Hudspeth	24	11	13	0	0.458	1249	559	658	32	0.46	0.46	0%
238	Dick Jauron	5	1	4	0	0.2	1249	559	658	32	0.46	0.461	-0.1%
240	Matt Patricia	16	6	10	0	0.375	1249	559	658	32	0.46	0.461	-0.1%
263	Harry Gilmer	28	10	16	2	0.393	1249	559	658	32	0.46	0.462	-0.2%
265	Bill Edwards	14	4	9	1	0.321	1249	559	658	32	0.46	0.462	-0.2%
317	Gus Dorais	53	20	31	2	0.396	1249	559	658	32	0.46	0.463	-0.3%
320	Bull Karcis	8	0	8	0	0	1249	559	658	32	0.46	0.463	-0.3%
353	Bo McMillin	36	12	24	0	0.333	1249	559	658	32	0.46	0.464	-0.4%
357	Steve Mariucci	43	15	28	0	0.349	1249	559	658	32	0.46	0.464	-0.4%
363	Monte Clark	105	43	61	1	0.414	1249	559	658	32	0.46	0.465	-0.4%
420	Jim Schwartz	80	29	51	0	0.363	1249	559	658	32	0.46	0.467	-0.7%
430	Darryl Rogers	58	18	40	0	0.31	1249	559	658	32	0.46	0.468	-0.7%
445	Marty Mornhinweg	32	5	27	0	0.156	1249	559	658	32	0.46	0.468	-0.8%
475	Rod Marinelli	48	10	38	0	0.208	1249	559	658	32	0.46	0.47	-1%

At quarterback, Bobby Layne stands out from the pack in the exact way you would expect. The Hall of Fame quarterback from the ’50s posted a 0.643 winning percentage with the Lions; all other quarterbacks for Detroit since 1950 have combined for a 0.435 winning percentage. Remarkably, there have been 8 quarterbacks to start at least 50 games for the Lions since 1950, and 7 of the 8 have a losing record. Joey Harrington gets the blame for hurting the team’s overall winning percentage the most: it would be 0.460 since 1950 without him, instead of the 0.452 that it actually is.

Ovr Rk	QB	G	W	L	T	QB Win %	FrG	FrW	FL	FrT	Fr W%	Win% w/o QB	Diff
36	Bobby Layne	84	53	29	2	0.643	1018	451	548	19	0.452	0.435	1.7%
120	Bill Munson	48	24	21	3	0.531	1018	451	548	19	0.452	0.448	0.4%
130	Earl Morrall	26	15	10	1	0.596	1018	451	548	19	0.452	0.449	0.4%
131	Greg Landry	84	40	41	3	0.494	1018	451	548	19	0.452	0.449	0.4%
145	Erik Kramer	15	10	5	0	0.667	1018	451	548	19	0.452	0.449	0.3%
169	Matthew Stafford	141	66	75	0	0.468	1018	451	548	19	0.452	0.450	0.3%
177	Eric Hipple	57	28	29	0	0.491	1018	451	548	19	0.452	0.450	0.2%
203	Dave Krieg	7	5	2	0	0.714	1018	451	548	19	0.452	0.451	0.2%
212	Tom Dublinski	5	4	1	0	0.800	1018	451	548	19	0.452	0.451	0.2%
219	Milt Plum	52	23	25	4	0.481	1018	451	548	19	0.452	0.451	0.2%
235	Jim Ninowski	18	9	8	1	0.528	1018	451	548	19	0.452	0.451	0.1%
239	Scott Mitchell	57	27	30	0	0.474	1018	451	548	19	0.452	0.451	0.1%
258	Bob Gagliano	11	6	5	0	0.545	1018	451	548	19	0.452	0.451	0.1%
300	George Izo	3	2	1	0	0.667	1018	451	548	19	0.452	0.452	0.1%
314	Joe Reed	12	6	6	0	0.500	1018	451	548	19	0.452	0.452	0.1%
325	Stoney Case	1	1	0	0	1.000	1018	451	548	19	0.452	0.452	0.1%
392	Andre Ware	6	3	3	0	0.500	1018	451	548	19	0.452	0.452	0%
399	Drew Stanton	4	2	2	0	0.500	1018	451	548	19	0.452	0.452	0%
413	Don Majkowski	2	1	1	0	0.500	1018	451	548	19	0.452	0.452	0%
434	Gary Danielson	52	23	28	1	0.452	1018	451	548	19	0.452	0.452	0%
474	Karl Sweetan	16	6	8	2	0.438	1018	451	548	19	0.452	0.453	0%
476	Joe Ferguson	5	2	3	0	0.400	1018	451	548	19	0.452	0.453	0%
481	Rodney Peete	47	21	26	0	0.447	1018	451	548	19	0.452	0.453	0%
495	Todd Hons	3	1	2	0	0.333	1018	451	548	19	0.452	0.453	0%
507	Tobin Rote	23	9	12	2	0.435	1018	451	548	19	0.452	0.453	0%
521	John Witkowski	1	0	1	0	0.000	1018	451	548	19	0.452	0.453	0%
519	Jim Hardy	1	0	1	0	0.000	1018	451	548	19	0.452	0.453	0%
520	Jerry Golsteyn	1	0	1	0	0.000	1018	451	548	19	0.452	0.453	0%
675	Gus Frerotte	6	2	4	0	0.333	1018	451	548	19	0.452	0.453	-0.1%
683	Ty Detmer	4	1	3	0	0.250	1018	451	548	19	0.452	0.453	-0.1%
705	Frank Reich	2	0	2	0	0.000	1018	451	548	19	0.452	0.453	-0.1%
704	Harry Gilmer	2	0	2	0	0.000	1018	451	548	19	0.452	0.453	-0.1%
757	Rusty Hilger	9	3	6	0	0.333	1018	451	548	19	0.452	0.453	-0.1%
798	Jeff Garcia	5	1	4	0	0.200	1018	451	548	19	0.452	0.454	-0.1%
847	Shaun Hill	10	3	7	0	0.300	1018	451	548	19	0.452	0.454	-0.2%
914	Charlie Batch	46	19	27	0	0.413	1018	451	548	19	0.452	0.454	-0.2%
950	Mike McMahon	7	1	6	0	0.143	1018	451	548	19	0.452	0.455	-0.2%
1045	Dan Orlovsky	7	0	7	0	0.000	1018	451	548	19	0.452	0.455	-0.3%
1107	Daunte Culpepper	10	0	10	0	0.000	1018	451	548	19	0.452	0.457	-0.4%
1129	Jeff Komlo	16	2	14	0	0.125	1018	451	548	19	0.452	0.458	-0.5%
1137	Chuck Long	21	4	17	0	0.190	1018	451	548	19	0.452	0.458	-0.6%
1153	Jon Kitna	36	10	26	0	0.278	1018	451	548	19	0.452	0.459	-0.6%
1170	Joey Harrington	55	18	37	0	0.327	1018	451	548	19	0.452	0.460	-0.7%

Oklahoma State’s Barry Sanders is obviously the best running back in Lions history, and he led Detroit in rushing yards in 152 games (regular plus postseason, combined). That’s third to only Emmitt Smith and Walter Payton in terms of production with one team. But consider that Sanders played in fewer games than those two: Only Curtis Martin (92%, 130 games) with the Jets and Edgerrin James (96%, 101 games) with the Colts played at least 100 games with one team and led that team in rushing yards in at least 90% of their games. Billy Sims, from rival Oklahoma, is the second best rusher the team has had since at least 1950 (Detroit had some good ones before then, including Dutch Clark. And if not for a brutal knee injury, Sims might have become a Hall of Famer, too.

Rusher	First Yr	Last Yr	Leading Rusher	Total Games	%
Barry Sanders	1989	1998	152	159	96%
Billy Sims	1980	1984	53	62	85%
James Jones	1983	1988	42	86	49%
Kevin Jones	2004	2007	40	53	75%
Nick Pietrosante	1959	1965	40	88	45%
James Stewart	2000	2002	37	41	90%
Dexter Bussey	1974	1984	36	152	24%
Kevin Smith	2008	2012	35	55	64%
Mel Farr	1967	1973	33	70	47%
Altie Taylor	1969	1975	33	92	36%
Joique Bell	2012	2016	26	65	40%
Bob Hoernschemeyer	1950	1955	25	63	40%
Ameer Abdullah	2015	2018	23	35	66%
Steve Owens	1970	1974	22	54	41%
Dan Lewis	1958	1964	20	84	24%
Garry James	1986	1988	18	40	45%
Jahvid Best	2010	2012	15	22	68%
Horace King	1975	1983	15	125	12%
Reggie Bush	2013	2014	13	26	50%
Bobby Layne	1950	1958	13	101	13%
Theo Riddick	2013	2018	13	85	15%
Maurice Morris	2009	2011	12	45	27%
Lew Carpenter	1953	1955	12	37	32%
Rick Kane	1977	1985	12	115	10%
Greg Landry	1968	1978	12	103	12%
John Henry Johnson	1957	1959	11	33	33%
Shawn Bryson	2003	2006	11	54	20%
Doak Walker	1950	1955	11	71	15%
Tom Watkins	1962	1967	10	64	16%
Mikel Leshoure	2012	2013	10	17	59%

Detroit has had two great, Hall of Fame caliber players at wide receiver: Calvin Johnson is as physically gifted as any athlete to ever play the position, while Herman Moore is a player whose production exceeded his reputation. Still, he wasn’t Megatron, and that’s not a criticism of anyone.

Receiver	First Yr	Last Yr	Leading Receiver	Total Games	%
Calvin Johnson	2007	2015	84	137	61%
Herman Moore	1991	2001	58	152	38%
Brett Perriman	1991	1996	36	99	36%
Johnnie Morton	1994	2001	34	129	26%
Gail Cogdill	1960	1968	33	103	32%
Freddie Scott	1978	1983	31	88	35%
Charlie Sanders	1968	1977	30	129	23%
Roy Williams	2004	2008	27	60	45%
Jeff Chadwick	1983	1989	27	74	36%
Terry Barr	1957	1965	27	104	26%
Leonard Thompson	1975	1986	25	177	14%
Golden Tate	2014	2018	21	73	29%
David Hill	1976	1982	21	101	21%
Jim Gibbons	1958	1968	20	140	14%
Germane Crowell	1998	2002	19	55	35%
Dave Middleton	1955	1960	19	65	29%
Jim Doran	1951	1959	19	95	20%
Marvin Jones	2016	2018	18	41	44%
Pat Studstill	1961	1967	18	77	23%
Larry Walton	1969	1976	18	96	19%
Dorne Dibble	1951	1957	17	72	24%
Earl McCullouch	1968	1973	17	73	23%
Robert Clark	1989	1991	16	47	34%
Ray Jarvis	1974	1978	16	57	28%
Cloyce Box	1949	1954	15	61	25%
Az-Zahir Hakim	2002	2006	14	42	33%
Willie Green	1991	1993	13	50	26%
Richard Johnson	1989	1990	12	32	38%
Ron Jessie	1971	1974	12	54	22%
Doak Walker	1950	1955	12	71	17%
Pete Mandley	1984	1988	12	74	16%
Mark Nichols	1981	1987	12	77	16%
Billy Sims	1980	1984	11	62	18%
Leon Hart	1950	1957	10	98	10%

That’s it for the Detroit version of this series. Please leave your thoughts in the comments.

Tagged as: 2019 Profiles

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