ALLEN PARK – Brad Holmes once worked for Enterprise Rental Car because he was unable to find a job in the NFL. Then he started to work as public relations for the Atlanta Hawks.
In 2003, he finally made it to the NFL – as an intern in the public relations department of the St. Louis Rams.
Now, 18 years later, he is set to become the next general manager of Detroit Lions.
Holmes is expected to sign a five-year contract to replace Bob Quinn in Detroit, according to several reports. He becomes the newest head of Lions after working his way up and down with the Rams, eventually cracking the scouting department as an intern and serving the team’s faculty scouting director for the past eight years.
He was the top man to make big choices in the draft as twice the NFL defensive player of the year Aaron Donald – after the Lions passed him by Eric Ebron – offensive player of the year in 2017, Todd Gurley and two – quarterback team of the Pro Bowl, Jared Goff. This group won an NFC championship in 2017, rolled out a fourth consecutive winning season this year, and just beat the Seahawks 30-20 in a wild card game over the weekend. They will travel to Green Bay on Saturday to face the Packers in the divisional playoff round – a round that Lions have not seen since the 1991 season.
Lions are now handing their quest for their first playoff victory since that season to Holmes. He was chosen from a group of 12 candidates interviewed for the job, an exhaustive search that quadrupled the group that produced Bob Quinn in 2016 and culminated in one of the worst regimes in the franchise’s history. Quinn and Matt Patricia were fired after a Thanksgiving loss left the call Quinntricia was only 19-23-1.
“I think that after going through (the hiring process) twice, there are things I learned and I hope we do better,” said team president Rod Wood recently. “I think one of the things is to add more people to the process.”
This included on the Lions side, where Wood and owner Shiela Ford Hamp led the research, but brought in outside voices by hiring Chris Spielman as a full-time advisor and part-time consultants like Hall of Fame Barry Sanders, former Michigan Director state sportsman Mark Hollis and former Cardinals general manager Rod Graves.
Lions also expanded the candidate pool, interviewing people like Colts assistant general manager Ed Dodds, former Falcons general manager Thomas Dimitroff, former Texas general manager Rick Smith, former chiefs general manager Scott Pioli, ESPN analyst Louis Riddick, assistant general manager of Saints staff Terry Fontenot, director of scouting at Rams College, Brad Holmes, assistant general manager of Vikings, George Paton, assistant general manager of Saints, Jeff Ireland , and internal candidates Rob Lohman, Lance Newmark and Kyle O’Brien.
Paton, who worked with Spielman’s brother in Minnesota, was the only candidate brought to Allen Park for the first round of interviews and considered a favorite. But he agreed to a six-year contract with Denver, and Detroit turned its focus to Holmes.
Holmes was the only candidate brought in for a second interview. The Atlanta Falcons also pursued him intensely, interviewing him twice, but he eventually agreed to take the job in Detroit.
Football runs in the blood of Holmes. Her father, Mel, was a guard at the Pittsburgh Steelers. His uncle, Luther Bradley, was chosen in the first round of Lions in 1978. And Brad Holmes continued this tradition, playing on the defensive field at North Carolina A&T.
But his jump to the commercial side of the game was not an easy one. He had so much trouble getting his first job that he spent some time working on the Enterprise Rental Car, then doing public relations for the Atlanta Hawks. He did another PR internship with the St. Louis Rams in 2003 before getting a Scout internship for the next project. His responsibilities included making coffee, taking the guys to / from the airport and making copies.
Less than two decades later, he became the last of a long line of general managers tasked with bringing the Detroit Lions back to life after more than six decades of failed failure. This is a daunting task, especially because of a list that fell into disrepair during the failed Patriot Way import.
Lions almost set the franchise record for allowed yards in one season in 2019, so they actually set the record in 2020. These are two of the three worst defenses in franchise history in consecutive years, and now they have only five draft choices and an ever-decreasing limit to meet your considerable needs – none of which even considers the imminent questions of what to do with defender Matthew Stafford and receiver Kenny Golladay, the last of whom is eligible to become one free agent in March.
For now, the focus will be on pairing Holmes with the right coach. Lions said they envision a partnership relationship between their new GM and the trainer, rather than a top-down reporting structure. Holmes were signed regardless of the head coach, and Sheila Ford Hamp, not Holmes, must choose the next whistle.
Considering Holmes’ inexperience – he is a GM for the first time, as well as all his predecessors in Detroit – it would not be a surprise to see Lions chase an experienced trainer. The most experienced candidate the Lions interviewed is former Bengals Marvin Lewis. Other candidates who served as principal coaches include Saints assistant coach Dan Campbell (who was once the interim HC in Miami) and Lions interim coach Darrell Bevell. Detroit also asked to speak to former Jets chief Coch Todd Bowles, although that conversation has not yet taken place.
Titans’ offensive coordinator, Arthur Smith, has no experience as a head coach, but has already managed his first (and only) second interview with Detroit. Chiefs’ offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy and 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh were also interviewed for the position.