Former Bucs spinning wheels in Detroit

TAMPA - Rod Marinelli is staring down the barrel of 0-16 and the likelihood of getting fired a virtual certainty, if he becomes the first NFL head coach to lead a team through a winless 16-game season.

In the beleaguered Motor City, the third-year coach of the 0-10 Detroit Lions is having a more tumultuous year than General Motors.

But Marinelli is attacking his job with the same unflinching dedication and determination that made him one of the NFL's foremost defensive line coaches with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from 1996-2005.

But the coach who was the architect of a Super Bowl champion defensive line with the Bucs is not coaching Warren Sapp and Simeon Rice in their prime anymore.

He has a patchwork team whose quarterback, Jon Kitna, went on injured reserve and a few players with promising futures, but nothing has come together.

The results of Marinelli's tenure with the Lions are a 10-32 record with 17 losses in the last 18 games and 11 in a row, not to mention a defense that is ranked 31st, and last against the run. Disillusioned fans, who last month ended the team's 51-game sellout streak, are expressing themselves by staying away from Ford Field.

Marinelli's philosophy remains to just keep swimming.

"You keep believing. It's important that we send a strong message," Marinelli said Wednesday on a conference call. "In good times and bad times, you have to believe in what you're doing, how you're doing it and how you work. The biggest thing is you keep coaching them with the belief of how good they can be.

"When you're in a leadership role, you lead from the front, you never lead from behind. You never lead with a pout face, you never lead depressed. You lead with being positive, upbeat. That's exactly what I'm going to do."

"He's so mentally strong, he comes in here and he's constantly pushing guys," said Lions cornerback Brian Kelly, a former Buccaneer. "He's staying the same. He's not changing. He's not fair-weather about anything. He's stubborn to a fault about what he wants to get done and he's not going to give in."

Marinelli doesn't think his players have quit on him, an observation made by some, that has hung over the Lions.

"Sometimes it may not look that way, but the want-to, has been very good," Marinelli said. "Sometimes you can go hard, as players and coaches, and not go smart. That's the thing we're working at right now."

He expects fading quarterback Daunte Culpepper, who couldn't find a job anywhere else, to help the franchise after being signed off the street in midseason.

"In this league, it could be turned around in one season," Marinelli said. "If you get the right couple of players, I think Daunte will be very important for this franchise. Because he's young, still. He's 31. Daunte has been a jolt for us. He can make plays. He's got a tremendous way with the players, in terms of leadership. He's helping us bring our offense together. As long as you have a really good quarterback, I think you have a chance."

Marinelli has stocked his coaching staff and his defense with former Bucs.

Joe Barry, formerly Tampa Bay's linebackers coach, is the Lions' second-year defensive coordinator. Jimmy Lake, the defensive backs coach, was once Tampa Bay's assistant defensive backs coach.

"I know they're great coaches," said Buccaneers defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin. "They probably need better personnel."

Five former Tampa Bay players are starters on the Lions' defense: DE DeWayne White, NT Chuck Darby, LB Ryan Nece, S Dwight Smith and Kelly. Kalvin Pearson, another former Buc, is a backup at strong safety.

Despite this heavy infusion of players who learned to play the Buccaneer way, they're now losing the Detroit Lions way.

"I don't know where to start," said Kelly, when asked to identify the problems. "Actually, it's getting better around here, to be honest with you. As a defense we're playing better. We're not playing, at any means, by far, the way we should be playing. But it's just a building process."