Ford Ready To Decide Fontes’ Fate

Will he stay or be fired? Wayne Fontes doesn’t know.

William Clay Ford, owner of the Detroit Lions, is expected to meet with his coach soon, perhaps today.

Ford might decide to buy out the final year of Fontes’ contract and find a new coach. Or he might not.

The Lions under Fontes have had their share of ups and downs, but they’ve been anything but dull. Ford, a conservative man, might elect to stay with someone he’s grown comfortable with.

Barry Sanders made a strong statement following Monday night’s 24-14 loss at San Francisco that Fontes should be retained. But the feeling wasn’t unanimous.

A recent poll of the Lions’ 53 roster players by Booth Newspapers showed 59 percent favored retaining Fontes. But 32 percent favored his removal, with nine players abstaining from the poll.

Fontes has won more games than any coach in Lions’ history. But at 67-71 (including playoff games), he also has lost more than any other.

Fontes guided the Lions to the NFC playoffs four times since replacing Darryl Rogers with five games remaining in the 1988 season. But in the NFL, it’s often a case of what have you done for me lately?

In the case of Fontes, that’s not much. With their loss to the 49ers, the Lions finished at 5-11. And that came after the Lions opened with a 4-2 record. They closed by losing nine of their final 10 games, including their last five.

Following the game in San Francisco, Fontes dodged the inevitable question about his future.

“Don’t ask it because I can’t answer it,” he said. “God bless you. It’s been a long year.”

If Fontes is fired, he would add to a growing casualty list among NFL coaches. When Mike White of Oakland was dismissed Tuesday he became the fifth coach in five days to lose his job, joining Dan Reeves of the Giants, June Jones of Atlanta, Rich Brooks of St. Louis and Rich Kotite of the New York Jets.

During the season, Dave Shula was fired by Cincinnati and Jim Mora resigned in New Orleans. If Fontes goes, more than one-quarter of NFL teams will have changed coaches since the start of the season.

Much was expected of the 1996 team. After all, it had players like Sanders, Scott Mitchell, Herman Moore and Brett Perriman.

Sanders, Moore and center Kevin Glover made the NFC Pro Bowl team. And the same offense was the best in the NFL just one year ago. This year, it underachieved.

And so Ford must decide if new leadership is required.