Lions hire CLU alumnus Rod Marinelli as head coach
(THOUSAND OAKS, CA –– January 19, 2006) Rod Marinelli, a member of the Class of 1974 at California Lutheran University, was hired as head coach of the Detroit Lions. He has spent the past 10 seasons as Tampa Bay's defensive line coach.
Lions president Matt Millen made the announcement at a news conference earlier today.
A member of the 1971 Kingsmen national championship team, Marinelli came to CLU as a Vietnam veteran to major in physical education. One of his team members, Steve Wheatly, remembers Marinelli as “an All–American who was team captain when I came on the team my freshman year.”
Wheatly, a 1977 CLU graduate, said several of his teammates have contacted him this morning recalling the words that described Marinelli in the college football programs. Ironically, Marinelli was described as being “wounded in Vietnam, racked with malaria and considered too small to play college football.”
Marinelli's coaching career began in 1973 as an assistant at Rosemead High School in California. He was an assistant at Utah State from 1973–82, before moving on to California for nine seasons, Arizona State for three seasons and Southern California for one season.
In his time with the Buccaneers, Marinelli's unit helped establish an NFL record with 69 straight games with at least one sack from 1999–03. He had the title of assistant head coach added in 2002.
"I'm not interested in Pro Bowl players, I'm interested in world champions," Marinelli said, following his selection as head coach of the struggling NFL team.
The Oakland Raiders interviewed Marinelli on Monday for the head coach position before he traveled to suburban Detroit for a second interview with Millen.
Three other CLU graduates are members of NFL coaching staffs. The Cleveland Browns have Cory Undlin’94 as the defensive quality control coach and Mike Haluchak, who received his master’s in secondary education from CLU, as linebackers coach. Mike Sheppard’73 is the offensive coordinator for the New Orleans Saints.