Lions' coach fired after 3-13 season, NFL's 2nd-worst record

ALLEN PARK, Mich. -- Marty Mornhinweg was fired as coach of the Detroit Lions on Monday after a 3-13 season, the second-worst record in the NFL.\nDetroit was 5-27 under Mornhinweg over the last two seasons, including a road record of 0-16. The Lions lost their last eight games this season, and only Cincinnati finished with a worse record.\nLions chief executive Matt Millen, with the blessing of team owner William Clay Ford Sr., said on Dec. 31 that Mornhinweg would return as coach.\nOn Monday, Millen said Mornhinweg was fired as part of the process of moving forward.\n"We have to continue to make the best decision to get this franchise going in the right direction," Millen said.\n"I want to win, and I want to win now," he said.\nMornhinweg became the fifth NFL coach to be fired since the end of the season, following dismissals at Cincinnati, Dallas, Jacksonville and San Francisco.\nMornhinweg matched Chris Palmer's two-year record of futility for a new coach since the NFL went to a 16-game schedule in 1978. Palmer coached the Cleveland Browns in 1999 and 2000.\nPalmer, though, was coaching an expansion team. Mornhinweg took over a team that went 9-7 and narrowly missed the playoffs.\nPossible replacements include former Minnesota coach Dennis Green and former San Francisco coach Steve Mariucci, a Michigan native, who was released earlier this month.