Zanepierre Benoit- La Ligue Est Le Mien

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Please follow the coaching adventures of Zanepierre Benoit, commonly referred to as "ZPB" or "Zane" by his family, friends, players, and fans alike.



Rod Marinelli retires from the NFL after minuscule stint with Lions
Rod Marinelli, former Tampa Bay d-line coach, coached the Detroit Lions for just a few years and has now realized he would like to settle down and exit the NFL after a little over a decade with the league. "I don't know...I just...wasn't feeling it anymore, I suppose."

In comes an unknown coach. Born in France but now residing in Detroit, Michigan, Zanepierre Benoit has been hired as the new ring leader of an enigmatic Lions team. Hopefully, he can bring to the team what its dwindling fanbase has been wanting for years: consistency and perhaps...a ring? But let's not get too ahead of ourselves here. The Lions haven't been good in a very long time.

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Coach Name: Zanepierre Benoit
Personality: Headliner (he likes to talk...even if it's not something good)

Starting Skills
Every regular skill is at Level 1. He's pretty raw in that regard and will need his staff to help him out quite a bit.

Starting Special Skills
Speed Training- Zane is quite the athlete himself. He loves him some soccer, which requires speed, agility, stamina, and other attributes.

Improved Press, Coverage Analysis, and Interception Training- ZPB also claims to be a pretty good dual WR/CB himself and insists he can help improve the team's passing game on both sides of the ball.

^Also purchased were Receiver Discipline and Improved Release

Improved Block Shedding- Zane says he can teach his defensive players to use their athleticism to help them shed blocks and get into the backfield and...

...do some damage once they get there. Zane says he lays hits "worse than Dick Lane" although it may have been a joke. Hard Hit Training was the last purchase.

Playbooks
Offense: Zane says he believes in "KISS". Keep it simple, stupid. He thinks there is no need for colossal playbooks. His "Piston" offense has 91 plays, featuring 49 passes and 23 runs. There is essentially two formations: Shotgun and Pistol, although some "special" plays have more unique formations.

Defense: Zane didn't really criticize the Cover 2...he just didn't embrace it. He said that he likes a lot of DBs but also likes to attack. His "Area of Caution" defensive scheme has just 2 formations but he believes that's plenty: 3-2-6 and 3-4.

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With the 2008 Draft approaching, ZPB has a lot of work to do.

A new coach means a new philosophy.

ZPB wanted total control over the hiring of the staff, which owner Don Bored granted.

Now, for the different positions:

QB- ZPB loves him some speed anywhere he can get it. QB is one of those positions where he wants guys that can run, whether it be to do option plays or designated QB runs...or to scramble away from incoming defenders.

HB- Balanced was the way to go here. Halfbacks must be able to run obviously, but also should be at least decent at catching and blocking. ZPB says he does not care whether his HB is a power back or scat back.

FB- Zane wants a ballcarrier here. Think about it: pistol and shotgun are the only formations in his offense.

WR- Even though he prefers fast receivers, Zane understands that catching over the middle is just as, if not more important, than catching bombs down the field. Because of that, he's looking for a balanced set of pass catchers.

TE- Playmakers at TE would be nice, athletic guys that can catch passes and cause mismatches.

OL- He wants each and every one of his offensive linemen to be good in both pass and run blocking. Athleticism would help too although it's not "required".

DL- Versatile, 3-4 capable d-linemen is what ZPB is looking for. The more athletic, the more useful.

LB- Interestingly enough, ZPB wants coverage-proficient linebackers. The 3-2-6 uses a MLB and ROLB and he wants both to be able to drop back as if they were still running defensive coordinator Joe Barry's Cover 2.

CB- His corners are going to be mostly in zone but he still wants corners capable of man or press coverage.

S- His SS will help in the run game a lot while his FS will generally stay back but he still wants both to be good at either coverage or run support.

K/P- Balanced. A mix of leg strength and ability to put balls right where they're wanted is what ZPB wants.

The defense will blitz often and the offense will be a "weird West Coast scheme" as Zane put it. Let's see how it goes.

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While no one on the Lions was tagged, several players across the league got designated as their respective team's franchise player:

ARI ROLB Karlos Dansby
CHI ROLB Lance Briggs
CIN RE Justin Smith
CAR RT Jordan Gross
NE WR Randy Moss
SEA CB Marcus Trufant

Zanepierre acknowledges that there are a LOT of needs on this Lions team. He has hinted that he may attempt to sign back Ben Noll as well as Jake Scott to bolster their offensive line.

Other than that, he did not seem too interested in anyone big. The team has about $52 million in cap room, so there is some money to be spent.

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Free agency has begun. As expected, the Lions signed Jake Scott and Ben Noll and then surprisingly moved Noll to center. Apparently, Dominic Raiola was not cutting it for ZPB.

And as expected, the Lions were not aggressive at all. Free agents came and went, and ZPB just watched. Lions supporters weren't too happy about it either. A guy on the radio said, "We have all this damn cap space and yet we're not capitalizing. WHY?!"

The team did eventually bring back Boss Bailey, but no one seemed to care about that.

With players like Asante Samuel (Titans), Albert Haynesworth (Broncos), and more off the market, Detroit's passiveness during free agency has not been appreciated.

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Zanepierre Benoit maybe has redeemed himself some with his draft. Picks include DE Calais Campbell, CB Patrick Lee, TE Jermichael Finley, S Craig Steltz, CB Jack Ikegwuonu, DT Athyba Rubin, and HB Xavier Omon.

HB Jamaal Buckingham, FB Carl Stewart, WR Marcus Monk, TE Mike Peterson, and CB DeJuan Tribble were signed as UDFAs.

It's said that Campbell will play left defensive end, Steltz will play strong safety over the coverage-inept Kenoy Kennedy, and it's possible that Rubin could start at nose tackle.

Some are still pissed off about the uneventful free agency period but a lot feel like this is the best draft the team has had in years.

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The Lions acquired cornerback Chris Gamble from the Carolina Panthers, trading away a 4th and 5th round pick for the 2010 draft. As said before, Zane likes to have DBs that can play and Detroit desperately needed another corner next to Leigh Bodden. They got one of those picks back by trading Dwight Smith to the Cowboys for their 5th rounder.

Then...

The Lions were blown out at home by the visiting Indianapolis Colts. It is just a preseason game, but 42-0 never...ever...looks good. Jon Kitna threw 4 passes for 5 yards...2 of those attempts were picked off.

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The Lions met the Bengals in the jungle.

And lost 45-38. At least Detroit managed 38 points...

RE Jared DeVries had to be placed on IR but in all honestly, he probably wasn't too important to the Lions.