The Detroit Lions are expected to hire Los Angeles Rams director of college scouting Brad Holmes as the team’s new general manager, a source told ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
Holmes becomes the second Black general manager in team history, following Martin Mayhew, who was the team’s general manager from 2009 to ’15.
The Lions had been at the forefront of diversity issues in the NFL over the past year. They were the first team to protest the shooting of Jacob Blake in August by canceling practice the day before the Milwaukee Bucks refused to play a playoff game in protest of Blake’s shooting
Holmes initially interviewed with Detroit virtually on Jan. 6 and then in person Wednesday. The North Carolina A&T grad and he majored in journalism and mass communications. He spent his whole work career at the Los Angeles Rams.
The 41-year-old Holmes could alter his vision now that he’s in the general manager seat since he does have experience under five head coaches and four general managers during his time with the Rams, but Holmes hit a lot of the things Detroit searched for in the process.
We think in some cases very unique to our situation,” Lions team president Rod Wood said recently. “I won’t share all of them with you, but I would say they focus on leadership, culture, teamwork, awareness of each other’s strengths and weaknesses, and what we’re really looking for is a culture that is open, inclusive, where everybody is pulling together as a team, and in one word, communication is paramount and everybody is doing the right thing for the Detroit Lions.
