ESPN NFL

Detroit's confirmation of its 2009 coaching staff allows us to complete the NFC North coaching chart we started last week.

The chart includes coordinators and position coaches only, leaving out strength coaches, quality control coaches and position assistants. But with all newcomers bolded, you get a sense of how much turnover there has been for a division in which three of the four head coaches were retained for 2009.

A few notes and observations on the Lions' staff:

1. As David Birkett of the Oakland Press pointed out, every assistant is connected to one of the following: Coach Jim Schwartz's time in Tennessee, Schwartz's relationship with Alabama coach Nick Saban, offensive coordinator Scott Linehan's previous stops, defensive coordinator Gunther Cunningham's previous stops or the staff of predecessor Rod Marinelli.
   
2. When this process began, I expressed some skepticism about the Lions' decision to at least temporarily retain 14 of Marinelli's 18 assistants. As it turned out, Schwartz kept six coaches from that group. Half of that total predated Marinelli in their tenure with the Lions. Did Schwartz have full authority to hire his entire staff? I'll let you be the judge.
   
3. Coaching salaries are among the best-kept secrets in the NFL. But it's clear the Lions didn't splurge from a financial standpoint in compiling this group. I'm sure Linehan and Cunningham got market-level deals, although Linehan also is getting his full salary from St. Louis through 2009 and could be receiving an offset from the Lions this year. Retaining more than a few incumbent coaches is sometimes related to finances. And if you look at the newcomers, only Karmelowicz is an established NFL position coach. The rest received promotions in some form, making them candidates for entry-level salaries.