Furrey ready to leave Lions for new team

TAMPA, Fla. -- When told the Lions were introducing their new offensive coordinator, Scott Linehan, to the media Wednesday, receiver Mike Furrey laughed.

"Not my offensive coordinator," said Furrey, who was participating in a charity event in Tampa in conjunction with Super Bowl XLIII.

So make that a soon-to-be released Furrey, who said he was told Tuesday morning in a brief phone call from Lions general manager Martin Mayhew that he'll be let go by the team with a year remaining on his contract. Players can't be officially released until Feb. 9, the first day NFL teams can make waiver requests, and the Lions may not confirm any such roster moves until then.

Furrey, who signed a three-year, $9.25 million contract with the Lions in January 2007, had a contentious end to his season with Lions management. After suffering a concussion Nov. 9 against Jacksonville, he was put on injured reserve Dec. 1, a move he disagreed with publicly and one that likely foreshadowed Tuesday's call.

"They were calling the guys they were releasing, and that was the gist of the conversation (with Mayhew)," said Furrey, who was due $1.85 million in salary next season. "I said, 'Thanks,' and that was it.

"But I wasn't surprised at all. We butted heads toward the end of the season. And it's because I wanted to win. I was sick of losing, sick of going out on Sundays without a chance to win. And it had nothing to do with (coach Rod) Marinelli. I believe in him 100 percent. But I believe things just funneled down from the top."

Furrey, brought to Detroit in 2006 to fit then-coordinator Mike Martz's pass-oriented system, was among those openly critical of the Lions' new offense last season. And two seasons removed from an NFC-best 98 receptions, he caught only 18 passes in nine games. Clearly, it was time to move on.

"I'm happy," he said. "I got the call right before we were boarding the plane yesterday to come to Tampa. And it's a burden off my back."

Decibel level will rise

The Lions haven't announced any more staff additions, but assistants Shawn Jefferson (receivers) and Sam Gash (running backs) are expected to be retained. No surprise there: Both are good, young coaches who have developed strong relationships with two of the Lions' good, young players in Calvin Johnson and Kevin Smith.

Still, there will be plenty of new voices -- and they will be heard. George Yarno, the new offensive line coach, according to the Oakland Press, is no shrinking violet. And Schwartz's first hire, defensive coordinator Gunther Cunningham, is a notorious sideline screamer. Just ask NBC announcer John Madden, who recruited him when Madden was a small-college coach in the mid-1960s.

"Tough guy, big motor, 110 miles an hour all the time -- that's the way he played and that's the way he was," Madden said. "Talking with spit coming out of his mouth. He was the same way as a kid. That was Gunther."