Rod Marinelli might be a good head coach. He just isn’t going to find out for sure in Detroit. Marinelli inherited a Matt Millen-created mess and compounded his problems by reuniting with some former Tampa Bay Buccaneers whose best years were in the past. The result was the NFL’s first 0-16 team and a three-year record of 10-38 for Marinelli, who was fired Monday by the Lions.

They’ve got their wish list ready. And now the Lions’ fed-up fan base can only hope they get it right. The Lions made history on Sunday, completing an unprecedented 0-16 season with a 31-21 loss at Green Bay. On Monday, they began working on the future — again — after firing coach Rod Marinelli and announcing two anticipated front-office promotions.

How some of the Lions players reacted to the firing of coach Rod Marinelli on Monday. For the latter three players, Marinelli is the only head coach they’ve known in their NFL careers:

ALLEN PARK — Rod Marinelli typically begins his weekly Monday news conference with an injury report.

Ron Wolf helped build winners in Los Angeles and Oakland with the Raiders. He did the same as the head man in Green Bay. He has three Super Bowl rings as fruits of his labor and clearly has a blueprint for winning in the NFL.

Rod Marinelli knew he was going to lose his job as the head coach of the Detroit Lions. He said he didn’t give the team much choice.

They’d known for weeks it was possible, each loss bringing them one stumble closer to a mark no team wants — or even wants to think about. Yet when it finally happened, the Detroit Lions were still stunned, unable to find words to adequately describe the shame in their accomplishment. They are losers of historic proportion, the worst team ever in the NFL.

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — The New York Jets fired coach Eric Mangini on Monday, a day after the team failed to make the playoffs.

SAN DIEGO — The mild, mild AFC West belongs to LaDainian Tomlinson, Philip Rivers and the rest of the San Diego Chargers.

The Lions knew they couldn’t afford any mistakes. But they made a few glaring ones in the second half of Sunday’s 31-21 loss to the Packers at Lambeau Field. Three personal foul penalties — one for taunting, another for a late hit out of bounds, and another for unsportsmanlike conduct on the sideline — cost the Lions dearly.