Other coaches might have packed it in, bolted for another job, criticized the players, the front office, the media, whatever.

Marinelli's passion and respect for the game wouldn't allow that.

At one point he said he felt blessed to be the Lions' head coach. Even after the final loss, the one that put the Lions in the record book, Marinelli took the high road.

"I felt they gave it their best," he said of his players. "I felt I gave it my best, but sometimes your best isn't good enough."

Marinelli was fired the next day. On his way out, he said that, if the subject of the NFL's first ever 0-16 season were brought up in the future, "I'd accept it and move on. I wouldn't give an excuse, and I wouldn't give an explanation."

On the day of his firing, Marinelli could have implied that former team president and CEO Matt Millen saddled him with the worst talent in the NFL, but he didn't.

"I've said it all year long, 'It starts with me,'" he said. "You can't go 0-16 and expect to keep your job."

That Marinelli was immediately pursued by other NFL teams as soon as he became available shows the high regard in which he's held, despite the 10-38 record in his three years as the Lions' head coach. In the 10 previous seasons as the Buccaneers' defensive line coach, Marinelli's linemen had 3281/2 sacks, more than any group in the NFL.

Despite opportunities with the Texans and Seahawks, Marinelli chose to reunite with Lovie Smith, a friend, colleague and roommate from back in their days together in Tampa on Tony Dungy's staff.

Smith called the addition of Marinelli as the Bears' defensive line coach/assistant head coach, the team's most important addition in free agency. Some coaches might not welcome that kind of pressure, but the 59-year-old Marinelli has been doing this long enough -- this is his 37th year in coaching -- to know it's part of the package.

"As soon as you put these shoes on," he said, "that's what you get."

Marinelli's passion for the game obviously hasn't diminished. Even something as mundane as last week's minicamp had him jacked up.

"I like the details," he said. "I love to work, I like the practice. And I like the rush."

And true to his word when he left Motown, Marinelli isn't ducking the topic of last season. You can't help but wonder how someone with such passion could endure the criticism and the scrutiny of such a season without losing it. Marinelli, intense but soft-spoken, has a ready explanation.

"The only thing I can say is I have a great respect for our game," he said. "I think we all owe a certain respect in how it's played and how it's performed because there are a lot of people watching. Young players are watching us, kids are watching us, and it's all about how we do our business. It's easy to do things well when things are going well. When things get tough, I think you have to have a certain standard, a certain respect for how we approach our job and our profession."

There is no indication that the experience of that historically awful season has diminished Marinelli's passion and respect for the game.

"The game of football has been great to me," he said. "When I was a kid coming up, it was great to me. I think we all owe a certain respect on how this thing should be handled and the class it should be done with in good times and bad times. There are a lot of eyes on you, especially when it's bad. You have a great opportunity to show people how you conduct yourself in a tougher situation and to have respect for this game."