By MIKE O'HARA
The Detroit News

DETROIT - The Detroit Lions have more at stake than a possible fine or loss of draft choices in their meeting Tuesday with the NFL's committee on workplace diversity.

If officials decide team President Matt Millen violated the league's new policy on interviewing minority candidates when he hired Steve Mariucci as coach, it will leave a stain on the organization. It would be more damaging and have longer-lasting effects than any fine or lost draft choice.

The Lions would be the first team found in violation of the minority hiring policy. Forever more, they would be the reference point on minority hiring - on what not to do. Bill Ford Jr., chairman of the Ford Motor Co. and son of Lions owner William Clay Ford, will be part of the group presenting the franchise's case to the league in Palm Beach, Fla. Commissioner Paul Tagliabue is expected to attend.

Ford Sr., who skips most league functions, might attend. But by all accounts, the owner is extremely angry with Tagliabue and other league officials over the issue and believes his franchise is being used as a test case.

"I think it is significant, particularly for a franchise like Detroit, which is in a city that has a majority minority population," said Dennis Devaney, a former professor of sports and labor law at Wayne State University, National Labor Relations Board appointee and member of the International Trade Commission.

"For a club like the Lions, owned by the Ford family, I think they would view that kind of rebuke or criticism (from the NFL) as something that could certainly be harmful in a city like Detroit."

Hiring minorities as head coaches is one of the NFL's most important issues. The NFL has lagged far behind basketball and baseball in this area. There have been only seven African-American head coaches in the modern pro football history.

And, just like league history, the Lions case is uncharted territory.

On Dec. 20, the league's diversity committee adopted a principle that requires teams to interview at least one minority candidate when hiring a head coach.

The Lions' situation was far from normal procedure. Here's the rundown:

• On Dec. 31, Millen announced that Marty Mornhinweg would return as head coach.

• The San Francisco 49ers fired Mariucci on Jan. 15.

• Millen, knowing he had a chance to get a proven coach, fired Mornhinweg on Jan. 27 and began his pursuit of Mariucci.

• Millen said he asked five minority candidates to interview for the job and all declined on the assumption that Mariucci had the job locked up.

• Millen hired Mariucci on Feb. 4.

Devaney, a partner in the Detroit law firm of Williams Mullen, has more than a passing interest in sports. He represented the Red Wings in their case against Uwe Krupp, a defenseman they signed as a free agent in 1998 who missed two full seasons and most of two others because of a back injury.

The Lions' case, however, is more tenuous because there is no precedent, and little chance for an appeal, Devaney said.

"My guess is, the Lions are going to have a fairly good defense," Devaney said. "They're going to be able to say, 'Hey, we did all we could to comply with the policy.'

"The question is, was that a good-faith effort on the Lions' part to comply with the diversity policy? Its going to be awfully hard for the league."

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