Despite a perfect 4–0 preseason, Marinelli coached the 2008 Lions to a winless 0–16 campaign, the first winless season for any NFL team since the 16-game regular season was instituted in 1978. (The last team to lose all of their games was the 1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who went 0–14; the last team to not win a game was the 1982 Baltimore Colts, who were 0–8–1 in a strike-shortened campaign. The Cleveland Browns would later repeat a winless 0-16 campaign in 2017.)