DETROIT ? Steve Mariucci thought he would not coach next season for the first time in his career. The San Francisco 49ers would pay him more than $2 million to vacation with his family and dabble as a television analyst.

Then the Detroit Lions made Mariucci an offer he couldn’t refuse, including an opportunity to return to his home state, and he took it.

A source with firsthand knowledge of the contract negotiations and details, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the Lions will pay Mariucci about $25 million over five years, making him one of the NFL’s highest paid coaches.

“Wouldn’t we all like to entertain the thought of taking the year off?” Mariucci said after being introduced Wednesday at a news conference. “It sounds good. It is something we don’t get to do very often, but I’m a football coach. I don’t sit around.

“I think it is a fantastic opportunity.”

It’s also one with extreme challenges.

The Lions have won just five games in the past two seasons — none on the road — and have only one playoff victory since winning the 1957 NFL title.

“It’s the challenge that is exciting and intriguing to me,” Mariucci said.

Mariucci was hired less than three weeks after he was fired by San Francisco, where he had a 60-43 record in six seasons. He led the 49ers to three playoff wins in four postseason appearances.

“We not only have a top coach, but a proven winner,” Lions chief executive Matt Millen said.

Mariucci, who was born and raised in the Upper Peninsula town of Iron Mountain, acknowledged his family was not initially thrilled with the idea of leaving the Bay Area for the Motor City.

“I need to thank my wife for allowing me to do this,” Mariucci said. “She made me promise that I wouldn’t get my ‘Yooper’ accent back anytime soon.”

Detroit Lions chief executive Matt Millen, left, and new head coach Steve Mariucci pose during a news conference at Ford Field. Mariucci was introduced Wednesday in Detroit as coach of the Lions less than three weeks after he was fired by the San Francisco 49ers.

Mariucci will live in a Detroit area hotel while his children finish the school year in California.

While Mariucci’s hiring has been wildly popular with the Lions’ front office, players and fans, some are upset with the organization’s hiring process.

Gene Upshaw, executive director of the NFL Players Association, Wednesday joined Pittsburgh Steelers owner Dan Rooney and attorneys Cyrus Mehri and Johnnie Cochran in criticizing the Lions for failing to follow the NFL’s new policy of seriously interviewing at least one minority candidate for each coaching vacancy.

“The Detroit Lions gave mere lip service to the agreed-upon minority hiring process, treating it almost as if a nuisance to their hiring of Steve Mariucci,” Upshaw said. “The minority candidates were never given a fair chance to interview. In this case, the Lions’ position is indefensible.”

A source within the league, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said five minority candidates turned down interview requests from the Lions because it appeared inevitable Mariucci would be hired.

Mariucci had been Detroit’s leading candidate since the Lions fired Marty Mornhinweg last week. Mariucci was the only coach to have an in-person interview.

“The worst thing was the timing,” Millen said. “Steve had been fired, then I let Marty go. And so the prevailing thing was (I’m) going to get Mariucci. That was not the case.

“The problem is, when you go to talk to guys, they would say, ‘I’d be glad to talk to you if it doesn’t get done (with Mariucci).’ That’s a hard thing to work around.

“You have to be honest. People I talked to were guys that I know. I had to be straight with them. When they asked if Steve Mariucci was a strong candidate, I would say, ‘Absolutely.’ I had to be straight with them the whole time.”