January 14th, 2014 at 1:16 PM ^
I would even question his track record there. Other than taking an already great QB, who happens to be a self motivator and one of the hardest workers in the history of the NFL, and making him a little bit better, what else has he done as a QB coach?
In nearly 30 years of being a QB coach/head coach, where are all of the outstanding QBs he has developed? Where are the NFL QBs he produced in college?
January 14th, 2014 at 12:31 PM ^
Will bump this thread in January 2017 when we're discussing who the Lions will get to replace Jim Caldwell
By the way, he was 26-63 as HC at Wake Forest with 7 losing season in 8 years, with his only winning season being 7-5
January 14th, 2014 at 12:45 PM ^
January 14th, 2014 at 12:31 PM ^
Almost as bad of hire as Millen was. Terrible hire.
January 14th, 2014 at 1:55 PM ^
This is just blah.
January 14th, 2014 at 12:32 PM ^
Hello 8-8 for the next 3 years.
January 14th, 2014 at 12:36 PM ^
Whooooooo! 3 non-losing seasons in a row!
January 14th, 2014 at 12:38 PM ^
Mayhew has to go next time. I put this on him.
January 14th, 2014 at 12:38 PM ^
You sound like my Dad. Before he died last year, he had a 21 season bet going with my uncle (season ticket holder since before the Silver Dome) that the Lions wouldn't be better than 8-8. My uncle never paid him a dime.
January 14th, 2014 at 12:44 PM ^
Then your dad lost some money because your Uncle should have payed him more than a few times in 21 years.
January 14th, 2014 at 12:49 PM ^
That's what I'm saying. I should try to collect.
January 14th, 2014 at 12:41 PM ^
I think that's extremely generous. We just downgraded the coaching spot on a team that went 4-12 and 7-9 the last two seasons and Calvin isn't getting any younger. Only way they'll make the playoffs until Caldwell is fired is if Rodgers and Cutler both get their ACLs ripped out of their legs. Even then, still looks sketchy.
January 14th, 2014 at 12:33 PM ^
January 14th, 2014 at 12:33 PM ^
he was peytons qb coach so he should be able to help stafford improve. tony dungy apparently raved about him to the fords. if we can get a good OC who is creative i think it will work out well
January 14th, 2014 at 12:47 PM ^
history and didn't screw him up. That's pretty exciting.
January 14th, 2014 at 1:15 PM ^
caldwell was hired in 2002 by the colts, that season mannings completion percentage jumped from 62.7% (which was the highest of his 1st 4 seasons) to 66.3% and manning never dropped under 65% under caldwell. manning has attirbuted some of his success to caldwells coaching. while manning is one of the greatest qbs in history caldwell still helped him become who he is today. i think it should help stafford out.
January 14th, 2014 at 12:34 PM ^
Retread. Someone get Ron Rothstein on the phone for the analysis of this hire.
January 14th, 2014 at 12:35 PM ^
SOL
January 14th, 2014 at 12:38 PM ^
Don't recycle hot takes from radio guys. Their job is to draw callers and they use the same tactic that horses use to draw flies.
January 14th, 2014 at 12:44 PM ^
January 14th, 2014 at 1:11 PM ^
From what I understand, Stafford had nothing to do with the decision, as far as what has actually been said. Whisenhunt said he wanted to run a 3-4 D and the Lions wouldn't budge on it, and frankly liked Nashville more than Detroit (and probably liked $$). Then Jeff Riger of 97.1 wrote a commentary about how it is probably really because of Stafford and Whiz's lack of confidence in him. Now that station talks about it like a reported fact when there's no evidence of such.
January 14th, 2014 at 1:17 PM ^
schefter tweeted yesterday about how whiz had coached at vandy for a bit and liked/was familiar with the nashville area
January 14th, 2014 at 12:36 PM ^
Not my first choice (not their first choice) but he's the polar opposite of Schwartz. He won't be an embarrassment. If he makes Stafford better, it might just work.
January 14th, 2014 at 12:37 PM ^
I saw Teryl Austin's name mentioned as a possible DC.
January 14th, 2014 at 12:37 PM ^
January 14th, 2014 at 12:38 PM ^
January 14th, 2014 at 12:39 PM ^
The Lions settle again. Rinse, wash, dry, repeat.
January 14th, 2014 at 12:39 PM ^
This doesn't look good. The Lions clearly whiffed on Whisenhunt, who was their preferred choice; it looks like they could have gotten him if they had moved faster, but Tennessee got to him first and that's that.
The one thing I did like about Caldwell was the report that, for his interview, he charted every one of Stafford's passes with notations on what corrections he would make. So we're not looking at someone who isn't already putting in the work to improve the team. And, frankly, I'm glad his interview was not just a Rooney Rule throwaway, but that he had a legit shot at the job.
Still, I wanted Whisenhunt (or Lovie or Jon Gruden). The Lions were thought to have the best opening in the NFL this year and wound up with a hire that is, at best, un-inspiring. That's an organizational problem. They failed to execute.
Contrast this with how Brandon got Nussmeier on board. Pretty stark.
January 14th, 2014 at 12:49 PM ^
Not sure how the lions could have moved faster given that they couldn't offer him a job before the Chargers were eliminated from the playoffs and had a private jet ready to go to San Diego first thing Monday morning. I'm guessing Whisenhunt simply didn't want to coach the Lions for one reason or another
January 14th, 2014 at 12:40 PM ^
I am definately not excited about this. Caldwell may have been the best guy available after Whisenhunt got hired by the Titans. But that being said I don't think think anyone was beating down Caldwells door why not wait at this point and wait and see what else breaks loose? Their are rumors that Harbough may leave San Fran after the season. At this point what does Detriot have to lose by waiting?
January 14th, 2014 at 12:47 PM ^
" At this point what does Detriot have to lose by waiting?"
I'll let you know as soon as my Browns secure their Head Coach cause they are definitely taking the "wait and see" approach to their vacancy.
Our current "frontrunner" is Adam Gase, 35 year old Denver first year OC has never been an HC in his life and has basically spent the year WATCHING Peyton Manning run the offense. And there's no assurance he'll even take the job if offered.
I think I'm going to apply for the Browns job.
January 14th, 2014 at 12:56 PM ^
Waiting is no guarantee thats for sure.But when they have whiffed on what appeared to be the best coaches available why not pump the breaks a little? No one else seemed to be interested in Caldwell. He was available today and there is a pretty good chance he would have still been available after the super bowl when you know about the playoff coaches.
January 14th, 2014 at 12:40 PM ^
When you have to settle it usually ends in divorce.
January 14th, 2014 at 12:41 PM ^
January 14th, 2014 at 12:41 PM ^
January 14th, 2014 at 12:46 PM ^
I am not sold that he can fix Stafford. It would be great if he can. But how much credit can we really give the guy for Peyton Manning?
January 14th, 2014 at 1:13 PM ^
But we are the lions and never expect good things.
Who's "we"?
January 14th, 2014 at 12:44 PM ^
It's hard to be excited about a guy who was clearly Plan B, but he does have an ok track record so hopefully he can help take this team to the next level.
January 14th, 2014 at 12:44 PM ^
At some point there is only so much abuse you can take from a wife and you have to leave the bitch. The kids are all grown up and gone to college so now it's time for me to be selfish and find someone that makes me happy. Divorce is expensive because it's worth it.
Some day the Ford family will sell the team. Then and only then will the fans left standing have hope of their team playing in a Superbowl.
January 14th, 2014 at 1:29 PM ^
I'm married to the Lions, but my mistress is the Patriots.
January 14th, 2014 at 12:45 PM ^
have owned the Lions. He's 2 and 2.
January 14th, 2014 at 12:45 PM ^
I miss Wayne Fontes.
January 14th, 2014 at 12:46 PM ^
He's interviewing with Miami for the GM spot....cherry on top of the crap sunday.
January 14th, 2014 at 12:50 PM ^
Oh boy. I am not a fan of this hiring.
I understand the Peyton Manning connection, and he did reach a Super Bowl, but color me as one of those "it was all on Peyton" types.
I think he's probably a good QB coach, although I'm not sure how great his track record is outside of Peyton. Peyton was already in his 5th year and a great QB by the time Caldwell showed up.
I'm just not sold on him as a head coach when the guy's head coaching track record is 52-85 (Wake Forest + Colts).
This seems like a "We whiffed on everyone we wanted! Panic!" hires.
January 14th, 2014 at 3:57 PM ^
Manning pre-Caldwell season average QBR (throwing out rookie season): 89.8
Manning with Caldwell season average QB: 101
Manning pre-Caldwell highest completion %: 62.7%
Manning with Caldwell lowest completion %: 65.0%
January 14th, 2014 at 5:24 PM ^
It's almost like Peyton Manning entered his prime or something...
For the sake of argument, I'll grant you that he made an already great QB, who is a self motivator and one of the hardest working players in the history of the NFL, a little bit better.
Who else has Jim Caldwell turned into a star? Can you give me the names of all those college QBs he sent into the NFL? He's been a QB coach/head coach for nearly 30 years. So I'd like some names.
January 14th, 2014 at 6:58 PM ^
Caldwell started coaching QBs in 1986 at Penn State. PSU QB Tony Sacca played there from 1988 to 1991 and then was drafted in the second round. Kerry Collins also had two years of coaching from Caldwell.
Rusty LaRue played QB for Caldwell at Wake Forest, and according to their website, "LaRue set school and ACC records that still stand, including marks for total offensive yards, total offensive plays, pass attempts, pass completions and passing yards in a game." (LaRue went on to play basketball, though, rather than football.) Ben Sankey from Wake Forest had a pro career mostly in the CFL and showed up once or twice on some NFL practice squads.
That's the list, mainly. Take it how you like. 30 years is a bit inflationary considering he was only a college coach for about 15 years and spent most of the rest of his time dealing with Peyton Manning. Having coached three players who went pro plus one who chose basketball isn't a bad track record if you ask me. Had he coached somewhere other than Wake Forest I might demand more recognizable names, but even Steve Spurrier didn't have all-star talent when he was at Duke.
January 14th, 2014 at 12:48 PM ^
Just curious as to why Jim Tressel gets so much hate for a try at OC. He's had great success on-field. Sure his off the field antics and deceit were a blemish on his resume. But this is the NFL now, all that aside, what do we have to lose with him being OC? Worst case scenario: we do no better than we've done now. He may be a surprising upgrade. Are you really going to judge him negatively if he's winning?
January 14th, 2014 at 1:11 PM ^
But this is the NFL now, all that aside, what do we have to lose with him being OC?
My dignity. Gonna take a real hit if I see Tressel in the same colors I root for.
In seriousness, here's the thing. Caldwell is not coaching in a vacuum. NFL franchises are not just interchangeable collections of players with randomly assigned colors to tell them apart. I turned on Schwartz when he turned on the fans. I want a Lions head coach to at least attempt to display some kind of indication that he understands his surroundings, including the fans who root for his team and have been here one hell of a lot longer than he has.
Let's just say the reports about Tressel are more than empty bloviating. If Caldwell really, truly believes he can't find one single OC that can do the job better than Tressel, then hire Tressel - but it's gonna be hard to convince anyone that of all the coaches out there, there's nobody qualified for the job besides Tressel. Three-quarters of the Lions fanbase despises the guy. (That'd be every Michigan fan and half the Sparties, too.) Is it really too much to ask, when you walk into a job, to realize that? If it is, maybe you're the wrong guy after all.
January 14th, 2014 at 1:34 PM ^
The last thing I want in a Head Coach is someone who has a plan, and isn't going to follow it for fear the fans won't like it.
He shouldn't care in anyway about how Lions Fans would like hiring Tressel, nor does he need to convince a single fan that Tressel would be the right guy for the job.
The only thing the coach needs to care about is winning. If he wins, nobody cares who he hired.