Raback Omaba

January 15th, 2016 at 9:10 AM ^

Personally as a Detroiter (but not a HUGE Lions fan, but a follower) I think that this is a good decision. I am not a fan of the knee jerk coaching carousel that the NFL (and college to an extent) has become. For all intents and purposes, his first season was a success and while his second wasn't - they lost a lot of games on close calls and flukes.

Give him another year to make the playoffs and see what he can do. Plus, this may keep CJ around for a year?

Joined: 03/07/2009

MGoPoints: 1629

lilpenny1316

January 15th, 2016 at 10:07 AM ^

Usually there are a handful of plays that determine the outcome of a game, not including boneheaded referee errors.  The better your talent, the better the chances that those plays go in your favor.

His overall resume still has him with a winning record in the NFL.  And name one coach who Manning didn't make look good.  Bill Belichick has a losing record as a HC without Tom Brady.  Does that mean you don't want Belichick coaching your team unless Brady comes along with him?

 

Joined: 11/19/2009

MGoPoints: 61709

Reader71

January 15th, 2016 at 10:11 AM ^

It's true that Manning made him look good, as a great QB always makes his coach look good. But the other way to look at it is that losing Manning is the only thing that has made him look bad. I would argue that no coach, not Harbaugh, not Belichick, would have been able to survive that season with that team. The Colts were the quintessential passing team, and no backup was going to lead them to wins. They could only run by setting up the pass first, and their defense wasn't any good. They were set up (smartly) that way. One of the best QB ever, so protect him with a pass protecting line; give him some weapons; pay a ton to keep him, which limits what you can spend on D; and use that money to build a D that specializes in protecting a lead, with small ends like Freeney and Mathis to rush the passer and zone specialist DBs to keep everything in front.

Joined: 08/30/2009

MGoPoints: 22968

814 East U

January 15th, 2016 at 9:11 AM ^

SOL. How do you retain a coach who doesn't know the rule book or understand game managment situations? Hopefully the Ford family did not make the new GM keep him.

Joined: 10/24/2012

MGoPoints: 20279

ItsGreatToBe

January 15th, 2016 at 9:25 AM ^

WCF seemed like the type of owner who professed to know a lot about things which he acutally didn't know squat (i.e., running a professional football team).

Martha seems like she's willing to swallow her pride and let professionals do what they get paid to do.

Although I do think that a lot of what happens to Caldwell will depend on what happens to Teryl Austin. That defense seemed to make up for Caldwell's bad decisions throughout this last season.

Joined: 11/10/2009

MGoPoints: 2727

lilpenny1316

January 15th, 2016 at 10:14 AM ^

Everyone out there with the exception of the Pats d-coordinator were fired from other positions. Something worked at the end of the season, more than just an easier schedule.  So I can see not pulling the trigger yet.  If they want McDaniels that badly, they can wait until next season if Caldwell sucks.  

If you're putting the Seahawk loss on Caldwell because of batting the ball out of the endzone, how many head coaches would have known that?  None of his assistants said anything.  I didn't hear the commentators say anything immediately either, and one of them was a SB winning coach (Gruden).  That was Calvin's fault for sticking the ball out there.  

I think the team is better with Cooter as OC than Lombardi, so it was worth it to lose those games and finally get that guy booted.

Joined: 11/19/2009

MGoPoints: 61709

tsunami42080

January 15th, 2016 at 9:54 AM ^

In typical Lion's fashion. I think "momentum" from one season to the next is vastly overrated. At least 40% of the roster turns over, it's almost an entirely new team. We would have been better served losing and picking up an inexpensive high draft pick. The true test will be if Stafford can keep up high level next year when the games actually mean something again, and he is facing pressure to win.

Joined: 05/22/2013

MGoPoints: 2109

brose

January 15th, 2016 at 9:13 AM ^

A lot of open coaching spots out there still....wait until next year, let new GM get the lay of the land...if Levy is healthy and CJ comes back and they get a good OL or 2 - theyu could be 10 0r 11 wins next year.  Should have easier schedule.

Joined: 02/19/2009

MGoPoints: 5752

ItsGreatToBe

January 15th, 2016 at 9:14 AM ^

...took some time to make the decision, rather than have a knee-jerk reaction based on the first half of the season.

 

Sounds like the players really believe in Caldwell, and giving him the axe after two seasons probably wouldn't help player retention in future years.

 

If Quinn really isn't a "cut-off-your-nose-to-spite-your-face" type guy, maybe this bodes well for the Lions. I've had the Honolulu Blues since I've been about 9 years old, and I enjoy having Sunday afternoons to do other things besides watch the Lions. But I sincerely hope that Quinn can flip that script.

Joined: 11/10/2009

MGoPoints: 2727

boliver46

January 15th, 2016 at 11:52 AM ^

The "time" he took was a sham.  It was simply to make it appear as if he actually was making a decision - when we all know he was handed Caldwell by ownership from the start.

#NoBalls

#HeCameFromThePatriotsSoMaybeTheyAreJustDeflated

Joined: 09/14/2012

MGoPoints: -3374

StraightDave

January 15th, 2016 at 9:28 AM ^

I beleive the Lions were the last team to start practice last summer, correct?   Caldwell's reason for starting late was to give the team an extra week of summer vacation.  Well the Patriots started ASAP as did the Seahaws, etc.

Lions will suck next season and people will say he should have been fired last year. 

lather, rinse, repeat...it's the Lions.

Joined: 12/27/2009

MGoPoints: 4232

skurnie

January 15th, 2016 at 9:39 AM ^

Not sure exactly on when they started practice and Caldwell has always been a "player's coach".

I still think I'd rather have him versus Josh McDaniels, which was the name that kept coming up since Quinn was hired.

I have zero expectations for the Lions next season. At the very least, Quinn needs to have a good draft in year one.

Joined: 07/31/2013

MGoPoints: 20170

Sam1863

January 15th, 2016 at 9:18 AM ^

Surprised. Not because I thought Caldwell needed to be fired, but because I thought a new GM like Bob Quinn would want to start his Detroit career with his own choice as coach.

I suspect it was a combination of Quinn feeling he and Caldwell could get along, and knowing that the Fords and several players had publicly expressed approval of Caldwell (who has two more years on his contract anyway).

So that's that. Next comes the more important part: the draft, and whether Quinn & staff can get better players than his predecessors did.

Joined: 04/27/2014

MGoPoints: 28753

Btown Wolverine

January 15th, 2016 at 9:21 AM ^

I think it may be the right call. While this year was disappointing, I don't feel comfortable pinning that all on Caldwell.

We had a good finish to the year, so it makes sense to keep the staff together and go into next season with some momentum and continuity.

Joined: 08/23/2013

MGoPoints: 1536

Carpetbagger

January 15th, 2016 at 9:41 AM ^

Although I agree with your twice made statement, that isn't the entire reason. The offense was completely different under Cooter. Very refreshing to watch them take advantage of mis-matches and see good play design with him running the show. I'd like to see what he can do with an off-season to prepare.

I don't see any reason not to give the coaches another year. It looks like they are headed in the right direction, and there aren't better options right now anyway.

Joined: 12/31/2010

MGoPoints: 6489

Blau

January 15th, 2016 at 10:21 AM ^

It's no coincidence that after the front office changes were made, the team played more inspired football. If not for a last ditch Hail Mary, I think they would've only lost 1 game to the Rams? You have to play the games you're given. Who cares if they're vs lesser opponents. The NFL was full of parity this year minus Carolina maybe. Not sure another year of Caldwell is the answer but if it means keeping the nucleus of players together, which it sounds like they love playing for him, then I'm all for it. I still can't believe our OC's actual name is Jim Bob Cooter. Bold parenting right there.

Joined: 01/23/2014

MGoPoints: 35205

Soulfire21

January 15th, 2016 at 9:22 AM ^

I'm ok with it.  The year, when taken as a whole, was disappointing but after letting Lombardi go the Lions really began to click.  Some continuity here isn't such a bad thing.

Joined: 03/18/2010

MGoPoints: 22716