Ex-Lions Coach Jim Caldwell
The Lions flip the final page on the team's Jim Caldwell chapters.
A new year brings time for new leadership, Dave Birkett reports at the Detroit Free Press:
The Lions fired Caldwell on Monday morning, one day after they closed the season with a 35-11win over the Green Bay Packers.
Caldwell posted the highest regular-season winning percentage (.563) of any full-time Lions coach in the Super Bowl era. But his 36-28 record included just four victories over teams that finished above .500, and he went 0-2 in the playoffs.
General manager Bob Quinn will embark immediately on a search for a replacement, one that's expected to include two of his former colleagues with the New England Patriots -- defensive coordinator Matt Patricia and offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels. . . .
With eight to 10 projected vacancies this year, the Lions could have competition for some of the top candidates.
Caldwell was the Lions' first African-American head coach, Bill Shea notes at Crain's Detroit Business. "The NFL requires its teams to interview minorities for head coaching vacancies," he adds.
Original article, Sunday afternoon:
Pack your desk and clear out your office, coach. Jim Caldwell's four-year run in Detroit is over, predicts Ian Rapoport, NFL Network Insider columnist at the league's site.
"When Detroit missed the playoffs, his fate was almost certainly sealed."
The Lions have an 8-7 record going into Sunday afternoon's home game against the Green Bay Packers, which ends the team's season.
In a weekend roundup of "NFL coaches on hot seat," Rapoport posts:
Coach Jim Caldwell is expected to coach his last game for Detroit on Sunday, sources said.
The multi-year extension he received this past offseason was really just a one-year deal with an option, and Caldwell's status is now in doubt. When Detroit missed the playoffs, his fate was almost certainly sealed.
When the job becomes open, keep an eye on Patriots defensive coordinator Matt Patricia, a hire that would allow the Lions to keep the offensive side of the ball mostly in place.
He's suggesting that Jim Bob Cooter would stay as the Lions' offensive coordinator, a promotion he got in 2015 after a year as quarterbacks coach.
Stay tuned.
-- Alan Stamm
