Jim Caldwell (left), Jim Bob Cooter (top), Teryl Austin (bottom right)
The biggest question, of course, is: Will Lions' head coach Jim Caldwell return for a third season?
But even if he does, it's not clear who else on the staff will.
Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press reports that defensive coordinator Teryl Austin is expected to be a hot commodity on the head-coaching market this off-season.
And Caldwell thinks several others will generate interest from teams around the league.
Birkett writes:
And with a number of coaches in the final year of their contracts, the longer the team waits to decide on Caldwell's future, the more likely it is they bolt for other jobs.
And offensive coordinator Jim Bob Cooter showed that he's got something of value on the market.
The Freep reports:
Because of the turnaround he's led with the Lions offense and the work he's done with quarterback Matthew Stafford, who's completing a career-best 66.9% of his passes, Cooter could be an in-demand coordinator candidate this off-season regardless if Caldwell and his staff are retained.
Cooter entered this fall in the final year of a two-year contract, though it's not known how that contract was altered when he was promoted to coordinator. He declined comment Thursday when asked both about his deal and how he'll approach potential job openings while in coaching limbo waiting for the Lions to hire a general manager.
"I'm just going to talk about the Chicago game we're playing this week," Cooter said. "I'm looking forward to focusing on that and trying to win that thing, so that's where I'm at right now."
