Former Colts coach Jim Caldwell has landed his second head-coaching gig. The Detroit Lions made it official on Tuesday that they’ve hired the 58-year-old to be the franchise’s next leader.
My first reaction is that I’m happy for him. He gave a lot to Indianapolis and the Colts, on staff from 2002-2011. He took over for beloved coach Tony Dungy in 2009 … and I think you all vividly remember that season.
They sprinted out to a remarkable 14-0 start, and then general manager Bill Polian intervened, per usual. The starters were shortly pulled and they dropped their final two games. (To this day, the players in that locker room are still disgusted with that decision. You play to win the game, no?) The Colts made it to the Super Bowl, only to suffer a loss to New Orleans.
The face of the NFL, Peyton Manning, missed the entire 2011 season, ruining any chances for the team that season. What we learned was truly how big of impact No. 18 had. He helped turn low-round draft picks to Pro Bowl-type players. The Colts and Manning separated ties, and owner Jim Irsay fired both Polian and Caldwell.
I’m intrigued to see what Caldwell can do on his own. In Indy, he was Polian’s puppet, saying what had to be said and doing as told. Caldwell receives slack for his lack of emotions, but to each his own. Coach Dungy proved that really didn’t matter.
Two interesting nuggets on the hiring of Caldwell.
Dungy isn’t the only one who endorsed Jim Caldwell to the #Lions. I’m also hearing quarterback Peyton Manning did too.
— Tim Twentyman (@ttwentyman) January 13, 2014
Jim Caldwell showed how serious he was about #Lions job by breaking down all of Matt Stafford’s throws in 2013, then watching tape with him
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 14, 2014
Caldwell is going into an interesting situation in Detroit. They haven’t had much success until recently. They went 7-9 last season, including a poor 4-4 mark at home. Good teams shouldn’t lose more than a game or two at home. He must protect the home field. He’s also in NFC North Division, which had one team (Green Bay) finish above .500. The Packers, led by Aaron Rodgers should be good again, but Caldwell’s Lions can make some noise. He has the weapons to do so.
I hope he does well and succeeds. But I’m mostly interested to see what a Jim Caldwell-led team looks like. Because we sure didn’t see it in Indy.