This is something that never should have happened.
Before anyone jumps to a premature conclusion, thinking this author is advocating Caldwell should have stayed on as the head coach of the Lions, let me clear that up.
They couldn't be more wrong.
The reason it never should have happened is because Caldwell never should have been hired as the Lions' head coach in the first place. If he was never hired, it wouldn't have come to the inevitable firing. And yes, it was long overdue.
Way back in 2008 Caldwell inherited a very good Indianapolis Colts team from his predecessor Tony Dungy. A franchise on the rise. True enough, Caldwell would go 14-2 in his first year there with the bed of roses he had fallen into.
But within two years, he had run the franchise into the ground, posting a 2-14 record. Hence, he was rightfully fired.
Only the Detroit Lions and the "infinite wisdom" of the Ford family ownership could see an upside to this guy, so of course they hired him as THEIR head coach.
As has long been proven over the years, even decades, Detroit is where head football coaches go to die. Sure, they make a lot of money, many millions, and are pretty much financially set for life. But they're never going to win anything, because that same history, well over a half century worth, seems to be a curse of some sort. Either that, or they botch draft choices, free-agent signings, trades, and game plans and field management. If there's a way to somehow screw it up before the season is over, one can rest assured the Lions will find it. Because this is.... just.... what....they....do. Always have.
Caldwell can't be too sad about it. After all, though his contract details are a "secret" -- the only head coach in the NFL to somehow enjoy such "classified" status, it is generally known the same bumbling Ford family is on the hook to pay him, in full, for at least one more year. So basically, he'll make a few more millions of dollars for doing absolutely nothing. Bet you wish you had a job, or severance package like that.
Now the search is on to find Caldwell's replacement.
Naturally, the existing defensive coordinator of the Lions, one Teryl Austin, has thrown his hat in the ring.
It is also rumored the Lions are very much interested in New England Patriots' DC Matt Patricia.
So let's see. TA was a Caldwell hire in the first place, and the defenses he has contrived over his tenure have been woefully porous. Meanwhile, MP has presided over one of stingiest defenses in the entire league while with the Patriots.
So who will the Lions probably hire? Austin, of course. The same wacky Ford logic will likely prevail. If you're going to run a loser out of town, then why not promote one of his proteges to the same job? It really is comical, and has long been so.
And there's no guarantee Patricia would even be interested in going to Detroit, even though he'd no doubt be showered with much more money as a head coach than he's recently made as a defensive coordinator. When the inevitable purge of head coaches happens during the next few weeks, a guy like him will certainly have much better and more promising destinations to choose from. Going to Detroit is basically a death sentence.
Over all those same decades, no former head coach, NOT ONE, of the Lions has ever been offered the same job elsewhere in the league. Yes, a few have caught on as coordinators, but never the head guy. That statistic is rather telling.
Leave it to Detroit's version of the Georgia Peach, quarterback Matthew Stafford, to add his two cents worth upon hearing the news of Caldwell getting the boot.
Dear Matthew wants current offensive coordinator Jim Bob Cooter to be retained by whoever takes over. Of course Jim Bob replaced former OC Joe Lombardi, also an original Caldwell hire. Evidently, Lombardi was clueless and Jim Bob is a bit better calling the offensive plays, though oftentimes one is left to wonder just what he could have possibly been thinking with some of the boneheaded strategies he has so often deployed during his short time.
Of course, this is the same Matthew Stafford that was just rewarded with an absolutely ludicrous contract that made him the highest paid player in the entire NFL. This, for a guy with a career losing record that has never won a single playoff game. Seven million MORE per season than Tom Brady? REALLY? What sort of madness is afoot in Motown?
And it's also the same guy that, while getting filthy rich, didn't have brains enough to check out the free agent market that would have beckoned. A few, certainly not all teams would likely have been interested in his services. And probably at least a couple that had a realistic chance of competing for a Super Bowl in the next few years. But no. He basically signed his useful football life away to the forever sad-sack Lions. Would making a few million less per year , say 20 instead of 27, even after taxes, really hurt him that much in the wallet? Any sane person can't possibly spend all that money anyway, and that's not even counting the mega-bucks Stafford surely has coming in from his multiple endorsements. What he did was concede any chance of ever being a champion. Maybe it's something in the air in Detroit, or the offices of the stadium, that make otherwise rational individuals start behaving like idiots.
Nevertheless, Jim Caldwell is gone. Just one more blotch on the long sorry history of the Detroit Lions.
The list of incompetents, from office personnel, down to head coaches, coordinators, and pretty much everybody else is long indeed when it comes to the Lions.
Will they get Matt Patricia? Not if he has any brains.
And last time I looked, the New England franchise was light years ahead of the one in Detroit in that particular department. Always has been.
Patrica need only take a page from his former workmate Bob Quinn. He was only a scout for the Patriots, but the Lions, again in their infinite wisdom, decided to make him their General Manager.
And once he arrived in Detroit, Quinn has pretty much botched everything since. The same old story. Make a lot of Ford bucks. And the brain drain quickly sets in.
For some reason, everybody seems to get a terminal case of stupid when they go to work for the Lions.
Go figure.
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