ALLEN PARK, Mich. -- Is winning five of the last seven games enough to save Jim Caldwell’s job? That’s one of the unknowns as the Detroit Lions enter Week 17 against the Chicago Bears.
Team president Rod Wood said multiple times the team’s new general manager, when hired, will decide Caldwell’s future.
Team owner Martha Ford has been open about her admiration of Caldwell, calling him a “great guy” and “absolutely the most wonderful coach” in June, the only time she has taken questions from the media. That doesn’t mean she’ll keep Caldwell, but it should be kept in mind as the Lions make their general manager and head coach decisions over the next month or so.
There are reasonable cases for Caldwell to stay and for his departure.
The case for Caldwell staying includes:
At 17-14, Caldwell will be one of four Lions coaches in history to have an over-.500 record through his first two seasons -- no matter what happens against Chicago -- joining Potsy Clark (18-5-4 in 1931 and 1932), Buddy Parker (16-7-1, 1951-52) and George Wilson (12-11-1, 1957-58).
Caldwell took a team that was 1-7 in the first half and kept it from quitting on the season entirely. The Lions have gone 5-2 in the second half of the season -- part of the reason why we're having this conversation -- and Caldwell should be given credit for keeping his team mentally in the season and on message.
He led the Lions to a win over Green Bay at Lambeau Field for the first time since 1991.
He guided the Lions to the playoffs in his first season.
Matthew Stafford has shown improvement over the past seven games after the Lions replaced Joe Lombardi with Jim Bob Cooter as offensive coordinator. Stafford’s been a top-10 quarterback in almost every major passing category in that span, although the competition hasn't been as strong as it was in the first half of the season. Keeping Cooter and Stafford together -- along with defensive coordinator Teryl Austin if he doesn’t land a head-coaching gig -- might be a reason to retain Caldwell if the Lions believe this combination can lead to success.
However, there is an equally strong case to be made for Caldwell’s departure, starting with his in-game coaching decisions:
His defense on the final play against Green Bay in Week 13 -- when the Lions defended for laterals instead of a Hail Mary -- was a failure on every level.
In four games during the second half of this season, the Lions have had issues putting 11 men on the field, leading to plays run with 10 men or timeouts wasted due to simple personnel issues (three plays were on special teams, one was defense). These may not be Caldwell’s fault, but he has taken the blame.
In Detroit’s win over Atlanta in London last year, the Lions were bailed out by a bad decision by Caldwell. The Lions took a delay of game penalty on Matt Prater’s game-winning field goal attempt that missed. Prater got a redo and made the game winner, but Caldwell admitted after that the penalty was his fault.
Against Minnesota this season, he approved the use of little-used George Winn on a goal-line carry that failed, as well as other poor play calls that likely contributed to Lombardi’s dismissal.
Beyond the coaching decisions -- and those are just some examples -- the Lions started the season 1-7 in 2015 for a reason. The schedule factored in -- Detroit faced five potential playoff teams (Minnesota twice) in the first eight games, losing all six games. The Lions lost by single digits in two of those games (13-10 at Seattle and 28-19 against Minnesota). But too often his team looked unprepared and predictable.
While Caldwell has a winning record as Detroit’s head coach, he is 2-12 against over-.500 teams, including the playoffs. (His only two wins were against Green Bay at home in 2014 and Green Bay on the road in 2015.) Caldwell doesn’t pick his opponents, but his record has been made by beating up on weaker teams.
Also, a new general manager -- provided the Lions don’t retain interim GM Sheldon White -- would likely want to pick his own head coach. Unless Detroit hires someone with familiarity with Caldwell, it could be tricky to entice a top GM candidate if the edict is to keep the coach.
So the first decision the new general manager will have to make is whether to keep the head coach. After two full seasons of work, it is not the easiest call.