ALLEN PARK, Mich. (AP) — The Detroit Lions wanted to replace Jim Schwartz with someone with experience as
a head coach.
The Lions landed one, though he appears to be Plan B.
Jim
Caldwell has been hired by Detroit, a person familiar with the
situation told The Associated Press on Tuesday on condition of anonymity
because the move had not been announced.
ESPN first reported the hire.
San
Diego Chargers assistant and former Arizona Cardinals coach Ken
Whisenhunt was seemingly Detroit’s top choice, but he chose to take the
head coaching job at Tennessee on Monday night.
The Lions are
giving Caldwell another chance to be an NFL head coach. He helped the
Indianapolis Colts play in the Super Bowl after his debut season in 2009
and was fired two years later after a 2-14 season while Peyton Manning
was injured, dropping his three-year mark to 26-22.
"I’m excited
because he has worked with some good coaches and he did a good job with
the Colts," Lions offensive guard Rob Sims said in a telephone
interview. "Players seem to like him, so I’m looking forward to being a
part of the next chapter of Detroit Lions football with him leading us."
Caldwell
was hired by Baltimore two years ago to be their quarterbacks coach and
was promoted to offensive coordinator late in the 2012 season. The
Ravens went on to win the last Super Bowl.
The Ravens, though,
struggled on offense in 2013 and might’ve replaced Caldwell if he didn’t
get find another job. Baltimore ranked 29th on offense overall — 30th
rushing and 18th passing — last season with Super Bowl-winning
quarterback Joe Flacco and running back Ray Rice.
Caldwell’s body
of work was enough to also make him a candidate to lead the Washington
Redskins and Titans. Former Tennessee coach Mike Munchak and ex-Houston
Texans coach Gary Kubiak were also considered by the Lions.
Caldwell
won his first 14 games with the Colts in 2009 before losing the final
two games of the regular season while resting Manning and most of the
other starters. The Colts lost to the New Orleans Saints in the Super
Bowl. Indy was 10-6 the following season and won another AFC South
title, then lost to the New York Jets in a wild-card game. With Manning
out for all of Caldwell’s third season, the Colts lost 14 games and
Caldwell lost his job.
In Baltimore, Caldwell replaced offensive
coordinator Cam Cameron toward the end of the 2012 regular season and he
seemed to give the offense a boost as it went on to win the Super Bowl
against San Francisco.
Helping the Lions win one playoff game
would be a relative feat: Detroit has only one playoff victory — more
than two decades ago — since winning the 1957 NFL title.
Caldwell,
who won two playoff games in his first season with the Colts, will be
counted on to use his experience with quarterbacks to make Matthew
Stafford better. Detroit drafted Stafford No. 1 overall in 2009 and
after two injury-shortened seasons, he has been spectacular at times and
shaky at others.
When the Lions needed him most, he was at his
worst last season. He had an NFL-high 14 turnovers from Week 11-16 as
Detroit dropped five of six games, plummeting out of first place in the
NFC North and wasting an opportunity to win a division title for the
first time since 1993.
Before Caldwell was hired by the Tony
Dungy-led Colts in 2002 to be their quarterbacks coach, he had the same
job for Dungy with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He was fired as the head
coach at Wake Forest in 2000 with a 26-63 record over eight seasons.
Caldwell, who is from Beloit, Wis., played defensive back for Iowa and
began his coaching career in 1977 as a graduate assistant with the
Hawkeyes.
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