Detroit Lions: Can Jim Caldwell Deliver Key Wins?
By Luke Sims
Detroit Lions head coach Jim Caldwell has a 44-36 record as a head coach in the NFL but his past history may not indicate success in the future for this team.
There is a vast difference at the NFL level between being a good coordinator and being a good head coach. Some coaches, like current Denver Broncos defensive coordinator Wade Phillips (84-64) or Tennessee Titans defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau (12-33), are well respected as coordinators but do not excel when given a full team to run.
It isn’t that these men are incapable. They clearly have skills at running football teams, but they don’t deliver on a consistent basis as a head coach. Head coach is a different position and requires a different mindset and approach to being successful than a coordinator position.
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Detroit Lions head coach Jim Caldwell could well be lumped in with those other gifted coordinators who do not excel at being head coach.
Caldwell’s time as a head coach has yielded a 44-36 record to this point, both with the Lions and the Indianapolis Colts. He even led the Colts to a Super Bowl in his first year with the team in 2009.
But there is a drop off between his starting seasons with his respective teams and subsequent efforts:
- 2009: 14-2, AFC Champions
- 2010: 10-6, loss in first round of playoffs
- 2011: 2-14
- 2014: 11-5, lost in first round of playoffs
- 2015: 7-9
In both ascensions to leadership, Caldwell inherited teams that were relatively strong. The Colts had gone to the playoffs in seven consecutive seasons under head coach Tony Dungy before Caldwell took over. The Lions, under the divisive and bombastic Jim Schwartz, had dug themselves out of a massive 0-16 hole to become competitive again, including a playoff run just two years before Caldwell arrived.
Caldwell was able to provide a little extra push for the teams and help them continue their moves forward. The Lions were a much bigger mess than the Colts and nobody should blame Caldwell completely for the utter collapse of the Colts in 2011 sans-Peyton Manning. Yet the trend that is beginning to be established is that Caldwell can manage a team that has key pieces already but he struggles through adversity as a head coach.
Winning six of their last eight games in 2015 saved Caldwell’s job going forward. It indicated that not everything is a mess under his leadership and he can, through the elevation of the right people like current offensive coordinator Jim Bob Cooter, manage a team appropriately.
The taste of that initial 1-7 record still lingers in the mouth, however. It should still raise concerns.
The 2014 Lions were a dominant team that should have opened 2015 with statement wins. Instead, they limped through the season looking like a team that deserved to be a cellar dweller.
Like any team, there were a litany of issues in the first half of the season (NFL Spin Zone’s Russell S. Baxter outlined it well in November of 2015). It’s the job of the head coach to get his team past those issues. But, like 2011, Caldwell did not have a plan in place to move forward following key changes to personnel. He did not have a plan in place to show the grit and determination that the best of teams are expected to have to be winners.
The momentum from 2015’s second half has many people as believers for the Lions. They showed they are much more than simply the 1-7 team of 2015’s first half. They showed they can rebound. There’s cause for celebration in that. It’s getting to the point where calling the Lions a sleeper pick isn’t out of the ordinary (per For the Win’s Steven Ruiz).
All told, 2016 will be a key year to see if Jim Caldwell can deliver wins for the Detroit Lions. 2015 was a scary indication that maybe he can’t plan as well as some would hope and his true spot in the NFL may be as an offensive coordinator. The rebound indicates he could be something more. Like Wade Phillips, however, it won’t just take a winning record to excel as a head coach. He needs to deliver playoff appearances and victories in those playoffs.
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For a head coach that has gotten a team to the Super Bowl, there are far too many questions surrounding Caldwell. If the Lions don’t roar back to contention in 2016 it may be fair to look at the head of the beat and wonder if it’s time to make a change.