Getty Jim Caldwell coaching a game in Buffalo during the preseason in 2017.
It’s been five years since the Detroit Lions moved on from Jim Caldwell, and like most guys who once coached the team, he has not roamed a sideline as a boss since.
Caldwell, who has had interviews with teams in the past as recently as the 2020 cycle with the Houston Texans, still is looking to coach in the league. That’s something he confirmed when speaking with The 33rd Team recently.
The former Indianapolis Colts coach went one-on-one with the site and confirmed that he has a desire to get back into coaching, and he has even put off other opportunities to see where things might lead in that avenue, even though his time may be close to being up.
“I have a strong desire to do so, to get back in the league as a head football coach. I’ve had numerous opportunities to do other things which I wanted to refrain from until I’ve exhausted every avenue in this area and I’m probably about my last cycle I would think coming up,” Caldwell said.
Historically speaking, Caldwell is pretty solid as a boss. The Colts cracked the Super Bowl with him at the helm in 2010, and overall, Caldwell has a record of 62-50 as a head coach in the league. He also claimed a pair of Super Bowl wins as a coordinator, winning Super Bowl 41 with Indianapolis and Super Bowl 47 with the Baltimore Ravens.
There’s no question Caldwell is a respected coach, but how much longer will he go? Obviously, he still has the vitality and the desire to do the job.
Caldwell’s Career With Lions Successful
To this day, Caldwell still represents one of the bigger debates within the Detroit fanbase. Many believe he should not have lost his job when he did in 2018 because the team was close, while others contended he had peaked in the role.
Caldwell wasn’t the Lions’ best coach ever historically, but he was the most solid lately in terms of recent history. Caldwell was famously 36-28 with the Lions which included two playoff births in 2014 and 2016. Though Caldwell was 0-2 in the playoffs, at the very least he made the tournament with the Lions, which is more than Matt Patricia could say for his tenure. So far, Dan Campbell hasn’t yet cracked the postseason, either.
During Caldwell’s time in Detroit, players loved him and continue to defend him for his work to this day like cornerback Darius Slay. As Slay said on the All Things Covered podcast in 2021, he never understood the move to get rid of Caldwell.
“My thing is, I don’t know why you would replace a guy like that,” Slay said on the show. “Very consistent, two playoff (appearances) in four years.”
Caldwell built a pretty strong bond with the roster that was never captured under Patricia, and took until Campbell came along to come close to replicating.
There isn’t much doubt that if he was able to land another gig, Caldwell would certainly be the kind of leader that could command sufficient attention in the locker room even at age 67. That was never his issue when leading the Lions.
Caldwell Also Admires Other Young Coaches
As expected, it might be difficult for Caldwell to get back into the coaching ring, and the reason has to do with the dearth of quality young head coaches that will be on the market, particularly African American coaches.
Caldwell said that while he does crave a job, he wouldn’t mind losing out to someone else, especially if it was one of those candidates considering how much they have to offer the future of the game.
“It’s not necessarily all about me either. I love the fact that people talk about me in terms of getting a position, but there’s a lot of great candidates out there,” he said. Leslie Frazier, who’s done a tremendous job up there, he should have an opportunity. DeMeco Ryans, tell me someone is doing a better job than what that young man is doing? Has charisma, has leadership, all the little details in terms of a guy who’s running your team. Teryl Austin, I can’t say enough good things about Teryl. Raheem Morris is doing a nice job with the Rams, won a Super Bowl last year. Eric Bieneimy, Kansas City. Byron Leftwich, Tampa Bay.”
If those names get jobs over Caldwell, he wouldn’t be too heartbroken about it, even if it comes at his own expense.
“I’d love to see five, six of those guys get a job and maybe I’m left on the sideline. I’d love that. So that’s kind of how I view that,” he said.
Certainly, all of those names will figure to surface in the days and weeks ahead for teams as they begin to formulate their lists. Any would be strong candidates for jobs.
Will Caldwell join them? Only time will tell, but it’s clearly something that he would not mind if was the case.