By this time tomorrow, we likely know Jim Caldwell’s fate. The consensus view seems to be fire him. I can’t say I 100% disagree, but it’s not as clear-cut as coaching decisions of years past.

Reasons to fire Caldwell:
No division titles.
No playoff wins.
4-25 record against winning teams.
Worst rushing team in football over his tenure. Throughout his career Caldwell coached teams have not been great running teams.
Inconsistent play all around.
9 and 10 men on the field issues this year.
Some very embarrassing losses to mediocre and bad teams in his tenure.

Reasons to keep Caldwell:
Made playoffs 2 of 4 years.
Winningest coach in superbowl era.
Stafford has gotten better under him (I really don’t want to see 2012 or 2013 Stafford again).
The team has less individual talent, especially on defense, than when he took over.
The players seem to like him and he keeps the locker room together.

I think overall it’s time to let him go. The team has 3 to 7 years left of “good” Stafford depending on how he ages. That’s plenty of time to build a winner around him, but not enough time to keep spinning your wheels hoping it all comes together one year. Like it was mentioned a few posts back, 2014 basically was that year, and they still came up short in the division and in the playoffs. If they couldn’t get it done with that roster, I’m not sure Caldwell is ever getting the job done. Bob Quinn doesn’t have a particularly difficult offseason, but the coaching decision will likely make or break his career, so the next few weeks are critical. After that the biggest decision is what to do with Ansah, the RB, and CB positions. I’ll have more thoughts on those later.

Cons

He’s ****ing ******ed.


Bye Felicia.

I guess I left out his questionable 4th down decision making, specifically in the Steelers and Bengals games. ****ing ******ed works though. I am expecting to wake up to news of him gone.

Ive been reading up on Matt Patricia. Theres a lot to like there. Theres some articles out there saying his defensive success being a lot about the pats offense keeping them off the field though.

SOL move is to can caldwell, lose the Patricia sweepstakes, and settle for some consolation prize that extends the cycle of mediocritiy. Quinn better not **** this up.

I’ll take a ham sandwich over Caldwell at this point.

Would have been much more on brand to beat Cincy then lose to Green Bay at home to miss the playoffs in the last week.*

*Assuming tiebreakers got them in at 10-6 in that timeline

See ya Caldwell

Probably interviewing a ham sandwich this morning

Cincy ended up not affecting the playoff scenario. With ATL 10-6 and NO/CAR 11-5 they lose all tiebreakers.

It certainly didnt help Caldwell at all though. I will wonder how much of a deal breaker that game was.

So who are we all hoping for the next HC? Patricia? McDaniels? Any other interesting names out there? Jon Gruden?

Not excited about Patricia tbqh, Austin did a decent job with what he had to work with.

I'll agree that defensive talent since 2015 has been pretty weak, especially front 7, but there were just too many embarrassing losses and poor game plans to really say he did a good job. Also, the 9 and 10 men on the field issues were probably more him than Caldwell. I'd pass on Austin.

We already have a list of coaches Quinn has requested, or is expected to request interviews from.

Matt Patricia - Pats defensive Coordinator.
Mike Vrabel - Texans D coordinator.
Steve Wilks - Panthers D coordinator.
Pat Shurmur - Vikings Offensive coordinator.

The rumor seems to be it's Patricia's job if he wants it. Although I'm sure the Lions won't be the only team he gets an offer from. I admittedly don't follow the NFL much outside of Detroit, so I'm only just now learning much about these guys. I'm skeptical of the NFL formula that seems to be "anything the patriots touch turns to gold" when it comes to pursuing coaches in the NFL. It really hasn't worked well pursuing players in free agency, as performance has regularly dropped once they've left NE.

https://www.si.com/mmqb/2016/11/28/n...triots-defense

This article sold me on Patricia.

I read that article and get the impression that Caldwell probably doesn’t know how to send email.

It would definitely be an intriguing hire.

This guy turned Kyle Van Noy into a decent player too, right? I think I would take a shot on him.

I think Patricia is a different mold from most of these other dudes.

He has the potential to be brutally terrible, but he also has the potential to be our BB


As long as we don't hire someone like Smith, the former ATL coach

Patricia is the man for the job

Wow that article on Patricia got me hard.

I feel like Patricia is also a good one to work with Jim Bob, who I'd like to see stick around, as Stafford went from a middle of the pack QB to a top 5 almost the day that JBC took over as OC.

I'm hearing good things about Vrabel as well, but I'm most curious about Pat Shurmur He's been a head coach before and it did not go well, but what he's done with Minny's offense this year is nothing short of a miracle. He built a running game out of nothing, and turned Keenum into a top QB. The passing offense will be the strength of this Detroit team as long as Stafford is here, and it's important that a head coach understand this and makes sure this team plays to its strengths. That's why I want more of an offensive mastermind to run this team. Plus if you were to assign a percentage of how much a units success was a function of the players vs coaching, I would have to imagine the coaches have a much bigger impact on offense than they do defense.

I think the framework for taking this team to the next level is pretty straightforward:
Add talent to the defense, specifically pass rush.
Update running game with new backs and scheme.
Don't mess with the passing game.
Make better decisions in close games.

Not regressing in the passing offense will hopefully be something the next coach keeps at the forefront. It would be all for nothing if Stafford goes back to below 60% completions with an uptick in INTs next year.

That reminds me, the unsung hero of this team, and one of my new favorite players is Quandre Diggs.

The dude flat out murders people on defense. He clobbered Kizer in the Cleveland game, which was a key turning point. Then he rocked a guy in the Bucs game and forced a fumble. He almost killed Teez Tabor against the Packers.

That physicality is something this defense has been greatly lacking, but hopefully him and Jarrad "suplex" Davis can set the tone for this defense next year. Legion of Boom 2.0 maybe?

Alright, I'm reviewing my preseason predictions. Actually not too bad this year.

This one is a mixed bag. Zettel lead the team in snaps on D-Line, and was #2 in sacks. I guess it was a "breakout" year in that he went from a 6th round pick backup to starter. His PFF grade is surprisingly high as well. However we saw far too many cases where he struggled in the run game, read options, and with play action. He's got the athleticism to be a decent DE, but still has some learning to do if he's going to be more than an averagish player.

Yep, I got this one right. He was the clear #2 the last few weeks. He’s probably the slowest RB, but the only one capable of running with some purpose and shedding tackles at the rate you need a RB to. I’m not saying I want him to be the starting back of the future, but he’s got a place in this league. Zenner and Washington are likely done in Detroit. Neither of them saw a carry after about week 8.
Whoops. Not even close. Abdullah might not be back next year. He’s just not an effective running back.
4446 was the final total. It was one of his best seasons overall. The lack of a run game forced him to convert a lot of 3rd and longs, so overall his numbers are pretty impressive. Because the defense was a bit better than in 2016, the offense was able to get a bit more conservative and not rely on the gun slinging as much.

I did not see Minny coming. The division isn’t as bad as I thought. There are a lot of flawed teams in the NFL. The NFC north is pretty middle of the pack.


Ziggy missed more time, Abdullah did not play well at all, and they still finished 9-7. Their ceiling felt like 10-6, but they could’ve squeaked out 11-5 or 12-4 with the talent they had.

Slay 1st team All Pro. Good for him.

https://www.yahoo.com/sports/patriot...010353649.html

Obv just a "source" to me this is the guy. I want nobody else to coach the lions thats available. No chance hes worse then Caldwell. Bring him in hes the perfect guy to take this team to the next level.

This is pretty much exactly where I am having read a couple of the Patricia articles. High variance play, but has a non-trivial chance of setting the lions up with a coach and GM who can finally change the culture of despair that has engulfed this franchise the 27 years I've been rooting for them. But non-trivial chance he's awful and we waste the end of Matt's prime. Roll the dice.

if hes just awful hes going to be here max 3 years and maybe 2. Hes the gms buddy but hes taking over a 9win team that is playoff caliber. Hes not going to be here for 5 years sucking balls.

Stafford is just about to turn 30 that means hes going to be like 33 in 3 years. Good qbs can play at a highlevel alot longer then other positions so we still have plenty of time with a franchise qb to win a superbowl. This is really sweet because I think Stafford seems to get better and better every year since Calvin left. Hes also a iron man so we got alot to be excited about in the future. Imagine if Stafford could get a running game for once in his career.

As long as he doesnt try to overhaul the offense I think he will be fine. Keep JBC or bring in an OC who is willing to stick with what has mostly worked in the pass game for the last 2.5 years. Address the run game, but the passing offense is Staffords at this point.

They need more than coaching help to get them over the hump, but no doubt in my mind a better coach gets them to 10 or 11 wins this year. The Pitt and Cincy games could have been Ws.

http://www.mlive.com/lions/index.ssf..._will_wor.html

I didnt know this but Marvin Jones worked with Moss for the first time this offseason. He was awesome this year. Glad hes goings to do that again.

Stafford,Tate,Jones,Golladay, Ebron will have no problems moving the ball thru the air next year. Detroit doesn't even need a great runner (good will do) to be an offensive juggernaut.

So tired of Abdullah, he is Jahvid Best without the good excuse for sucking. At 1.2M cap number he obviously isnt going anywhere but he doesnt deserve anything more than a relief role.

Pick 20 doesnt seem right for drafting a RB - maybe they can trade back in the first or up in the 2nd for Chubb, Guice, or Ronald Jones?