NEW HEAD COACH

[Icness]

Iceness,

Hearing whispers that the Ravens offense was so bad this (last) season that if not hired elsewhere, Caldwell was likely to be fired and replaced in Baltimore. Any truth to those rumblings?

Can't say for certain but I've heard those same things. Sat next to Ozzie Newsome for a bit on Monday, he didn't seem like a guy looking for lots of change though.

Here's what to remember: Caldwell took over as Ravens OC and Flacco went from clearly worse than Stafford to red-hot leader of a Super Bowl champ. Overnight. It can happen in Detroit too.

[Q00]

There is something to be said about a guy who takes over prominant roles on two different ready-to-win franchises, and those teams immediately go on to the promised land his first year.

I'm not sure this is a guy you hire if you are a team in rebuilding mode, which is why I think there was no other interest in him this year (because all the other teams w/ coaching vacancies are rebuilding). But if you are a team like the Lions who believe you are ready to win now, and just need someone to get you over the hump, Jim Caldwell becomes a very intriguing prospect. I mean, his resume cannot be denied. The last two teams he took over went to the Super Bowl in his first year. Not only that, but did so in historic fashion. Colts starting out 14-0 and the playoff run of Flacco was an all-time great 11 TDs to 0 INTs.

Now, there's also something to be said about how both those teams fizzled out rather quickly under him as well. Indy was 2-14 just 2 years later and Baltimore became the 29th ranked offense the very next season (Injuries/roster moves did play major roles in both, however). But in terms of longevity, there is some uncertainty there, though at age 59 you weren't hiring him for the longterm anyways. You want immediate success and at a high level. He's proven he can do that. I'm very pleased with this hire and excited about this staff he's putting together.

[Q00]

The Lions wanted a QB guru for Stafford and they got Peyton Manning's QB coach. Its hard to be upset about that.

There will always be talk that he only succeeded as a HC because of Manning, but Manning has been in the league 15 years. If it were so easy to just ride Manning to super bowls, how come all the other coach's he has had didn't get there every year?

Manning has only been to the super bowl twice in 15 years. One of those times was with Caldwell. That means something in my opinion. In the last 5 seasons before this year, Manning lost in the 1st round of the playoffs 4 of the 5 times, with 3 different HCs (Dungy, Fox, and Caldwell), and the one year he succeeded wasn't under Dungy or Fox, it was under Caldwell. So I think this guy deserves more credit than he gets for Manning's success.

Also, it should be remembered that the 2-14 season wasn't just because Manning was inactive, the Colts ownership was also openly tanking for Luck. Its telling when their GM changes 35 players on their roster that following summer, that the ownership knew it wasn't just about Manning. So to blame that all on Caldwell would be inaccurate. That was just an old team whose run had come to an end & father time had caught up, and ownership decided it were better to lose for a high pick and rebuild.

[Piston Pete]

Well, now there is more bad news.....Lazor is no longer going to be our OC. He's instead going to be the Dolphin's OC. Ugh

[ajaX82]

Well, now there is more bad news.....Lazor is no longer going to be our OC. He's instead going to be the Dolphin's OC. Ugh

Yeah how the heck did that happen? I thought that was a done deal for us

[Piston Pete]

Well, now there is more bad news.....Lazor is no longer going to be our OC. He's instead going to be the Dolphin's OC. Ugh

Yeah how the heck did that happen? I thought that was a done deal for us

SOL moment of the week....

[Blkbrd671]

We hired Joe Lombardi as our OC. He has 0 OC experience. he was the QB coach for the saints, however, Bree's success is more a product of him being BA

[Blkbrd671]

Also the wide 9 is likely to stay. which I think is a horrible decision, and our secondary coach is trying to retain his job. How anyone can justify our 2ndary coach being retained is beyond me. Our biggest problems stem from our secondary

[Piston Pete]

REALLY not impressed with any of our coaching hires this offseason. This is clearly a case of, "I hope they prove me wrong."

[ajaX82]

I love the Lombardi hiring. Everyone says the guy has a great mind, he worked for a great organization, learned from and coached one of the best QBs in the league and, of course, he is a freaking Lombardi.

I don't know how you could not like this hiring. It's perfect in my opinion

[Blkbrd671]

“He’ll lay out your install, and he’ll tell you exactly what is expected, and he’ll lay the onus on players,” said former Colts center and current ESPN analyst Jeff Saturday. “ ‘Hey listen, we’re doing this because, Jeff, we think you can hook this (nose tackle) nine out of 10 times, and the hat’s on you on that play. If you don’t get it done, it’s on you.’ He lays it on his players to be who he thinks they can be, and he kind of calls you out and challenges you to be the best player you can be.”

He’s that way with mistakes, too.

During training camp, if a player committed a penalty or turnover in practice, Caldwell put his name on the board in the next day’s team meeting no matter if it was Matthew Stafford or the 90th player on the roster.Rather than alienate players, Sims said that approach brought them together and bonded them over a common goal.
“It makes a big difference,” he said. “It makes a big deal if everybody in that room, not necessarily feels equal but feels like nobody’s above the law. That makes a huge difference. Rules apply to everyone.”

Great article on Caldwell

http://www.freep.com/article/20140907/S ... m-caldwell