No sooner had Ken Whisenhunt stood up Martin Mayhew and Tom Lewand, than the local paid shills who cover this team were already singing the praises of Caldwell. And less than 24 hours after Whisenhunt turned them down, Caldwell was hired, a rush job if ever there was. It was fairly obvious from the beginning that Whisenhunt was their man, though depending on who you believe, Bill O'Brien could have been their man before that, if the Lions would have had the testicular fortitude to can the Schwartz the day they were officially eliminated from the playoffs, instead of keeping him around for one last loss for no good reason. And when their man rejected them to follow the money (not to mention the control of the roster, but we'll touch on that later), Mayhew and Lewand went into panic mode. They were so desperate to save face, that they found the most desperate candidate they could and hired him on the spot. And despite the blatantly obvious fact that he wasn't their first or second choice, Lewand insisted at the introductory presser that no, this was also "Plan A" all along, even though he addressed Whisenhunt before even mentioning Caldwell. How stupid does this man think we are? Remember: No other team had any serious interest in Caldwell, and the Ravens were ready to shit-can him if no other team hired him!
And who could blame them? Baltimore finished 29th in total yards and 25th in scoring in Caldwell's first full season as offensive coordinator, which would indicate that the previous year's Super Bowl run couldn't exactly be attributed to him. And keep in mind, he'd never been an offensive coordinator before that; he'd spent several years as an abysmal college head coach at Wake Forest, and a QB coach up until Tony Dungy essentially picked him as his replacement in Indy. And after one particularly awful Peyton-less season, he was given the boot without getting the chance to right the ship with Andrew Luck the next year. You can debate all you want about whether he should have been given another chance, but the Colts must have seen something in him they didn't like. Such as, say, horrid in-game management skills and calling indefensible timeouts.
Yet, this is the guy who has been hired to fill what every national pundit has called the best available coaching position in the NFL. And yet, the lead candidate didn't want the best coaching position in the NFL. Which leads one to believe that maybe this isn't the best coaching position in the NFL. There's been word that not only was money a factor in Whisenhunt's decision (to the tune of $1M more a season), but that in Tennessee he'd be afforded far more flexibility to shape the roster the way he saw fit. And allegedly he was uncomfortable with Matthew Stafford being such a large part of the decision-making process. Given his experience as something of a QB "guru," the fact that he wasn't willing to or convinced he could fix Stafford should be a bit concerning to Lions fans, especially Stafford's previous statements indicating that he doesn't think he needs fixing, or QB gurus, or anything of the sort.
And predictably, the national media loves this hire, mostly because of Dungy and Manning coming out in support of him. Did anyone seriously think that either of these guys would throw Caldwell under the bus even if they did think he was a lackluster coach? Of course not! And honestly, Caldwell's effect on Manning, which has been loudly trumpeted by his apologists, has always been somewhat overblown. If any coach should be given credit for Manning becoming what he is today, it should be Tom Moore, the Colts' OC for over a decade starting Peyton's rookie year. Lions' fans might remember Moore as the reason Scott Mitchell looked like a competent quarterback and the architect behind the Lions' offense that led the league in 1995.
At the same time, there's an encouraging sign or two. Caldwell supposedly showed up, broke down game film with Stafford, and went over how he was going to help him improve his passing game. You've got to like that, at the very least. No matter what his defenders might suggest, Matt Stafford has declined considerably in his time with this team, and there's an argument to be made that this is directly related to a coaching staff that didn't know what to do with him. Caldwell, at least, is coming in with a game plan, and that's a solid start.
Does that in itself make him the right man for the head coaching job? I'm still not convinced that's the case. This whole decision still reeks of massive overreaction all around; hiring a guy who is the polar opposite of Jim Schwartz in every single way, and in as hasty of a manner as they possibly could.
One thing's for certain: This is almost assuredly the current brain trust's last chance to get it right. This might be the last opportunity to not squander the career of possibly the best wide receiver to ever play the game, not to mention a core that seemingly possesses the talent to be a real playoff contender. Given all of this, not to mention their ridiculous attempts on controlling every word that comes from Allen Park, and the fact that this is, in fact, the Detroit Lions, there's absolutely no reason left to give them the benefit of the doubt.
Martin Mayhew and Tom Lewand had better be absolutely positive that Jim Caldwell is the right man to turn this sorry franchise around.
Their own fate depends on it.
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