01-09-2023, 04:37 PM -
https://www.mlive.com/lions/2023/01/ex-l...cancy.html
ALLEN PARK -- As Dan Campbell is being serenaded for winning nine games in Detroit, the last man to do it has emerged as a head-coaching candidate in Carolina.
Former Lions boss Jim Caldwell has landed an official interview with the Panthers, according to NFL Network. Caldwell also has interviewed for vacancies with the Packers, Jets, Browns, Jaguars and Bears since his Detroit years. He landed a second interview with Chicago, but has not yet earned the third coaching opportunity he has long sought.
Caldwell had some good years in Indianapolis before being hired by Detroit in 2014. He led the Lions to an 11-5 season that year -- still their second-best finish in the Super Bowl era -- and took the division title to the final day of that season. But the Lions lost that year’s finale in, where else, Green Bay.
The Lions enjoyed four straight winning seasons under Caldwell and went 36-28 overall, their best era in modern times. But they also struggled against winning teams, never won a division title and lost both playoff games. After going 9-7 in 2016-17, then-general manager Bob Quinn rather infamously said he was firing Caldwell because nine wins were no longer good enough.
Then Quinn hired his pal Matt Patricia, who never won more than six games in a season and sent the organization back into an abyss from which they are only now emerging. Detroit went 9-8 this season -- its best finish since the Caldwell years -- and is expected to compete for a division title in 2023.
As for Caldwell, his only work inside the NFL in his post-Detroit years was a brief stint as an assistant head coach and quarterbacks coach under Brian Flories in Miami in 2019. He left that posting for health reasons. He remains a highly regarded figure in the sport, and even did some consulting for the XFL. He also has strong ties to the Carolina area, where he was the longtime coach at Wake Forest and continues to make his home in the area.
Carolina is looking for a head coach to replace Matt Rhule, who was fired midseason.
ALLEN PARK -- As Dan Campbell is being serenaded for winning nine games in Detroit, the last man to do it has emerged as a head-coaching candidate in Carolina.
Former Lions boss Jim Caldwell has landed an official interview with the Panthers, according to NFL Network. Caldwell also has interviewed for vacancies with the Packers, Jets, Browns, Jaguars and Bears since his Detroit years. He landed a second interview with Chicago, but has not yet earned the third coaching opportunity he has long sought.
Caldwell had some good years in Indianapolis before being hired by Detroit in 2014. He led the Lions to an 11-5 season that year -- still their second-best finish in the Super Bowl era -- and took the division title to the final day of that season. But the Lions lost that year’s finale in, where else, Green Bay.
The Lions enjoyed four straight winning seasons under Caldwell and went 36-28 overall, their best era in modern times. But they also struggled against winning teams, never won a division title and lost both playoff games. After going 9-7 in 2016-17, then-general manager Bob Quinn rather infamously said he was firing Caldwell because nine wins were no longer good enough.
Then Quinn hired his pal Matt Patricia, who never won more than six games in a season and sent the organization back into an abyss from which they are only now emerging. Detroit went 9-8 this season -- its best finish since the Caldwell years -- and is expected to compete for a division title in 2023.
As for Caldwell, his only work inside the NFL in his post-Detroit years was a brief stint as an assistant head coach and quarterbacks coach under Brian Flories in Miami in 2019. He left that posting for health reasons. He remains a highly regarded figure in the sport, and even did some consulting for the XFL. He also has strong ties to the Carolina area, where he was the longtime coach at Wake Forest and continues to make his home in the area.
Carolina is looking for a head coach to replace Matt Rhule, who was fired midseason.