Aug 12, 2013; Owings Mills, MD, USA; Baltimore Ravens offensive coordinator Jim Caldwell talks to the media after training camp at the Under Armour Performance Center. Mandatory Credit: Evan Habeeb-USA TODAY Sports
While the Cincinnati Bengals wait and see what will happen to defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer, they’ve gotten some slightly good news that will hopefully weaken their biggest threat to win the AFC North next year, as the Baltimore Ravens are losing offensive coordinator Jim Caldwell to the Detroit Lions, who’ve reportedly hired the former Indianapolis Colts head coach:
Detroit Lions are hiring Jim Caldwell as their head coach, per a league source.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) January 14, 2014
Caldwell interviewed for both the Lions’ and Tennessee Titans’ head coaching vacancies. Ironically enough, he’s publicly stated the Lions job is a good one to have:
"“This is an unusual situation because of the fact that you don’t typically walk into a place that has a talented quarterback, one of the best receivers in all the game and just a fine nucleus,” Caldwell said, via Detroitlions.com. “Then a defense that has an extremely talented front four. I saw them up close and personal [When the Ravens beat the Lions in Week 15].”"
Caldwell took the Colts to the Super Bowl in his first season as their coach, an while he inherited a very good Colts team, the cupboard is exactly bare in Detroit with the likes of Calvin Johnson and Ndamukong Suh.
Caldwell won a Super Bowl as an assistant with the Colts in 2007 and reached another one as a head coach, going 14-2 in the regular season in his first season as head coach. He coached quarterback Peyton Manning for a decade with the Colts making nine consecutive playoff appearances and winning AFC South division titles.
After being fired in 2013 after the team floundered to a 2-14 record without Manning for the entire year, Caldwell was brought on to the Ravens as quarterbacks coach last year, but was promoted to offensive coordinator late in the season and helped Joe Flacco develop into a franchise QB (for at least four games), as he threw 11 touchdowns and zero interceptions during four playoff games as he was named Most Valuable Player of Super Bowl XLVII.
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