Despite cleaning out the executive offices during the middle of a terrible 2015 season, the Detroit Lions are sticking with Jim Caldwell as head coach.
New general manager Bob Quinn made the announcement during his introductory press conference today. He made the decision after getting to know Caldwell and decided that the two can work together for 2016.
“As I stated Monday, I was looking forward to the opportunity to get to know Jim,” Quinn said in a statement. “After spending a significant amount of time together, it is clear that our football philosophies are very similar. Consequently, I am convinced he is the right man to lead our football team moving forward.”
Although Caldwell has an 18-14 record after two seasons and led the franchise to the playoffs in 2014 with an 11-5 record, the Lions only had a 7-9 record in 2015. They started off with an embarrassing 1-7 record, but rebounded and had a 6-2 record over the final eight games. Of course, that wasn’t enough to make the playoffs.
In November, the Lions fired GM Martin Mayhew and team president Tom Lewand, right after Mayhew failed to make any big deals at the NFL trading deadline. Quinn was hired last week.