Former Lions coach Jim Caldwell has said general manager Bob Quinn wanted to fire him from the moment Quinn arrived in Detroit in January 2016.
Caldwell said on former Lions Safety Glover Quin podcast that he thought Quinn wanted him to go from the start.
“I think there is no doubt that if he had been left to his own devices I probably would have been gone the day he arrived, just kinda the feeling I had although obviously , it had gone through a two week process. an interview process with him in order to keep my job, ”Caldwell said, via the Detroit Free Press. “And I was grateful that I could keep going because I thought we were going to go in the right direction, I thought we had something quite special.
So why didn’t Quinn fire Caldwell immediately? This appears to have been a combination of the fact that Lions owner Martha Ford was a staunch Caldwell supporter, and Quinn’s favorite pick Matt Patricia was on the Patriots’ playoff coaching staff and should have been. wait a few weeks. be interviewed.
Caldwell ended up coaching the Lions for the playoffs in 2016, which saved his job for the year. In 2017, the Caldwell Lions went 9-7 and missed the playoffs, and Quinn fired him and replaced him with Patricia. Since back-to-back winning seasons weren’t enough to save Caldwell’s job, as Quinn kept Patricia despite going 6-10 in her first year and 3-12-1 in her second, he is clear that Quinn is ready to give. Patricia has more leeway than he was willing to give Caldwell.
