After starting 2017 off with a 3-1 record, the Lions won only one game out of the next four, which put the heat on the pot of rumblings sitting on the stove in the coaching kitchen. The latter, excluding a blow out loss to the Saints, included losses to the playoff bound Panters and Steelers by a combined eight points and a win over their division rivals, the Green Bay Packers.
But when the clock hit 00:00 yesterday in the team’s final game, a 35-11 victory over the Packers, and the Lions not making the postseason, the inevitable was soon to come and this morning it did as the team announced that head coach Jim Caldwell had been fired.
Detroit Lions on Twitter
Detroit Lions General Manager Bob Quinn has informed Jim Caldwell that he will not be returning as head coach.
Despite guiding the team to a 9-7 record this season, a four year run of 36-28 and two playoff appearances, the Lions felt a change was needed and they started at Caldwell.
Caldwell is the first Lions head coach to post a winning record since Joe Schmidt in the late 60s/early 70s.
