Among the most polarizing head coaches in Detroit Lions history, former head man Jim Caldwell is still being debated and talked about four years after his dismissal.
Caldwell was in charge in Motown from e coached the Lions from 2014 to 2017. The popular coach among his players twice reached the postseason and recorded three winning records in his four seasons.
Many critics have pointed to his less than stellar 4-25 record against winning opponents and difficulties with game management at crucial moments of games.
Since his departure, the Lions have not even come close to having a .500 record, are missing the postseason regularly and are perennially in last place in the NFC North division.
On Mondays edition of The Morning Woodward Show, host Terry Foster, a long-time sportswriter and veteran of sports radio, expressed his frustration with the unnecessary criticism of Caldwell.
"You talk about incompetence. Lets talk about incompetence. There's incompetence all over," Foster expressed. "I am just going to stick to the last two decades. I am not going to go 58 years or 60 years (since the Lions last won NFL championship in 1957). This franchise has had incompetent people coaching, front office, but we always go back to Jim Caldwell."
While the criticisms and revisionist history has upset some passionate fans, the facts remain Caldwell is among the winningest coaches in franchise history.
The "new" locker room culture that is currently being instilled was already established almost as soon as the respected head coach walked through the front door.
A simple question that could be asked to those ranting against the success that was achieved in Detroit from 2014-2017 is: What would have occurred had a general manager been hired after Martin Mayhew that was more aligned with Caldwell's vision?
Can you automatically say the team would not have won playoff games with better personnel decisions being made?
Hiring Bob Quinn all but put an end to the Caldwell-era, since it signaled to everyone that a potential new head coach was coming to town at the earliest hint of failure.
While 9-7 is certainly not good enough, it at least harkens back to a time when their were more cheers than boos reigning down from the crowd at Ford Field.
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