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Terry Foster: Did Martha Ford Make The Call To Keep Caldwell?

By Terry Foster
@TerryFoster971

Jim Caldwell is returning as Lions coach. Once upon a time I believed this decision was predetermined by owner Martha Ford, who loves Caldwell as a coach and wanted to keep him.

Now I am not sure.

From the people I talk to, this is not a ringing endorsement of Caldwell. This is a ringing endorsement of offensive coordinator Jim Bob Cooter and defensive coordinator Teryl Austin. They are the shining jewels of the Lions coaching staff. And the Lions want them to have another rip at it again.

They believe Cooter will make Stafford great, which is what the Lions wanted when they drafted him. They also like how Austin, who won't get a head coaching job, runs the defense despite losing some of his best players.

The fear is that if Caldwell left, one or both coordinators would leave. The Lions are gambling that continuity is better than finding a new guy and losing one or both coordinators. If the Lions hired a strong coach he'd want his own people.

Ford wanted to retain Caldwell. More importantly, the Lions wanted to keep Cooter and Austin.

Why not make Austin head coach? The Lions believe he needs more seasoning.

After General Manager Martin Mayhew and Team President Tom Lewand were fired, Martha Ford became more visible and made more public decisions. I applauded the moves and was happy that she wanted to make the Lions a winner.

I also knew this. She wanted to retain Caldwell as coach. She loved and respected him. She loved the way he handled himself and handled the team. It was my understanding that she would urge the new general manager to keep Caldwell, but leave the decision to him.

But did she?

It is an answer we won't really know because Quinn played this just right to get people off his scent.

Let's say the Lions wanted to keep Caldwell then Quinn could not come in within a matter of hours and say Caldwell is staying. It would weaken him in the public's eye. He played it right by taking a few days to think about it, talk to Caldwell and then say Caldwell is staying. He also knew Caldwell had genuine support in the dressing room. That was not fake.

There is no need for a press conference. There is no need to explain himself. All he had to do is tell people that this is his decision and that he and Caldwell are on the same page.
End of story.

The Lions are also gambling on history. My producer Mike Sullivan did some research on the Carolina Panthers that we hope applies to the Lions.
He compared the 2015 Lions with the 2012 Carolina Panthers.

** The Panthers finished 7-9 after coach Ron Rivera's second season, the same record Caldwell recorded in his second season.
** Ernie Accorsi served as consultant for two seasons for the Panthers. He was hired by the Lions as a consultant.
** Rivera won his last four games of the season which showed the team was headed in the right direction. The Lions finished 6-2 to give the franchise hope.
** The Panthers hired Dave Gettleman on Jan. 9 in 2013 who retained Rivera.
** The Lions Quinn on Jan 8, 2016 who retained Caldwell.
** The Panthers finished 15-1 two years later and are two wins from going to the Super Bowl

Will the Lions follow in the same path? Come visit me in two years.

Foster can be reached at Terry.Foster@cbsradio.com.

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