Should Caldwell Be Back Next Season?

[smogboy]

Caldwell will only have one year left after next season, and typically a coach is either given an extension or let go at that point. So, Caldwell knows it's make it or break it time.

As Lions fans are forever optimistic so long as they're not actually playing games, here are a few reasons for hope next year:

1) The 'right' staff - Lombardi was a disaster, and Austin and Cooter have both shown that they can be successful, something that hopefully they can build on.

I will readily admit that Jim Caldwell irked me when he couldn't admit that his pick of Lombardi was less than stellar. He didn't have to throw Lombardi under the bus but he could've at least praised Cooter more when he was asked months back. Admitting one's mistakes isn't a sign of weakness especially when asked by the press corps; it's honesty and I think fans deserve that.

2) A talented QB - Many will argue on this, but the bottom line is that Stafford is at the very least a mid-level QB. For those who argue 'that's not good enough', go look at some of the QBs that played games this year and ask yourself Stafford vs. 'That guy'. The fact is that if you dump Stafford, the chances of your next guy being better than him aren't real good.

I can't think of any other obtainable QBs in the league or in the draft that is better than Stafford. Given what he did at the end of the season- even against an easier schedule, he was brilliant. I also firmly believe that under the Lombardi system he just didn't do well because of the complexities on the offensive line. Unless there is a substantial upgrade available out there, I think we can still win with Matthew Stafford as our quarterback.

3) Defensive building blocks - You've got a great defensive end and a top-notch corner. That's more than most teams have, and if Quinn is as good as people seem to think he might be on finding the right mix of guys, the defense could step up again.

Akin to the blame we placed on Lombardi, this is an area where we need to heap some praise on Austin. He seemed to know what his players are capable of and put them in situations to succeed. I sincerely hope we can keep Austin as the defensive coordinator as he really had a solid grasp of what the team's defensive make-up is.

4) [[This one might be a stretch) Maturing offensive line - A lot of the problems from the 1-7 start were pointed at the offensive line, and rightfully so. While many think that they need to blow the whole thing up, I don't think so. The fact is that they've got a lot of talent there, and I'm not ready to give up on any of the four recent high-draft picks [[Reiff, Warford, Tomlinson, Swanson). As much as I couldn't stand Raiola, when they let him go, they let their swagger go, and the o-line is one area where you need someone to anchor the unit on a level that goes beyond talent. I think Mayhew was hoping that Manny Ramirez would be that guy. Hopefully Quinn can find his 'glue' on the line or someone steps up.

It seemed as though Swanson and Reiff took a step backwards [[no pun intended regarding their play) with regards to their development. Tomlinson is still too new to judge but seems like a decent building block. I thought Manny Ramirez should've played much more this previous season. This is the unit that I think really needs to be cleaned up, solidified, and come together. Quinn really needs to find the right people to insert here. If not, Stafford will regress horribly. It wouldn't matter who we have at wide receiver, running back or tight end if the other team's defense is in our backfield with the snap of the ball.

5) Schedule - I've read that next years schedule should be a lot more in their favor.

Last season's brutal start was blamed on the schedule. And last season's resurgence was due to the schedule as well. We lost some games on sheer stupid luck and we won several games the same manner. My sincere hope for this team is that Caldwell manages the game better regardless of who we play. This team needs to be better prepared on game day regardless of the schedule. Caldwell and his staff also needs to make better adjustments at half time too. The elite teams make mistakes too, but the one thing they do is adjust and overcome the coaching mistakes.