With Ken Whisenhunt out of the picture, Baltimore Ravens offensive coordinator Jim Caldwell has reportedly emerged as the top candidate to become the Detroit Lions next head coach. Mark Maske of the Washington Post tweets that Caldwell has “a very good chance” to land the job.
An NFL source says with Ken Whisenhunt now out of the picture in Detroit, Jim Caldwell has a "very good chance" to get the Lions' job.
— MarkMaske (@MarkMaske) January 13, 2014
Whisenhunt to Titans; Jim Caldwell emerges w Lions. Mike Munchak still alive with Detroit & Cleveland, sources via @AdamSchefter & me
— Chris Mortensen (@mortreport) January 13, 2014
Should Caldwell be hired as the Lions head coach, he’ll have former Colts head coach Tony Dungy and Papa Johns endorser Peyton Manning to thank.
Dungy isn't the only one who endorsed Jim Caldwell to the #Lions. I'm also hearing quarterback Peyton Manning did too.
— Tim Twentyman (@ttwentyman) January 13, 2014
What could losing Caldwell mean for the Ravens? Some, like Tom Moore of RussellStreetReport.com, actually view Caldwell moving on as a positive.
The Ravens’ offense in 2013 was very uninspired, and one-dimensional with a non-functioning running game (partly due to an injury to Ray Rice), scheme changes to the offensive line, and overall poor play of multiple linemen including Michael Oher, Bryant McKinnie, Gino Gradkowski. Even Marshall Yanda, who nevertheless made the Pro Bowl, wasn’t himself at times.
But Caldwell, knowing that Flacco had little time to throw, failed to make any significant changes in scheme to help Flacco out, and it showed during the season.
