10 Interesting Facts About Detroit Lions Head Coach Jim Caldwell

Jim Caldwell is the Head Coach for the Detroit Lions. Here are 10 interesting facts about him.

Jim Caldwell who was born on January 16, 1955 in Beloit, Wisconsin. He is the Head Coach for the Detroit Lions and has been coaching in college since 1977 and in the NFL since 2001.

10 interesting facts about Detroit Lions Head Coach Jim Caldwell

Facts #1:

Jim Caldwell played as a defensive back at the University of Iowa from 1973-1976.

Facts #2:

Jim Caldwell coached in various positions in the college ranks from 1977-1992. He coached at: Iowa in 1977 as a graduate assistant. From 1978 to 1980 he was the wide receivers coach at Southern Illinois. At Northwestern University in 1981, he was the assistant coach of he offense. From 1982-1984, he was at Colorado University as the wide receivers coach. In 1985, he landed at Louisville as the wide receivers coach. He landed a premiere job as the Quarterback coach for Penn State under Coach Joe Paterno and stayed there from 1986-1992.

Facts #3:

Jim Caldwell in 1993 landed his first job as a head coach at Wake Forest University in North Carolina. Staying there for 7 years, he had a pretty terrible college career, finishing with only 1 winning season and one Bowl game, the Aloha Bowl which the Deacons did win in 1999. Caldwell college career record was 26-63, a .263 winning percentage. How he go into the pros, only he knows.

Facts #4:

Jim Caldwell is 2001 landed his first coaching job with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as their QB coach under Head Coach Tony Dungy. In 2002, Dungy left for he Indianapolis Colts bring Jim Caldwell with him as the quarterback coach and his assistant head coach.

Facts #5:

Jim Caldwell was part of the Indianapolis Cols coaching staff when they won Super Bowl XLI. They beat the Chicago Bears 29-17. The game was a milestone because both head coaches, Lovie Smith and Tony Dungy were the first African-American head coaches to face off for the Big game.

Facts #6:

Jim Caldwell was announced as the successor to Tony Dungy when he retired from the NFL at the end of the 2008 season and Jim Caldwell was announced as the new Head Coach of the Colts on January 13, 2009.

Facts #7:

Jim Caldwell first year as Head Coach saw the Colts finish the 2009 season with a 14-2 record. It was a controversial ending to he season, because the Colts started the year 14-0 and Caldwell on orders from GM Bill Polian was instructed to sit his starters the final two games of the season, ,losing both games. The Colts finished 1st in the AFC South but lost to the New Orleans Saints at Super Bowl XLIV by the score of 31-17.

Facts #8:

Jim Caldwell repeated his success in 2010 when he Colts went 10-6 but lost to the New York Jets in the AFC Wild-Card Game. 2011 was an unlucky year with the Colts losing QB Peyton Manning to season ending neck injury. The Colts went 2-14 and Caldwell was fired.

Facts #9:

Jim Caldwell holds the record in the NFL for the best start of a rookie coach winning he firs 14 games. He is also the last rookie coach to reach the Super Bowl. Following his firing by the Colts after the 2011 season, he was hired by John Harbaugh and the Baltimore Ravens to be the QB coach and offensive coordinator.

Facts #10:

Jim Caldwell was hired by the Detroit Lions as head coach on January 14,2014 succeeding Jim Schwartz. He was fired after the Lions imploded in the final games of the 2013 season. They lost the last 6 out of 7 games and finished out of the playoffs and a season ending record of 7-9.

Sources: Pro Football Reference, Baltimore Ravens Team Page, Wake Forest Sports, Indianapolis Colts Team Page, TV Guide, ESPN NFL, Detroit Lions Team Page