By all almost all accounts, the Detroit Lions players loved Jim Caldwell while he was serving as their head coach. Unfortunately, Caldwell was unable to lead the team to the playoffs in his final season in Detroit and the fact he could not get the Lions over the hump got him fired by GM Bob Quinn.
Caldwell was replaced by Quinn’s former colleague from New England, Matt Patricia. The hope was that Patricia would come in and vault the Lions to the playoffs and hopefully past the first round for the first time in what seems like forever.
Well, the Lions are 5-10 heading into the final week of the season and rather than discussing the NFL Playoffs, the chatter is about whether or not Patricia should have been hired by Quinn in the first place.
In fact, there is a growing number of people who believe Jim Caldwell should still be the head coach of the Lions.
Caldwell’s name has recently surfaced as a candidate to become a head coach in the NFL once again beginning in 2019. He has already interviewed with the Green Bay Packers and there are reports that he has other interviews lined up.
On Friday night, former Lions’ player Stephen Tulloch too to Instagram to show he support for Caldwell, which was a classy move.
But Tulloch’s post is not what’s interesting. It’s the response from former Lions’ player James Ihedigbo that stands out. Ihedigbo is clearly taking a shot at either Bob Quinn, Matt Patricia or both for regressing with the “same guys.”
”You go from 9-7 knocking on the door to the playoffs to 5-10 with the same guys…” Ihedigbo posted.
His post was followed up by responses from former Lions Eric Ebron and Jason Jones, who agreed with either Tulloch’s original post or Ihedigbo’s response.
Some former Lions players @davebirkett ???? pic.twitter.com/SwWa3XeOqR
— B.Duke 99 (@BdukeKing) December 28, 2018
Nation, what do you think? Do you agree with Ihedigbo? Did Bob Quinn crap the bed by hiring Matt Patricia? Better yet, do you believe Jim Caldwell should still be the head coach of the Detroit Lions?