Jim Caldwell got the Lions to the playoffs again, and he’s not getting fired

The Detroit Lions confirmed reports that they will retain head coach Jim Caldwell for a fourth season. The Lions went 9-7 and made the playoffs in 2016 despite consecutive losses to the New York Giants, Dallas Cowboys, and Green Bay Packers to close out the season.

This is the second time in Caldwell’s three years coaching the team that the Lions have made the playoffs. It’s hard to argue with those kind of results, given the team’s long run of troubles since the turn of the century.

However, Caldwell came close to losing his job last season when the Lions cleaned house in November. They fired the team president and the general manager, but gave Caldwell a probationary year to show improvement. He delivered, but there were still enough bumps along the way to leave many wondering if Caldwell had done enough to save his job.

“I think everybody in our locker room enjoys playing for him,” quarterback Matthew Stafford said. “He’s an honest guy, an upfront guy. I think he’s a heck of a coach. I enjoy playing for him.”

“I think the job questions come no matter what in our business,” Caldwell said, via the Detroit Free Press. “That’s just kind of the way it is. They happen to you when you’re winning it all, they happen to you when you’re struggling. That’s just kind of the nature of the business, so you have to understand that they’re going to come.”

Detroit got off to a slow start this season by going 1-3, but then won eight of its next nine games. However, a three-game losing streak for the Lions at the end of the season put the Lions’ postseason hopes in jeopardy.

Detroit hired Caldwell in 2014 when he was the offensive coordinator for the Baltimore Ravens. Before that, Caldwell spent three seasons as the head coach of the Indianapolis Colts, and guided them to the Super Bowl in the 2009 season, his first year with the team.

The Lions went 11-5 and clinched a wild card spot in his Caldwell’s first season with the team but fell to 7-9 the next season.

Before Detroit’s Week 17 showdown against the Packers, Caldwell acknowledged that there was uncertainty about his future with the team.

Caldwell’s record with the team is 27-21, and his win percentage of .563 is better than any other Lions head coach in the Super Bowl era. He was nearly let go last season after a 7-9 finish, but the team decided to keep him in place for 2016.

This season, though the Lions faltered, they did make it to the playoffs. It’s difficult to justify a change at the head coach position, and all of the transition that comes with it, when the team still has a shot to win it all, and that was enough for Caldwell to keep his job.