Had Bob Quinn had his way, Jim Caldwell wouldn't have lasted through the 2017 season in Detroit. Quinn would have replaced Caldwell with Matt Patricia the moment he took over as Lions GM in 2016.
Take it from Caldwell himself.
"And I was thankful to be able to continue because I did think that we were going to move in the right direction. I did think that we had something going that was pretty special."
Caldwell replaced Jim Schwartz in 2014 and immediately led the Lions to an 11-5 record and a Wild Card berth. The team stumbled to a 1-7 start the next season, leading to the midseason firing of former GM Martin Mayhew, but rallied in the second half. That helped Caldwell's cause when Quinn took over in the offseason.
Caldwell took the Lions back to the playoffs in 2016, then produced another winning season in 2017. He had a 36-30 record through four years. But that wasn't good enough for Quinn, who brought in Patricia from New England in 2018 to take the team over the top.
"It’s not easy to win. I think that oftentimes people kind of take it for granted," Caldwell said. "Nevertheless, it’s their choice to make in that regard and I wish them well. But I think he wanted to get his own guy in there, he wanted to get someone that spoke the same language that he speaks. He wanted someone that he was comfortable with, and that’s what he got."
So far, the move hasn't worked. Detroit has nine wins in Patricia's two seasons at the helm. If the club doesn't take steps forward in 2020, Patricia and Quinn will likely be gone.