New York Daily News Writer Calls Bob Quinn An 'Arrogant Idiot'

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Photo credit Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
Bob Quinn met with the Detroit media on Friday. He defended Matthew Stafford, explained the Lions' oversight regarding the sexual assault allegation against Matt Patricia and covered just about everything else that went down in Detroit this season.

The hiring of Matt Patricia still has some people confused. Not because of who the Lions hired, but because of the coach they fired in the first place, a coach that led them to back-to-back nine-win seasons: Jim Caldwell. Count Chuck Modiano of the New York Daily News among the confused. 

He wrote an article titled, "Measuring Jim Caldwell: What the Jets and NFL GMs can learn from the Lions' great mistake." It starts off with Bob Quinn's quote after firing Caldwell at the end of the 2017 season: "We didn't beat the really good teams." Then it points to the fact the Lions lost in 2018 to the Jets, 49ers and Bills -- "the really bad teams." 

This is where the story gets good:

Bob Quinn is an arrogant idiot, but other GM’s can learn from his mistakes.

This past week Caldwell had interviews with the Browns, Packers and the Cardinals, and is expected to meet with the Jets next week. If the Jets are smart, or any team with a young developing quarterback is smart, Caldwell would be their next hire. It’s actually a no-brainer.

Modiano didn't stop there. In fact, he doubled down:

When I say “Quinn is an arrogant idiot,” I mean it. As a GM, he never took the time to objectively measure Caldwell’s true value against the talent on the roster. Instead he hired his unproven Patriots friend Matt Patricia.

Modiano cites Stafford's passer rating and record before Jim Caldwell was hired (83.1, 24-37) versus his passer rating and record with Jim Caldwell from 2014-2017 (93.7, 36-28).

He is an advocate for Caldwell, as he once wrote an article titled, "Lions' Jim Caldwell is NFL’s most underrated coach – by far."
The entire story, which can be read HERE, goes on to talk about Caldwell's tenure with the Lions and the team's success (and I use that term lightly, considering they didn't win a playoff game or a division title), and why Caldwell is the right man for the Jets job. 

It was probably time for the Lions to move on from Caldwell after last season, but this story might make you think twice.