It's time for Radical Thinking!

[jdwills126]

Fire Caldwell and promote Austin!

Give Caldwell a gold watch and tell him thanks but the future is Austin! Caldwell is an offensive guy but really Detroit's offense was as bland as oatmeal. A good OC will get as much or more out of the offense as Caldwell and Lombardi.

But that defense in one year was bad ass. Just think with multiple years and a few drafts what it could be.

Austin is closer to being Detroit's Mike Tomlin than Caldwell so go all in if you really believe Austin led the turn around!

Now we could wait as I am not sure Atlanta will hire Austin after just one year but this move would be controversial but it would be the Lions acting proactive plus Austin could be the factor that allows Detroit to sign Suh to a reasonable long term deal.

 

[broncosmitty]

Or they could fire Lombardi, have Jim call plays and have co-HCs.

I've been fearing Austin's departure since aboot October. And that's the only thing that ever convinced me TA wouldn't leave.

 

[tpaulus_2]

Promote Caldwell to some sort of football czar in between head coach and GM. Make some fake bullshit position so his positive influence and leadership can continue to rub off on the players, and let Austin get promoted to head coach.

I'd be fine with outright replacing Caldwell with Austin, but if, as it now appears, that we'll retain Austin for next season, then let him hone hos craft another year and then make that decision next offseason, imo...

 

[themuzzer]

I'm on board with it.......Does the brass have those kind of balls? Highly doubtful when you look at how long it took to fire Millen.

 

[jdwills126]

Promote Caldwell to some sort of football czar in between head coach and GM. Make some fake bullshit position so his positive influence and leadership can continue to rub off on the players, and let Austin get promoted to head coach.

I'd be fine with outright replacing Caldwell with Austin, but if, as it now appears, that we'll retain Austin for next season, then let him hone hos craft another year and then make that decision next offseason, imo...

I agree he needs multiple years but Atlanta offers him IMO Detroit should do something to keep the next young star coach in Detroit. Caldwell did a good job but I don't see him as a long term solution where I do Austin.

 

[jdwills126]

I'm on board with it.......Does the brass have those kind of balls? Highly doubtful when you look at how long it took to fire Millen.

I think Junior does but I doubt Mayhew. And Junior would not over rule his GM. Not the Ford's way.

 

[themuzzer]

TPs, idea was good as well, If managment can find a way for Caldwell to save face thus allowing us to make Austin HC, that would settle fears etc etc.

 

[Coach_Ed_LPW]

You guys are funny.

 

[Dr. Evil-er]

Ask Suh if he would stay if Austin was the head coach. If he says yes then kidnap Caldwell and leave him on the island from Cast Away. Give him plenty of supplies and a tablet with the NFL Sunday Ticket on it to watch the games. Send Lombardi with him.

 

[Gulf of Brazil]

 

[RobBase]

 

[TwoCents22]

The thing is, do you see Austin as saying "Yea, sure! I'll take the HC position so you can fire the guy that gave me this opportunity when I was just a DB coach."

As much as some of us, me included, want to keep Austin, its never gonna happen.

 

[Edonidd]

Maybe not the same old Lions anymore, but definitely the same old Lions fans. Let's be in a hurry to fire the coach who led us to the playoffs in his first season. After all we do make the playoffs so often, and just making it there isn't a big deal to this team anymore.

 

[tpaulus_2]

You guys are funny.

Funny, eh?

Maybe, and call me crazy here, but just maaaaybe we don't want to lose the guy who, in just one year, gave us the best Lions defense we've ever seen...

 

[tpaulus_2]

The thing is, do you see Austin as saying "Yea, sure! I'll take the HC position so you can fire the guy that gave me this opportunity when I was just a DB coach."

Yes, I think Austin would accept the head coach position if it were offered to him. I can't imagine that he's that loyal to Caldwell that if we told him we didn't think Caldwell was the one to lead us to the next level, so we let him go, but we want you to take his place, that he'd be like "No way! You fired Jim?! Well I don't want to work for you then!"

It's a business, and the bottom line is wins. If Austin can run a team like he runs the defense then we'd be very wise to promote him so we don't lose him, imo.

As much as some of us, me included, want to keep Austin, its never gonna happen.

Why? Again, no offense meant here, but that's completely a defeatist mentality right there. It looks like, barring any surprises, we'll retain Austin this year. If our defense has another stellar season Austin's stock will get even hotter. If we have another one-and-done in the playoffs, or even worse, if we miss the playoffs, do you think it's all that far-fetched to let Caldwell go and move Austin up in order to avoid losing him?

The other thing to consider is that coaches can be traded. If Caldwell gets us another 10+ win season, but we decide that Austin is the better bet going forward we could offer up Caldwell for an extra 3rd rounder and have an easy "out" instead of firing him. I'm not saying that's common thing, obviously it's not, but we've stumbled onto a helluva coach here, it'd be a shame to lose him imo...

 

[tpaulus_2]

Maybe not the same old Lions anymore, but definitely the same old Lions fans. Let's be in a hurry to fire the coach who led us to the playoffs in his first season. After all we do make the playoffs so often, and just making it there isn't a big deal to this team anymore.

I think you're not looking at the bigger picture. It was our defense that got us to the playoffs, and Austin was the guy behind that. He took our defense from the 16th ranked unit last year to the 2nd ranked this year, with 10 out of the 11 starters from last year returning.

Imo, we're not in a hurry to fire the coach that led us to the playoffs at all... we're actually discussing scenarios to keep the coach who led us to the playoffs- Teryl Austin.

I appreciate what Caldwell has done, but we also must consider that while our defense has exploded onto the scene, Caldwell purposely took our explosive offense and throttled it back because he's a conservative offense kind of guy. That's his philosophy. That's all well and good, but, imo, if we had last year's offense with Linehan and this year's defense, we would have been a very tough out, and likely would have been looking at a home playoff game instead of a trip to Dallas...

 

[tpaulus_2]

You guys are funny.

 

[jdwills126]

Maybe not the same old Lions anymore, but definitely the same old Lions fans. Let's be in a hurry to fire the coach who led us to the playoffs in his first season. After all we do make the playoffs so often, and just making it there isn't a big deal to this team anymore.

IMO Austin had more to do with getting the Lions to the playoffs than Caldwell. I see Caldwell running the conservative Baltimore offense and in the end we keep Caldwell we loose Mike Tomlin.

I doubt the Lions replace Caldwell but it has to be a possibility. Look at what the Broncos are doing to keep Gase they let Fox go. Maybe unless San Fran aced Denver by hiring Gase before Elway could pull the trigger.

 

[Naughtymax]

Establish a flat tax with one basic deductable. No loopholes for any reason.

Pass a law determining that all punitive damages awarded in court are the property of the state, not any litigants.

Eliminate the Designated Hitter as one of the truly stupid ideas of the 20th century.

Get rid of the 3-point line to bring basketball playmaking and shooting.

Make import duties based on the national minimum wage of the country trying to export to the US, so that the product costs the same as if it were made here at $10/hr, or mirroring the import duties placed by that country on US products, whichever is greater.

Force gun safety courses on every citizen wanting to be part of a well-regulated militia. Then, buy all you want.

 

[Naughtymax]

Oh, and Caldwell and Austin should be safe together for at least one more year. Austin has been excellent, but hiring a HC based on one productive season is IMO pretty unlikely unless he wows the owner during the interview.