Baltimore Ravens: Jim Caldwell May Have Seen His Last Season in Baltimore
Mandatory Credit: Evan Habeeb-USA TODAY Sports
After a poor offensive showing this season, reports are saying Baltimore Ravens offensive coordinator Jim Caldwell has interviews with the Detroit Lions and Washington Redskins for their head-coaching vacancies.
After the Ravens had an offensive drought in their Super Bowl winning year, Caldwell was promoted to offensive coordinator when Cam Cameron was let go. Caldwell previously held the head-coaching job with that team from Indianapolis before coming to the Ravens as the quarterback’s coach.
He coached Peyton Manning in Indianapolis, and as the offensive coordinator, he coached Joe Flacco to the amazing postseason performance leading to a Super Bowl MVP award. Because of injuries, Caldwell did not have the chance to coach Flacco’s offense at full strength this season.
With his quarterbacking experience, various industry sources have said that Caldwell is a good fit for the Lions’ QB Matthew Stafford.
What is surprising is that Caldwell led a weak Baltimore offense, who ranked 25th in points scored, 29th in total yards per game, 18th in passing, and 30th in rushing. It will be interesting to see how he performs in another head-coaching job.
Without an elite offense, Caldwell has not done well. Manning did not play for Indianapolis because of injury in 2011 season, and Caldwell led the team to a 2-14 record.
The same with the Ravens, losing many offensive pieces to injury and free agency, Caldwell’s offense led Baltimore to miss the playoffs for the first time since John Harbaugh took the head-coaching job in 2008.
There is no ignoring Caldwell’s success when the key parts of the team are in place, leading Indianapolis to the Super Bowl as the head coach.
When or if Caldwell leaves Baltimore, I am not sure who will replace him. None of the sources reporting Caldwell’s interviews have discussed the issue of who will be the new Baltimore offensive coordinator.
The Ravens could promote someone from the inside or could interview outside the organization. There were many head coaches fired after the regular season ended, and very often head coaches turn to offensive coordinators (or turn back into them). This could very much be true for the Ravens, who may very much need one.
Caldwell was scheduled to meet with the Lions sometime today and the Redskins sometime in the near future.