A bit late to the party here but I feel like throwing my thoughts out anyway, regarding the Lions and the Caldwell hire. Never let it be said that I won't call myself out on my opinions:
I was wrong last night. I apologize. I said that if the Lions were going to wind up settling for Caldwell they should do it sooner rather than later. I regretted thinking that way as soon as they actually announced today that they hired him. Not that I think that Caldwell is a terrible coach or anything--really I don't think there was any potential hire to be made that would make me go "wow, that's awesome"--but given the list of candidates that we know they interviewed, I don't think anymore that it would have hurt them to wait a bit longer and pursue a few other angles.
I get that they wanted someone with previous NFL head coaching experience, as our last two coaches didn't, and among the guys that were available Caldwell is probably the most qualified option (despite my personal preference of being able to refer to "Coach Munch" in years to come for comedic purposes). His demeanor has me concerned, though...he has the experience, but does he really have the temperament to come in and actually take command of a locker room that's used to being told that the way they're currently playing the game is fine? I keep hearing about how he's a "great guy," but we don't need a great guy, we need a great coach, and one that the big-money players will concede to. If Stafford doesn't buy in and produce results quickly, that contract extension will turn into an albatross and team balance will remain dismal. I don't want to sound like I'm dismissing Jim Caldwell before he even walks through the doors, but for the time being I just can't shake the feeling that three years from now we'll be looking for a new GM and a new coaching staff.
Actually the hire of Austin as D-coordinator is the move that intrigued me the most today. Given the track record of where he's worked and Caldwell likely knows his character and how he operates, he feels like the sort of guy that would eventually receive a promotion like this. As for Lazor...jury's still out, but I dig the name. Having two unprovens as coordinators will be risky when Caldwell is best suited to be more of a supervisor than a coordinator himself, so here's hoping they learn what they're doing quickly.