Poll: Was Jim Caldwell a Better Head Coach than Matt Patricia?

Jim Caldwell was announced as the Detroit Lions head coach in January of 2014.

Caldwell holds the distinction of being the first African-American head coach of the Lions.

His first season was successful, as the Lions made the playoffs as a wild card and posted an 11-5 record in the regular season. After a disappointing 7-9 2015 campaign, the Lions went 9-7 in consecutive seasons.

Under Caldwell, Detroit made the playoffs twice. His overall record as coach was 36–28.

When Bob Quinn moved on and brought in Matt Patricia from New England, he made comments indicating he wanted to take the Lions to higher levels than what he felt could be accomplished with Caldwell.

"At the end of the day, I want to take this team to the next level," Quinn said. "And to me, that's winning the Super Bowl."

In Matt Patricia's first season, there were issues with members of the roster not buying in. Certainly, there were challenges faced by the new coaching regime instilling the culture they wanted.

There were positive signs in Patricia's first season. On the field, Patricia's defense became stout against the run in 2018 with the acquisition of Damon "Snacks" Harrison from the New York Giants.

Following the 2018 season, there was a concerted effort to bring in more of "Patricia's guys" who would support the culture management wanted throughout the locker room.

With the offseason additions of Mike Daniels and Trey Flowers and extending Harrison, somehow the Lions defense has regressed in 2019 to being among the worst defenses in the league.

Was firing Jim Caldwell a mistake?

Vote below and let us know if you think former head coach Jim Caldwell was a better coach than the current coach of the team.

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