Ex-Detroit Lions coach Jim Caldwell and XFL, a match made in heaven?

Dave Birkett | Detroit Free Press

OK, so maybe the XFL went overboard in its first attempt to make football fun again. But in its reboot, it’s possible the league is over-correcting.

The XFL, conceived and run by pro wrestling magnate Vince McMahon, has hired former Lions coach Jim Caldwell as a consultant, Pro Football Talk reported Monday.

The match seems fairly odd, as Caldwell is as straight-laced as they come and the XFL was anything but when it debuted in 2001. But the new XFL, scheduled to kick off again in 2020, has promised to be more about football than fluff.

The league hired the respected Oliver Luck (Andrew’s dad and a former NCAA executive) as its commissioner, and according to Pro Football Talk, former Chicago Bears coach John Fox and ex-NFL quarterback Doug Flutie are among its other consultants.

More on Caldwell:

Caldwell has stayed mostly out of the media eye since he was fired after four seasons as Lions coach with a 36-28 record. He put his Franklin Village home up for sale in February — the sprawling 8,566-foot mansion remains on the market for just under $2.3 million — and moved back to North Carolina. He traveled to Jerusalem with ex-Lion Don Carey and current Lions safety Miles Killebrew in the spring. And he was spotted sitting courtside at a Pistons-Charlotte Hornets game in Charlotte.

Caldwell’s close friend, NBC analyst Tony Dungy, told the Free Press in January that he didn’t think Caldwell would return to the NFL unless it was as a head coach.

But being a consultant for the XFL is far less demanding than a return to coaching.

"The last I had spoke with Coach Caldwell, he said he is going to take good care of his wife and his grandkids and he’s going to enjoy life," Dungy said at Super Bowl LII. "If someone wants him to coach their team, he would love to do it, but he’s not going to seek out anything and we’ll see what happens. He’s going to leave it in the Lord’s hands and see where it goes.”

Contact Dave Birkett: dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett. Download our Lions Xtra app for free on Apple and Android!