ORLANDO, Fla. -- Jim Caldwell has been around the Detroit Lions' headquarters for only a couple months, and has yet to meet most of his players.

He's prohibited from working with any of them until next month.

But that hasn't slowed him from laying a foundation for how business will be done in Allen Park. And though the Lions are trying not to dwell on the failed Jim Schwartz regime, it is clear they're pleased with the direction of the franchise.

"I think Jim has brought calmness and maturity immediately to the organization," Lions vice chairman Bill Ford said this week at the NFL owners meetings in Orlando. "His demeanor is something everybody remarks upon. And I like very much the staff he has put together."

And what, exactly, is that demeanor?

It seems to stem from, of all places, Ross Perot. The politician and former U.S. presidential hopeful once said that "everything's on the razor's edge."

In other words, success is attained by walking a disciplined and fine line. Once the small stuff starts to slip, everything can fall apart.

So Caldwell's job now is to establish the line, and then make sure everyone is walking it.

"It's got to be fought for every single day, and that's the way it is," Caldwell said. "Otherwise, things start to slip just a little bit. And particularly when it's new, you have to repeat it over and over and over and over again to make certain everybody understands exactly what you're talking about, what you want done.

"Things you see, you have to point out. You have to be able to set standards, you have to be able to give them guidance and direction without being overbearing, without being a micromanager. But things that matter to you in terms of standards and things of that nature have to be set, and set early, and they have to be fought for on a daily basis."

Caldwell said he's already met with the various departments in Allen Park to relay what he expects, and he has done the same with his new coaching staff.

"All those guys haven't been together," Caldwell said. "That's all new. We have to go through all that so they get a feel, so they get an understanding of what we expect.

"Now the great thing we've done at this point in time is we've set the stage for the entire year on how we're going to practice in terms of OTAs, how we're going to meet, the content of the information we're going to make certain we distribute. That's constant. When we do get a chance to go on the field with them -- it's going to be a couple weeks after we start -- how we want that to go, what message we want sent and things of that nature, that's constant."

Caldwell already has established a structured routine. The defensive staff will meet in the morning for a week, while the offensive staff does filmwork (which right now, means a lot of scouting for the draft). Then the offense meets in the afternoon, while the defense does its filmwork.

The following week, that schedule is flipped, with offense meeting in the morning and defense in the afternoon.

They take lunch from 11 a.m. to noon, during which time the special teams meet.

And Caldwell sits in on all the meetings.

"I like to be in both sets of meetings," he said. "I kind of have a chance to get a sense of what we're doing in all those areas and add my two cents worth when I need to."