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Jim Caldwell led the Lions to 11 wins, tying a franchise record for first-year coaches.

(Mike Mulholland | MLive.com)

The Detroit Lions have wrapped up the 2014 season. Over the next several days, MLive.com reporters Justin Rogers and Kyle Meinke will hand out grades for each of the team's position groups. Today is coaching.

Kyle Meinke

Jim Caldwell's first season was a disappointment by only one measure: His own. He came in talking about the Super Bowl, and only made it to the first round of the playoffs. But that kind of season, by every other measure, is a huge success. And it should be graded as such.

Caldwell took over a roster that had gone 11-21 the previous two seasons, and quickly went to work changing the culture around Allen Park. He brought a much-needed air of maturity, while ratcheting up the accountability, and it paid off with the best season by a first-year Lions coach since 1931.

Perhaps the greatest marker of Caldwell's influence: Detroit went 6-1 in seven-point games and mounted a league-best five fourth-quarter comebacks. And that's after going 7-9 the previous year, despite holding fourth-quarter leads in 15 of those games.

Caldwell takes a hit for some of his in-game decisions, including clock mismanagement issues that could have cost him against Atlanta, a bizarre challenge against Green Bay and consistently conservative playcalling that kept opponents in games.

Joe Lombardi's offense didn't help matters, either, and that was the ultimate downfall of this team. But Caldwell also took a chance on Teryl Austin as a first-time defensive coordinator, and that move -- plus Caldwell's influence in the locker room -- trumps everything else.

Grade: B+

Justin Rogers

Detroit won 11 games without transcendent play from quarterback Matthew Stafford, so it's easy to credit the coaching staff for a healthy portion of the team's success.

That starts with defensive coordinator Teryl Austin, who took a middle-of-the-pack defense and transformed it into one of the league's most dominant units, despite not playing his preferred 3-4 scheme.

On the other side of the ball, Joe Lombardi never found the same rhythm as a play-caller. Unlike his predecessor Scott Linehan, Lombardi wasn't able to cover up the talent deficiencies along the offensive line, leading to a largely ineffective running game and too many hits being put on Stafford.

At the top, Caldwell came into the organization and set a tone of accountability, efficiency and camaraderie. Team chemistry took off, both on and off the field, playing into overall success. Practices took on a brisker pace, with heavy rotations, which better prepared guys to step up and fill in for injured starters. That was particularly true on the defensive side of the ball.

Caldwell's overall preparation was impressive, but some of his game-day calls left him open to question. His generally conservative approach to play-calling kept opponents in games as much as it does the Lions.

Grade: B