Monarrez: Lions should fire Caldwell now

Detroit Lions coach Jim Caldwell needs to be fired. Immediately. And here’s why.

He told me and the other media members at Monday’s news conference essentially that just because we didn’t get a promotion to ESPN we should still be trying to write and produce the dickens out of our news stories.

First off, Coach, I work for the Detroit Free Press. Been on guard for 184 years. Took down Kwame Kilpatrick. Maybe you’ve heard of it. Besides, I have no interest in living in Connecticut.

Second, Caldwell’s analogy is misguided. Most working people I know don’t work hard at their jobs to try to get a promotion every year. They work hard to meet performance goals every year. If they do, maybe they get a raise. If they don’t, they might get fired.

And Caldwell has not met his performance goals by a wide stretch. When he was hired in 2014, the mandate from ownership was to put together a team that won consistently. Caldwell said at his introductory news conference he believed the time to win was now.

“Not two years or three years from now, down the road somewhere,” he said, “but right here, right now.”

What did that produce? Caldwell led the Lions to the playoffs with an 11-5 record last year. No division title, no playoff win. He followed that with a 1-7 start this season, which will end with a losing record and without a playoff appearance.

When I asked Caldwell on Monday if he felt he had made good on the goals of winning immediately and consistently, he stood by those goals but admitted he had fallen short on his consistency.

“I certainly still make that claim today,” he said. “That’s always our goal and aim and we did that last year. This year is a different year. We haven’t done it. So we’re working hard to get ourselves in position to do it and do it more consistently.”

I’ve wrestled with this thought about what “winning” means around the Lions. Eleven victories and the first playoff appearance in three years certainly did feel like winning last year.

But the more I think about it, I believe the bar is set too low if 11 wins, second place in the NFC North and one-and-done in the playoffs feels like winning. Maybe it’s because everyone is still shell-shocked from 0-16 and the pall of Matt Millen that seems to still be hovering over this franchise.

Whatever the reason, 11-5 and a playoff pit stop is not winning. Or it shouldn’t be considered winning, unless the team builds on that and does better the next year.

Instead, the Lions have taken a major step back in Caldwell’s second season. And that is the antithesis of consistency. Owner Martha Ford last month reiterated the mandate to “produce a consistently winning football team.”

“Our fans deserve a winning football team,” she said, “and we will do everything possible to make it a reality.”

If Ford is going to voice those goals, they will mean nothing if she doesn’t act on the failure to reach them. She must fire Caldwell, and it would be better if she did it now because the final record means nothing to anyone other than Caldwell’s resume.

Caldwell is trying to make a bad season look as good as it can with a few more meaningless wins down the stretch. But what the Lions need for the rest of this season is a coach who would be willing to take a chance and give some other players more of a chance to see if they fit into the team’s plans.

“If that helps us win, you better believe we’ll be thinking about it,” Caldwell said. “We’re looking at the things that are going to help us win, period.”

Winning. There’s that word again. Yes, the NFL is a business, and livelihoods are tied to performances. Players want opportunities and have incentives built into their contracts. Coaches don’t like taking risks with players they aren’t sure will be their best option. But it’s time to salvage something good out of nthis season by taking a peek at players who might have a future with the Lions. Maybe none of the players will earn a promotion, but maybe a few who deserve to will get to keep their jobs

Contact Carlos Monarrez: cmonarrez@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @cmonarrez.

Rare company

Jim Caldwell is one of just five Lions coaches at .500 or better (including the playoffs) since World War II:

Buddy Parker

1951-56

.671

Record: 50-24-2

Gary Moeller

2000

.571

Record: 4-3

Joe Schmidt

1967-72

.547

Record: 43-35-7

George Wilson

1957-64

.547

Record: 55-45-6

Jim Caldwell

2014-15

.500

Record: 15-15

Up next for the Lions

Matchup: Lions (4-9) at New Orleans (5-8).

When: Mercedes Benz Superdome, New Orleans.

When: 8:30 p.m. Monday.

TV: ESPN.

Line: Saints by 3.