BLOOMINGTON, Minn. -- Jim Caldwell won 11 games in 2014, matching a Lions record for a first-year coach. He posted winning seasons in three of his four years in Detroit overall, and finished with a record of 36-28.

That makes him the winningest Lions coach of the Super Bowl era.

He was fired anyway.

And Tony Dungy disagrees with the move.

"I don't (think it was right)," the Hall of Fame coach said Tuesday during Super Bowl festivities at the Mall of America outside Minneapolis. "I'm not there, I don't know what's going on day in and day out. But I think they made progress, and they were close. We'll see what happens."

Of course, Dungy, a Jackson native, isn't exactly unbiased here. He hired Caldwell to his staff in Tampa in 2001, then brought him to Indianapolis a year later. Caldwell rose through the ranks there, eventually became Dungy's assistant head coach and wound up succeeding him.

He won a whole bunch of games in Detroit, too, at least by Detroit's standards. And Dungy believed that should have been enough for him to return. But GM Bob Quinn chose to go in another direction, and a six-man search has zeroed in on Patriots defensive coordinator Matt Patricia. That move is expected to become official after New England faces Philadelphia on Sunday in Super Bowl LII.

Quinn acknowledged Caldwell won a lot, and said his decision never became final until after a win against Green Bay in the finale. But he also acknowledged the failures against good teams after dismissing the coach.

Detroit went 1-12 against playoff teams the last two years, and was 4-25 against winning teams under Caldwell's watch.

"They didn't win enough I guess," Dungy said. "I went through that in Tampa and you always feel like we can bring someone else in who can win more. But Jim Caldwell I think turned that team around. He brought a class to the organization, they're doing things the right way. I think they're very, very close. It's always disappointing to me when any coach loses their job."

Caldwell's predecessor in Detroit, Jim Schwartz, has found new life by accepting coordinator positions, first with Buffalo and then the last two seasons with the Eagles. And he's done such good work with the latter -- turning a bottom-dwelling unit into a top-five overall defense -- that he's elevated himself back into contention for another crack at a head job.

He was once linked this year to the Giants job, though with Pat Shurmur accepting that position, it appears Schwartz will have to wait at least another year for his turn. But he's in the conversation.

Caldwell still wants to coach, too. But at 63 years old, he's far older than Schwartz and does not appear willing to accept a job as an assistant. At least not right now.

"I doubt that he'll do that," Dungy said. "I can't speak for him, but I think he's done as much as you can do -- other than win a Super Bowl, he's done as much as you can do in football. I think he's very, very content right now to see what the Lord holds for him."