The Lions’ season turned around quickly when they fired offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi and promoted Jim Bob Cooter to that role midseason.
But head coach Jim Caldwell said he doesn’t regret waiting this long to make the move, despite the fact they’re 3-1 since then and just dropped 45 points on the Eagles.
“No,” Caldwell said, via Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press. “That’s probably the simplest way [to answer that]. Like I said, it’s not that easy. It’s a difficult transition what we’re going through right now, even just in terms of our offensive system and how it’s functioning. It’s an unusual change.”
The Lions were 1-6 before Caldwell made the move, and the results have been dramatic. Quarterback Matt Stafford said he loved Cooter’s more aggressive play-calling, though that’s not the only reason things have turned around.
As much as anything, they’ve cut down on turnovers (three in four games after 18 in the first seven), and protected Stafford better and run the ball more, all things which lead to the opportunity for a more wide-open offense.
