In possibly the most obvious coaching move ever made by the Lions, the interim tag has been removed from Jim Bob Cooter’s offensive coordinator title, according to NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport.
Cooter was promoted to the position after Joe Lombardi was fired on Oct. 27. He had served as quarterbacks coach since the start of the 2014 season.
The 2015 season turned around with the move. After a 1-7 start, the Lions finished 6-2. In that final eight-game stretch quarterback Matthew Stafford threw 19 touchdown passes and just two interceptions.
It seemed the offense – including the run game – improved on a weekly basis with Cooter at the helm.
Cooter, who is 31, and coach Jim Caldwell seemed to work well together. The announcement was made on Friday that Caldwell would return under new general manager Bob Quinn.
Defensive coordinator Teryl Austin interviewed for several head coaching openings, but was not hired so is expected to return to the Lions also.
Schwartz interviews
Former Lions coach Jim Schwartz is interviewing with the Jacksonville Jaguars for their defensive coordinator position, according to the Associated Press.
The 49-year-old Schwartz went 29-51 as the Lions’ head coach from 2009 to 2013. He was fired after the Lions ended the 2013 season losing six of their final seven games. He was out of the league in 2015 after serving as Buffalo’s defensive coordinator in 2014.
Prior to coaching the Lions, Schwartz was the defensive coordinator for the Tennessee Titans for eight seasons.
Legends started with Lions
When coaching legend Ted Marchibroda died on Saturday, he was best known for being head coach of the Indianapolis Colts (1992-95) and Baltimore Ravens (1996-1998).
Yet Marchibroda is one of a handful NFL legendary coaches who coached early in their careers for the Lions.
Marchibroda was the Lions offensive coordinator from 1982-83.
Others coaches who have worked for the Lions include two who will be involved in the NFC and AFC championship games on Sunday.
– Patriots coach Bill Belichick worked as the Lions assistant special teams coach in 1976 and receivers coach in 1977. Detroit was the second stop in his coaching ascent that started in Baltimore.
– Cardinals assistant head coach/offensive consultant Tom Moore was the Lions offensive coordinator from 1994-1996. In 1995 the Lions had the NFL’s top-ranked offense featuring Barry Sanders, Herman Moore, Scott Mitchell and Brett Perriman among others. Moore interviewed for the Lions head coaching opening in 2006 (according to the New York Times) but was shunned in favor of Rod Marinelli.
– Hall of Fame coach Don Shula served as the Lions defensive coordinator from 1960-62. It was his first NFL coaching stop after two years at the college level. While Shula was with the Lions under head coach George Wilson the Lions had three winning seasons and the defense was second in the NFL in 1962 when it featured its own version of the Fearsome Foursome – tackles Alex Karras and Roger Brown along with ends Darris McCord and Sam Williams. Shula holds the NFL record with 328 wins as a head coach.
– Marty Schottenheimer was the Lions linebackers coach in 1978 and 1979. He ranks – sixth all-time in NFL coaching wins with 200 – 101 of those wins came while he coached the Kansas City Chiefs for 10 years (1989-1998).
– Chuck Knox, who had a career head coaching winning percentage of .558, was the Lions offensive coordinator from 1967 to 1972. He wrapped up his career as head coach of the Los Angeles Rams (1992-94) after nine season as the Seahawks (1983-1991) head coach.
(The Associated Press contributed to this story.)’
You might have missed
– Lions bring back Jim Caldwell
– Five reasons it makes sense to keep Caldwell
– Lions hire director of personnel
– Five things to know about Bob Quinn’s philosophies
