Jim Caldwell expected to join Miami Dolphins coaching staff
By Brian Miller
The Miami Dolphins do not have a head coach but it appears that Jim Caldwell will join the teams coaching staff once they do.
Multiple reports indicated that Brian Flores has been tabbed as the next Miami Dolphins head coach and there are reports that Jim Caldwell will join his staff when the hiring becomes official.
Caldwell reportedly will join the team as an offensive assistant more inline with an assistant head coaching job and not an offensive coordinato. The rumors have been around a few days now but nothing is official or imminent until the Patriots season comes to a conclusion. The Patriots are in the AFC title game for the 8th year in a row and will travel to Kansas City on Sunday.
Caldwell served as the head coach of the Detroit Lions most recently. From 2014 to 2017 Caldwell was the man in charge in Detroit. From 2009 to 2011 he was the head coach of the Colts before moving to the Ravens as a quarterbacks coach offensive coordinator.
Since 1977 Caldwell has been coaching. First as a graduate assistant with Iowa. He bounced around the college ranks building a resume until 2001 when he joined the Buccaneers staff as a quarterbacks coach. He served one season before joining the Colts in 2002 where he stayed until 2008 as the teams QB/assistant head coach.
Caldwell is part of the Tony Dungy coaching tree and followed him to Indianapolis from Tampa Bay. He took over for Dungy has HC when Dungy retired. In his first season as the teams HC the Colts with Peyton Manning went 14-2 and represented the AFC in the Super Bowl. A loss to the Saints.
A year later the Colts went 10-6 but after losing Manning in his third season they finished 2-14 and Caldwell was fired.
In Detroit he led the Lions to two playoff appearances but lost both times in the Wild Card round. He left Detroit having been the only head coach to post a winning record since the 1950’s.
In Miami he will be tasked with helping to rebuild a Dolphins offense that will likely have a new quarterback in 2019 and potentially a top rookie candidate in 2020. He has a good relationship with Brian Flores so there is a natural assumption that Flores will tab him as an offensive assistant.
At this point there is little known about what kind of coaches Flores intends to bring to Miami with him should he in fact get the job but Caldwell would be a solid hire who can help Flores transistion to the level of head coach.