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During his introductory press conference last Wednesday, Jim Caldwell shared his vision for the Detroit Lions going forward. It almost seemed like he put together a list of what would be the complete opposite of the Lions under Jim Schwartz, especially in 2013. We've heard plenty about the Lions' discipline issues and turnovers problems, and Caldwell really emphasized how he wants his team to be smart, focused and disciplined, among other things.
Here's what Caldwell said:
"Let's just talk about a couple things, image and identity. Either you create it, or somebody's going to create it for you. So, let me tell you what we're going to look like. We're going to be smart. We're going to be a football team that takes the field that's not going to shoot itself in the foot. We're going to be a team that is disciplined, that's focused, that understands situational football. It's going to be drilled and drilled and drilled and not just given lip service, but what you should see on the field is obviously a product of our coaching, our instruction and our demands."
That's definitely music to my ears after watching the Lions repeatedly shoot themselves in the foot en route to a dismal second half of the 2013 season. The Lions have become well known for their self-inflicted mistakes, and those issues were really the primary reason behind their collapse in 2013. If they had done a better job of taking care of the ball, for example, chances are there wouldn't have even needed to be a coaching search, so hopefully Caldwell's vision will end up becoming the reality for the Lions.
