What If on Caldwell

**RavenScallywag** · 01-08-2013, 11:15 AM

I know we're focused on Denver and winning, but...

Has Caldwell done enough to earn another year as OC, in your opinion?

We've got 4 games of Caldwell, with a 5th coming in Denver:

1 vs Broncos - Showed some promise, but offense still sputtered a bit
2 vs Giants - Offense looked HOT, lots of people were very assured by this game
3 @ Cincy - Hard to use this game as judgement with the backups, but offense was still a bit of a quagmire. Joe looked good throwing over the middle, but failed to score in his drives.
4 vs Colts - Offense was shaky in the beginning, roared more in the end.

If he does well in Denver, win or lose, I think he buys that 2nd year. But, let's say we come out and have another game like the one at home. Is that enough to decide to go fishing for an OC? Or has he done enough with the final 3 regular season games and the Colts win to earn another year?

I'm curious of the opinions. Even if someone like Norv or Shurmur or Whiz is available, you have to consider the comfort level with Joe in the equation. I think they have to give Caldwell another year, but I can see why you might still not be sold.

**Ravenswintitle** · 01-08-2013, 11:16 AM

Do we know if he even wants the position? Haven't heard him say anything on the matter.

Assuming he wants it, I believe he should be a candidate and go through the process along with other candidates. May the best man win.

**Cj34** · 01-08-2013, 11:25 AM

It depends on several factors. Does he want the job? Do the Ravens want to implement a different system from the Air Coryell they've been running the last 5 years under Cam? If the Raven's want a new offensive system, does Caldwell even have an offensive system to implement? Even if the Ravens are happy with Caldwell, do they like someone else better?

**PerpetuallyBored74** · 01-08-2013, 11:30 AM

It's too soon to tell.
We'll need to beat Denver, Texas or NE, then whoever wins the NFC.
Then we'll have a better idea ;)

**bmorecareful** · 01-08-2013, 11:32 AM

I really don't get the sense that Caldwell is viewed as a serious contender for the job unless the offense basically carries the team to a Super Bowl run and Caldwell makes himself indispensable.

I think he's a placeholder for now--the OC shake up was not a "move to Caldwell," but rather just a move AWAY from Cam, and Caldwell presented the best option as an interim playcaller.

I continue to think they will make a big play for Norv Turner this offseason.

**RavenScallywag** · 01-08-2013, 11:29 AM

Originally Posted by Ravenswintitle

Do we know if he even wants the position? Haven't heard him say anything on the matter.

Assuming he wants it, I believe he should be a candidate and go through the process along with other candidates. May the best man win.

While that's true, I know he wants a HC gig again, I don't see him being requested for interviews. If he wants to be a HC again, I think his best career path is being the OC here.

Would just seem odd to take over the job for a few months, only to step back aside after that. Could happen, but I'd be shocked if he only wanted to be OC for a few weeks, then went back to QB coach.

**ravensnhokies** · 01-08-2013, 11:58 AM

If he wants the job, I think he should get the job. I'd think that since he's hasnt done it, he'd welcome the challenge.

Most importantly, Joe likes Jim a lot. There is a tangible improvement in Joe's play during the past 2 full games. Notice how Joe is suddenly a little more active in the pocket. Instead of waiting forever until Cam's frickin slow routes develop, Jim is calling quicker patterns and when Joe sees they're not open, he moves around. Fundamentally, if a pattern takes a long time to complete, a QB is naturally going to be focused on waiting for that moment, instead of moving around to avoid pressure. If Joe actually moved around like he should of to avoid pressure, he would have missed that moment when the pattern actually did open up. Cam's offense was an epic failure b/c it was based on long developing patterns, and he did nothing to help Joe out with max protection. Look I'm not saying Joe has great pocket presence... its probably average at best... but every QB would have been bad in Cam's offense. Honestly, the only QB that might have been ok n Cam's O, would have been Big Ben, but he would have gotten injured. Sorry for the tangent with the Cam rant, but what we we've seen so far with Jim is proof that Cam had no clue.

Back on topic, its also obvious that he has a better feel for the game than Cam. Notice how they correctly adjusted at halftime during the Colts game and the great results. When did Cam correctly make adjustments? Maybe a handful of times??

Jim will put his spin on things next year (more rubs like in Peyton's Offense). I'm all in with Jim.

**pslholder96** · 01-08-2013, 12:11 PM

The body of work thus has been pretty good yet limited. I think we should see how far his playcalling and adjustments take us before we start the petition to keep him permanently.

**bmorecareful** · 01-08-2013, 12:14 PM

Why aren't people account for the likelihood that Caldwell simply steps back down to QB coach? After all, he's only an interim OC. I see no reason to think that he's either OC next year or he's gone. The organization wants to keep Flacco happy and the best way to do that is to keep Caldwell on staff, but not necessarily as OC.

The most likely scenario IMO is that Caldwell steps down from interim OC back to QB coach and a different, more experienced OC like Norv Turner or Ken Whisenhunt is brought in. I see no reason Caldwell wouldn't accept that. I presume nothing has been promised to him and have seen nothing to indicate otherwise.

I really don't see the incentive for Caldwell to aggressively pursue the OC spot. He's shown that he can handle calling plays which is nice, but he's just as likely to get a look as a HC candidate if he stays at QB coach and continues to progress in developing Joe Flacco. Remember that he made the jump straight from QB coach to HC in Indianapolis--going from position coach to HC without being a coordinator in between happens all the time.

**Raveninwoodlawn** · 01-08-2013, 12:36 PM

Originally Posted by bmorecareful

Why aren't people account for the likelihood that Caldwell simply steps back down to QB coach? After all, he's only an interim OC. I see no reason to think that he's either OC next year or he's gone. The organization wants to keep Flacco happy and the best way to do that is to keep Caldwell on staff, but not necessarily as OC.

The most likely scenario IMO is that Caldwell steps down from interim OC back to QB coach and a different, more experienced OC like Norv Turner or Ken Whisenhunt is brought in. I see no reason Caldwell wouldn't accept that. I presume nothing has been promised to him and have seen nothing to indicate otherwise.

I really don't see the incentive for Caldwell to aggressively pursue the OC spot. He's shown that he can handle calling plays which is nice, but he's just as likely to get a look as a HC candidate if he stays at QB coach and continues to progress in developing Joe Flacco. Remember that he made the jump straight from QB coach to HC in Indianapolis--going from position coach to HC without being a coordinator in between happens all the time.

I think no matter what happens, the team needs to make an effort to keep him on the staff as a QB coach at minimum.

Like you, I don't think this is an "OC or off the staff" decision that would need to be made here.

**lobachevsky** · 01-08-2013, 12:42 PM

This week is kind of like the final exam, vs a very good defense with no glaring weaknesses. If Caldwell's game planning & adjustments can at least keep the team in the game (& that includes keeping the defense off the field long enough to catch its breath) then everyone can feel pretty confident about his ability to do the job. And that's good for him even if he doesn't want the position permanently--it makes him that much more attractive to other teams in the future.

**Raveninwoodlawn** · 01-08-2013, 12:47 PM

I don't even think it's about can he do the job.

It's "is there someone else out there who is better". There are a lot of good guys out there who have had a ton of success as well and may have a philosophy that meshes even better with Joe and our personel.

And if you shut the door without actually looking out of the window, I think you are making a huge mistake.

I would not be pissed if Caldwell is our OC...but the team owes it to itself, Joe and the fans to get the best guy in here that they can...or at least attempt to.