The Lions fired head coach Jim Caldwell on Monday, but offensive coordinator Jim Bob Cooter remains under contract.
Quarterback Matthew Stafford hopes that remains the case once the Lions hire Caldwell’s replacement as well. Stafford said he’d love to continue working with Cooter, who was promoted to his current position in the middle of the 2015 season. Stafford feels the offense “has moved in the right direction” and that he’s “playing some of the best football of my career” since Cooter was promoted to his current job in the middle of the 2015 season.
“I think continuity is important in this league to a certain extent and I voiced my opinions earlier just a second ago on our guys on the offensive staff,” Stafford said, via the Detroit Free Press. “I think they do a good job, I think our offense is going in the right direction, I think our team is close so we’ll see what happens.”
There are several defensive names on the early list of head coaching candidates, which suggests sticking with Cooter is on the table for the Lions. General Manager Bob Quinn also said Monday that he thinks Stafford is “a good enough quarterback that he can kind of play in any system,” so that’s far from a sure thing as the search process gets underway.