Caldwell: Rams will ‘love’ Stafford
The Rams are going to “love” Matthew Stafford.
Not my words, but those of Stafford’s former head coach in Detroit, Jim Caldwell.
During Caldwell’s stint with the Lions, Stafford enjoyed his most success as a professional athlete, going 36-28 in four years with Caldwell on the sidelines.
Meanwhile, in stark contrast, Stafford went just 29-51 in five seasons under Jim Schwartz (2009-13) and a measly 14-25-1 in three seasons with Matt Patricia and later Darrell Bevell (on an interim basis) at the helm.
That’s a combined record of 43-76-1 for Stafford with coaches other than Caldwell.
Caldwell believes Stafford will succeed with Sean McVay as his head coach in Los Angeles.
“Matthew is extremely bright, and he can adapt to any system or style of offense,” Caldwell told Deadspin. “He has demonstrated [that] while in Detroit under multiple offensive coordinators and head coaches.
“He will be able to do whatever Coach McVay requires. But, Matthew is very self-aware and not shy about expressing the various
concepts that fit his eye or accentuates his skill set. They will love him in L.A.”
If there’s one former head coach of Stafford’s that has a chance at accurately predicting how good he will be with another NFL franchise, it’s definitely Caldwell.
During Caldwell’s fouryear tenure in the Motor City, Stafford not only won the most games that he ever has with an NFL head man, but he also made two of his three playoff appearances and had two seasons in which he recorded at least five fourth-quarter comebacks/game-winning drives (2014 and 2016).
As much as that’s a credit to Stafford on orchestrating those comebacks and drives, it’s also a credit to Caldwell. The Lions were never truly out of a game with the duo of Stafford under center and Caldwell on the sidelines.
That’s why it means more when Caldwell, one of the most well-respected individuals to have coached in the league, speaks on the former longtime Detroit franchise passer. And boy, did he speak glowingly about him to Deadspin.
“Matthew is accountable in every way, and displays extreme ownership, accepting responsibility for his mistakes and deflects credit to his teammates and coaches in victory,” Caldwell said about his former QB. “He has an extremely strong arm, underestimated mobility and he can deliver the ball accurately with velocity or touch from various platforms and angles.”
Caldwell sure loved coaching Stafford in Detroit.
Now, McVay, considered to be one of the brightest offensive minds in the game, gets to work his magic with No. 9.
I bet he’ll love Stafford, too, if the former No. 1 overall pick helps the Rams achieve the one thing they’ve set out to accomplish with Stafford: Winning a Super Bowl.