Jim Caldwell – February 15, 2019
Friday, February 15, 2019
Assistant Head Coach/Quarterbacks Jim Caldwell
(Can you start with your history with Head Coach Brian Flores and how you met?) – “I think one of the things about the National Football League, it’s an interesting place because of the fact that first you get introduced to a person by the work that he does. I can tell you without question, just watching Coach Flores when he was with New England, they always did a heck of a job in terms of preparation for you. You knew you were going to have your hands full. There were very few teams that could adapt and adjust as well as they would adapt and adjust. Also, they did a great job of always taking away your number one option and sometimes your number one and your second option. So, that was my first introduction to him. Obviously, we always were familiar with the staff – who was on the staff, who were in positions to make decisions. Throughout the league, you do a fairly good job of getting to know them from that standpoint. From a personal level, he and I had phone conversations, particularly when he started to get involved in some of the head-coaching searches and things of that nature, so we’ve had several conversations along the way (and) got to know one another through that as well.”
(How did you use the off year for you from Detroit to here now?) – “It was interesting. It was the first year that I had off in 41 years. It’s always been kind of my routine to get up early in the morning, come into the office and work until late. Last year gave me a chance to do some things I haven’t done before. I’ve been married to my wife for 41 years, so I saw her a little bit more often. I don’t know if she was happy about that. (laughter) Nevertheless, we spent some time together, traveled. I have three grandsons and four children, so I saw them a little more often, and fortunately my parents are still alive so I had a chance to go up and see my parents and my in-laws. My parents are both 85. I went to Israel, went to Singapore, did some consulting. I did a little bit of everything. I stayed busy. I did some consulting on the pro level and on the college level as well. It was a fun year, but I’m glad I’m back to work, to be honest with you.”
(In Miami you have a first-time head coach, first-time coordinators on the offense and defense and you’re someone who brings a lot of experience to the coaching staff. Can you describe your role in terms of what you can offer, especially Brian Flores, in terms of your experience and helping him along as he kind of gets his footing?) – “First of all, he doesn’t need much help in that regard. He is excellent. He’s a guy that has great vision and foresight. Really, what I’m here for is I’m just here to help him do whatever he asks me to do. We have some very capable coaches. I know when you’re referring to experience, you’re probably talking about age as well. (laughter) Nevertheless, that’s a kind way of saying it. Pat Flaherty has been around a bit as well. There’s been a number of these guys. Even though they may be somewhat youthful as you look at it in terms of the experience as coordinators, they’ve had coordinating abilities for years. They’re very sharp guys, very bright, and my job is just to serve, just to help wherever I can.”
(You’ve had a lot of success in your career working with quarterbacks. Do you have a philosophy or particular tenets that you place on a quarterback of ‘This is what I would like to see out of you?’) – “I think that number one, the head coach really sets those standards. The quarterback has to be a person that kind of fits his vision of how he wants the offense run. Coach Flores is obviously shaping that for us, and then (Offensive Coordinator) Chad (O’Shea), as the coordinator, is also shaping that for us, so we’re kind of working our way through those little details and things of that nature. Certainly, we have an idea. Certainly, Chad has an idea and certainly, Brian has an idea, so we’re putting all of that together at this point in time.”
(What did you see in your first time as head coach come across your desk that you hadn’t seen before that surprised you about the job?) – “I’d have to go back to college for me because I was a head coach in college first. I was a head coach for eight years at Wake Forest. Most of you guys are probably too young to remember that. (laughter) It’s just the demands on your time in terms of being able to balance free agency with your current players with preparing for so many different segments, and then dealing with all of the public demands that are on you – speaking engagements, meeting with alumni, things of that nature. That more than anything else. Other than that, there weren’t any great surprises. If you’ve been around football as long as the guys that are here on this staff have been around, there are not too many things that are going to shock you.”
(You had a lot at the college level and I guess a little bit in the pros, but what are maybe the difficulties of grooming a young quarterback or a rookie quarterback versus a veteran?) – “I think overall, it’s just like any position, not just that particular position. It’s getting them accustomed to what to expect in this league. Whether he’s been in this league for one or two years, whether he’s brand new or whether he’s been in this league for five or six, depending upon if your system changes, it’s just kind of indoctrinating him on what to expect within the system that he’s involved with at this particular time. For the great majority of it, it’s just how quickly they can catch on, how quickly they can translate. It’s like learning a different language and how quickly they can translate that.”
(Nowadays, we see more of a college scheme kind of integrated in an NFL scheme. How much of that have you tried to adopt and has it changed your thought process of not only that position but offense as a whole?) – “I think overall, just league-wide, the league goes through trends. When Vince Young came in the league, obviously he brought a little different dimension. When Michael Vick came to the league, he brought a little different dimension. But when you think back, Randall Cunningham did the same during his day. Steve Young was a guy that moved around quite a bit. Pro football has always had sort of an interesting exchange with college football and vice versa. When I was in college, I studied the pros to get a good look at what they were doing if there was something different. In the pros, which is unique, when you look at college, because we get a chance to see them through tape and evaluations, every once in a while some particularly interesting plays pop up. As you’ve seen, a couple plays of late some of the teams have used, the college trick plays and things of that nature (have come to the NFL). I think we all sort of use one another as a great resource.”
(Looking at this team, the way it’s constructed now, what are the challenges if you’re looking to kind of change the culture of this team compared to the previous administration that was here?) – “First of all, I don’t like doing comparisons in that regard. Secondly, that’s not my position. Coach Flores will give you that. He sets the tone for us in those areas in terms of culture building and things of that nature and we follow his lead. He has great vision, great foresight and he’ll do a good job getting us headed in the right direction.”
(What’s the biggest change for you personally coming to South Florida? How has it been for you?) – “In coaching, we adapt. I’m not certain exactly how many jobs that I’ve had, but it’s the fifth one in this league. In terms of years, it’s my 42nd year. There’s not a whole lot that we haven’t had an opportunity to experience. It’s still fun, it’s still exciting. I’m looking forward to it. Every year is a great challenge and I’m looking forward to everything that I can do to help this team to get them into a position to win games consistently, whatever that is.”
(When you think back on your history in this league, what stands out in terms of anything you’ve experience in Miami? Was it the Super Bowl?) – “Here, yes, absolutely. As a matter of fact, down in this area, when I was in college at Penn State, we came to the Blockbuster Bowl twice, so we were in Fort Lauderdale. We had a chance to play Florida State one year and Stanford the other year. Also down this way, we came here for the 2006 Super Bowl. We were here at this facility actually with the Colts and then also in 2009. One ended up great, the other one not so great. Nevertheless, they were both great experiences for us and our families here in this region.”
(I can’t help but notice that at the top of this organization, there is a lot of minority coaches with Head Coach Brian Flores and General Manager Chris Grier at the top, and you and Defensive Coordinator Patrick Graham. What do you take that as, particularly in this league, where that isn’t always the case?) – “I think what Brian and Chris have done is they’ve taken a look and see who the best possible candidates (are). I don’t think they look at color or anything of that nature, and they made the decisions based upon that. I think throughout the league, except for obviously the last year in terms of the hiring cycle – there were very few minorities – but when you look at the teams, there are always a lot of assistant coaches that are in prominent positions. Perhaps not as many coordinators as there have been in the past, and I think you’ll see that change. There’s a lot of bright, young guys that are coming up through the ranks. I think first and foremost, what they do is they look to see who is the best fit for this particular team, who can do the best job and I think they did that regardless of color, which is great.”
(What’s it been like when Brian Flores gets his staff together in terms of his leadership with the other coaches, his ability to connect with people? What have you observed so far?) – “It’s natural for him. He’s been leading men for a long time. I don’t think there’s any difference in terms of his staff. Whether he’s standing in front of the entire defense when he was in New England or whether he’s standing in front of us in terms of our staff meeting room, it’s really the same dynamic. He has those special qualities in terms of leadership, focus and vision. He’s a great communicator and I think those things go hand-in-hand and they travel.”
(Going back to when Brian Flores first touched based with you, what was your reaction? Was it a surprise in any way or was it sort of like ‘Yeah, this makes sense’?) – “We had previous discussions about the league in general, preparation for interviews and things of that nature. This was long before this opportunity came up. He had asked me at one point in time, he said ‘If I get something and you’re not in football at the time, would you consider it?’ That’s kind of how he stated it. I told him ‘Yeah, I would consider it.’ Fortunately, it worked out. I’m here and I’m in a position to serve, which I’m happy about.”
(Best advice you gave him for the interviews was what?) – “Not really advice, just kind of giving him an idea of what goes on in the process. At that time, I had gone through several (interviews). It was just kind of a process. He had most of the things already in place and had figured all the stuff out that he needed to figure out. I think he was just using me as a basic resource to bounce some things off.”
(You want to be a head coach again, I assume? Most people do.) – “That’s not my goal and aim. My goal and aim is to help this team win and win consistently. That’s all I’m focused on. I’m not looking at anything else. I’ve been around the block a little bit.”
(Did you have anybody in your role when you were head coach? You were asked before what your role is, you said whatever they tell you do to, but you can do a lot of different things.) – “Yeah, I did have a couple guys on my staff at Indy, if we’re talking about the pros. Ron Turner had been a head coach before. He was on my staff. Howard Mudd and Tom Moore had been around a long time. They had seen it all. Tom was on the great teams on Pittsburgh’s staff. Howard played in the league and had been coaching for 41 years by the time I got there. Those guys added a lot in terms of just the knowledge and expertise and background. When I went to Detroit, there were a couple of guys. Ron Prince had been a head coach before. He certainly had an idea of what it takes. We had a number of guys on that staff that had been on winning teams and been on Super Bowl teams and things of that nature. It’s a collaborative effort and we try to utilize every bit of intellectual property that we have on the staff.”
(Obviously, you have QB Jake Rudock in your quarterback room again. What skills do you like about him? What did he show you in your time together previously?) – “I had Jake early. We had Jake really early. Jake is one of those guys that I think improves and improves daily. He works extremely hard. He’s smart. I’m excited about seeing him now. It’s been a year since I’ve seen him. George Godsey had him last year. You might want to talk to George about him because he most recently had him, but I would expect the same kind of determination that he’s always had. He’s been one of those guys that loves the game and is really fun to coach.”
(From a skillset standpoint, what does QB Jake Rudock do well? What did you notice just when you brought him in from the Big Ten?) – “He has the things that you look for. Obviously, the intelligence portion of it. Everything else is kind of like a work in progress just in terms of improvement. This league requires pretty special guys to play that particular positon, and Jake is one of those guys that just works at his craft. He throws the ball well and not only that, he’s mobile. Those two things give you an opportunity to at least be competitive in this league.”
(Have you seen QB Luke Falk at all on college tape or have any sense of what he brings skillset-wise?) – “Most of the guys, like I said, we’re kind of in that early stage of evaluating thoroughly. I’d hate to say anything about him until I get a chance to really look at him closely. Jake I know because I had him before. The rest of the guys, we’re trying to make certain we have a real good feel for those guys.”
(The NFL coaching hires the last round, you can look at them and say a lot of the jobs went to offensive-minded guys – passing-game guys, who are also white. A lot of the guys who lost their jobs were defensive guys who happened to be black. Considering where the game is going, is there a pipeline of the offensive-minded, passing-game black coaches around?) – “There are a number of guys who I think are in position to do just that. There aren’t very many African American quarterback coaches. There aren’t that many, at this point in time, offensive coordinators. There are a few, obviously. (Eric) Bieniemy down there in Kansas City. There are a few guys out there that are doing that. There’s a young guy at Indianapolis that’s a quarterback coach there that’s sharp, that’s there with Frank (Reich), so he’ll learn. I think (Marcus) Brady is his name, I believe. Nevertheless, I think the league also is doing some things to try and help cultivate some more guys. They have actually put together – and you’ve probably heard the commissioner talking about it – we’re doing kind of a quarterback summit where we’re actually teaching and bringing in guys. We did it last year. I was with Jimmy Raye and Shack Harris and Troy (Vincent) and Pep Hamilton. We put it on at Morehouse (College), and we’re doing the same thing again this year. The intent of that is to cultivate some guys from the college ranks to get them in position to understand what it requires and what it takes to move to the next level in terms of coaching quarterbacks, particularly in the passing game.”
(I was talking to NFL Executive Vice President of Football Operations Troy Vincent about this and you’re a guy who came up with Tony Dungy and a quarterback coach on the offensive side of the ball. Troy was saying that he thought that previously, the past couple of decades, black coaches saw defense as the way to come up and now that the requirements have changed in the NFL, can you pivot like that? It kind of takes a few years to train coaches, right? Is the league prepared to pivot or does it take two or three years, and if so, is that okay?) – “I think it goes in cycles. Just like you said, sometimes it depends on where they saw success the previous years and everyone tries to mimic it and see if they can duplicate that. Most people don’t know I actually was a defensive coach before I started coaching offense, simply because of the fact that I wanted to make sure that I was well-balanced. That’s the great thing that I think you’ll find out about Coach Flores is what Coach Belichick does with guys on his staff. He has them coach both sides of the ball, so they’re really well-rounded which is really unique. I had to do something similar to that in order to kind of put myself in position – this was in college – where I could really fulfill both requirements. That’s something that we’re working at to try to make some of these guys pretty versatile. They have to be able to change and adjust.”
(That’s good foresight by you.) – “That was a while ago. (laughter)”
(For as long as you’ve been in the league, is there anything you haven’t seen at this point? Do you feel like you’ve seen just about everything or is every day a new day?) – “Every day is new. We were talking this morning with (Assistant Quarterbacks Coach) Jerry (Schuplinski) and I was also talking to (Wide Receivers Coach) Karl Dorrell, and I learn something different every day. Every day, I’m looking for something a little bit different. I’ve had a great opportunity to kind of listen to Chad (O’Shea), Jerry and watch how Coach Flores and those guys have developed in this particular culture and what they have gone through there (in New England) at maybe the most successful franchise and organization in the history of professional football. These guys are all remnants of that. They bring that insight and foresight into this building, so I’ve been excited about the things I’ve been learning from them, which has been really a lot of fun.”
