Jim Caldwell is returning to an NFL sideline for the first time since 2019 in his role as a senior offensive assistant with the Panthers.
Many believed that this would be the first step in Caldwell securing a chance to become an NFL head coach for the third time in his career.
However, Caldwell explained at a Tuesday news conference that it means exactly the opposite.
"Right now, the only job that I'm concerned about is the job I do here, right here and now,'' he said when asked about the possibility of becoming a head coach again, per ESPN. "I'm not worried about the future or anything else. I don't plan on being a head coach from this point forward.''
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This is a change in tune from Caldwell, who had previously indicated he only wanted to come back to the NFL if it was for a head coaching job. That's part of the reason he had remained out of the NFL for three of the last four seasons after being fired by the Lions at the end of the 2017 season despite posting a 36-28 record with Detroit (and a 62-50 record overall in his seven seasons as an NFL head coach).
What changed his mind? The 68-year-old knew that after interviewing for the Broncos and Panthers head coaching jobs that he just wanted to return to the game in any capacity.
"When I didn't get a head coaching job, I immediately sort of changed the plan in terms of what I was looking for next,'' Caldwell said. "I knew I was at the stage where I wanted to be back in the building somewhere.
"And so, I did have some opportunities to kind of look at, and I was happy when Frank [Reich] called.''
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Caldwell, who has been a key voice in the discussion about minority coach hiring — or lack thereof — across the NFL, still plans to champion that cause even as he ends his pursuit of a head coaching job.
"When you look at the numbers, they speak for themselves,'' Caldwell said regarding the NFL's track record for hiring Black head coaches. "There's been volumes and volumes of articles written and reporting on television about the lack of diversity in terms of the head coaching position."
Caldwell does, however, believe the NFL has been taking positive steps as it looks to address those issues.
"There's been a lot of things in the background to try to improve that," he said.
Even still, the NFL saw just one minority hire for a head coaching job in 2023 — DeMeco Ryans with the Texans. And of the 35 coaching vacancies filled since 2019, only eight have gone to minority candidates — two of whom were fired after just one season.
