Giants Hire Packers Assistant to Reconstruct Offense
The Detroit Lions wanted to replace Jim Schwartz with an experienced head coach.
The Lions landed one, though he appears to be Plan B.
The team said Tuesday that Jim Caldwell had been hired as the new coach and will be introduced at a news conference Wednesday. Ken Whisenhunt, the San Diego Chargers assistant and former Arizona Cardinals coach, was seemingly Detroit's top choice, but he chose to take the head coaching job at Tennessee on Monday.
Caldwell, 58, helped the Indianapolis Colts reach the Super Bowl after his coaching debut in 2009, but was fired two years later after a 2-14 season while Peyton Manning was injured, dropping his three-year mark to 26-22.
'We believe Jim is the right man to lead our team and deliver a championship to our fans,' the Lions' owner, William Clay Ford, said in a statement. Mike Munchak, recently fired as the Titans coach, and Gary Kubiak, let go as the Houston Texans coach during the season, were also in the running.
Caldwell was hired by Baltimore two years ago to be their quarterbacks coach and was promoted to offensive coordinator late in the 2012 season. The Ravens went on to win the Super Bowl, although they struggled on offense in 2013.
The Lions hope Caldwell can draw on his experience with quarterbacks to help Matthew Stafford, the No. 1 selection overall in the 2009 draft, who has been spectacular at times and shaky at others.
WHISENHUNT LIKED G.M. Ken Whisenhunt, the Titans' new coach, said he quickly developed a rapport with the team's general manager, Ruston Webster, which helped him decide that Tennessee was the best fit for his second chance to run a team.
Detroit and Cleveland were also interested in Whisenhunt, who was introduced by the Titans on Tuesday.
'I felt great about Ruston, about that working relationship,' Whisenhunt said.
Whisenhunt, 51, was 49-53 overall in his six seasons at Arizona and took the Cardinals to their only Super Bowl, in 2009.
TICKET SALES RESTRICTED The Seattle Seahawks said they limited ticket sales for Sunday's N.F.C. championship game to certain states because they had concerns about ticket brokers.
The Seahawks sold out a small allotment of available tickets - fewer than 3,000 - in less than 30 minutes Monday. The team was criticized for excluding fans with billing addresses in California from purchasing tickets to the Seahawks' game against the San Francisco 49ers.
The Seahawks said that when tickets went on sale for last weekend's playoff game against New Orleans, brokers found a way to manipulate the system, acquiring most of the tickets and then increasing the price on the open market.
BRONCOS SIGN EX-PATRIOT The Denver Broncos signed the free agent Marquice Cole to replace cornerback Chris Harris Jr., who tore his anterior cruciate ligament in Sunday's game against San Diego.
Cole was released Dec. 26 by the New England Patriots, whom the Broncos host on Sunday for the A.F.C. championship.
Cole had 10 tackles and an interception for New England this season.
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