The Detroit Lions will keep head coach Jim Caldwell through at least next season, ending speculation Wednesday as the team prepares for Saturday night's wild-card game.
The Lions put any rumors to rest by confirming Caldwell will return for a fourth season in 2017 no matter what happens in the playoff game on the road against the Seattle Seahawks.
Caldwell is 27-21 in three seasons since taking over in 2014, guiding the Lions to the playoffs in two of the last three campaigns.
The Lions sprinted out to a 9-4 record and a two-game lead in the NFC North heading into Week 15 in 2015 but stumbled to three straight losses to end the regular season -- still enough to earn a wild-card spot at 9-7. The Green Bay Packers capped a six-game winning streak with an NFC North-clinching 31-24 victory over the Lions on Sunday night.
"You know what, it's not about me," Caldwell told reporters Tuesday when asked about his job status. "I'm more interested in this team and that focus.
"Our business is always skepticism and those kinds of things. It's a challenging business, that's what makes it fun, you know? It's not for the faint of heart. You better be willing to take on challenges and understand that you're expected to win."
In 2014, the Lions went 11-5 and made the playoffs in Caldwell's first season as coach. Last season, Detroit rebounded from a 1-7 start to finish 7-9.
Caldwell expressed his gratitude Wednesday about coming back but would not take any additional questions regarding his job.
"I want to say I'm appreciative, thankful," Caldwell told reporters. "I've expressed my gratitude to (general manager) Bob (Quinn), (owner Martha) Ford and Ford family and (team president) Rod Wood for their support.
"Now, I have to also say, I want to apologize to you because I'm not going to go into anything other than what I just stated. I'm not going to talk about when discussions happened, if there were discussions. I'm not going to talk about the status of our staff or whatever that might be, because, like I said yesterday, the focus is still about this team. It's about getting our guys ready. Our guys, all year long, I think, have been absolutely excellent at focusing in on what they have to get done and the next team, the next game moving forward, and we want to keep that focus as such. So we're not certainly going to add to that and complicate it any more than that."
