Caldwell On His Coaching Style: 'There's No Need For A Whole Lot Of Cussing, Screaming, Yelling'

By Ashley Dunkak
@AshleyDunkak

ALLEN PARK (CBS DETROIT) - New Detroit Lions head coach Jim Caldwell has a reputation for remaining somewhat stoic in practice, keeping calm while instructing players rather than going ballistic and launching into profane tirades as do many other coaches - pro or otherwise.

That said, Caldwell said he sometimes shows what he is feeling a little more vehemently.

"I'm not always even-keel," Caldwell said. "You'll see it at some point in time, but nevertheless, I have the same ups and downs as every other human being. I'm passionate about what I do, even in terms of practice. What I feel really is that I do instruction in the classroom, I do instruction when we have our team meetings, and I tell them what I want. Then we go out and see if we can get it done. Today, we'll grade it, we'll look at it, and if I didn't get exactly what I want, I'll point that out on film. I'll show them what I want, we'll come back out, and we'll go at it again. That's kind of how we work and how we operate.

"There's no need for a whole lot of cussing, screaming, yelling and all that kind of stuff," Caldwell continued. "It's a mini-quiz out here. I never had any of my professors yelling in my ear when I was sitting at the desk filling out those multiple-choice questions."

Just because he might not look dramatic on the field, Caldwell said, does not mean he is not engaged in the action.

"Don't mistake activity for achievement," the coach cautioned. "That's a big mistake that everybody always makes. They look at guys like Tom Landry and they think nothing's getting done. All he did was win more games probably than anybody in his era, right? I mean, there are a number of guys that are like that."

In the opinion of Caldwell, being louder does not translate to being more respected by players. In fact, it might have the opposite effect.

"The fact of the matter is, it doesn't matter if you're yelling and screaming because first of all, they tune you out after a certain point in time," Caldwell said. "I played for guys when I was playing and guys were screaming and yelling. Pretty soon that sounded like his normal, audible tone, and you end up ignoring it.

"When I have to go up and octave or two, I guarantee you it will have a little bit different response than most people in that regard," Caldwell added, "and I do from time to time."