Hayes: Detroit Lions coach Jim Caldwell's hot seat tied to racism

It’s the ultimate learning experience.

The life lessons one can learn from being involved in sports can truly be transformational. One can develop an overall successful mindset while learning essential life skills from being involved in athletics. But at the same time, you can also be hit with the harsh realities of the world we live in.

That is why it has been so difficult to watch how Detroit Lions coach Jim Caldwell has been treated. Caldwell became the first African-American coach in Detroit Lions history when he took over in 2014. What has followed has been historic success for the Lions, and plenty of disrespect from fans and local media.

Let’s go back to 2014 when Caldwell took over. The Lions had just missed the playoffs the past two seasons, winning 11 games total. Prized quarterback Matthew Stafford was seen as a bust by many Lions fans, while others thought he was regressing under former coach Jim Schwartz.

In stepped Caldwell, among lies and erroneous media reports that said the Lions had settled for him after striking out on the coach they really wanted. It was a fitting start to the overall negativity Caldwell would experience in the years that followed.

In his first season with the team, Caldwell led the Lions to their second-best record in franchise history (11-5, 2014). He was one crazy/picked-up pass interference call away from leading the team to its first playoff win in two decades.

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But he never had a honeymoon. The Lions got off to a slow start the next season before regrouping and ever since, fans have called for his removal. When the Lions won, fans said it was in spite of Caldwell. When they lost, it’s because of him. For a man only one win away from having three winning seasons in his first four years, it’s shocking to see the disrespect people have for him, as they mock and laugh at his personality and call him a bum and unfit.

This is while Caldwell has continued to do more with less each year. Gone are all-pro talents like Calvin Johnson, Ndamukong Suh and DeAndre Levy. In their place came less talented players who have not completely filled those roles.

There is plenty of justified disappointment in the Lions' 2017 season. The loss at Cincinnati over the weekend was indefensible. But what did you honestly think the Lions record would be before the season began? I can’t count how many people thought the team would finish under .500 and out of playoff contention.

This is before the Lions lost their starting left tackle for half the season and went on to start around a dozen offensive line combinations. With a clear lack of talent at running back and on the offensive and defensive lines, fans still expected the Lions to take a big step forward this season?

That’s laughable. But that is what is expected of Caldwell. He has the best record of any Lions coach in the modern Super Bowl era. But that’s not good enough.

He won twice at Lambeau Field after scores of previous coaches failed to win even once. He turned Stafford into the most clutch quarterback in NFL history (yes, look it up). He has developed a coaching staff that has several members who are considered future head coaches. He has developed the young talent on the roster in tangible ways; they are playing key roles.

But it’s still not good enough and will never be good enough. Look throughout sports and find someone who is in a position similar to Jim Caldwell. Look at Minnesota Vikings coach Mike Zimmer or Dallas Cowboys coach Jason Garrett. In many ways, they have had much more talent than Caldwell and produced less. But they are far from the hot seat.

Locally, Stan Van Gundy is the president and coach of the Detroit Pistons. He hired the general manager. Yet the Pistons are spinning their wheels in year four of his tenure and I have not heard one argument in favor of his dismissal. No one in the media is reporting he’s on the hot seat, even as the Pistons draw poor crowds at the new Little Caesars Arena. I don’t need to say much about the Detroit Red Wings.

They took a pair of losses recently that should embarrass the entire fan base. But there is still more support for Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill than there is for Caldwell.

Let’s be real. It’s obvious that many fans don’t like Caldwell, and it doesn’t have anything to do with winning.

For many Lions fans, Caldwell can do nothing right. These are the same fans that called African-Americans thugs for quietly taking a knee during the national anthem. These are the same people who cheered with approval when President Donald Trump called football players “Sons of b------.”

Now, these '"fans" have the best coach in modern Lions history in their sights. And no, it’s not just because of the terrible loss to Cincinnati. For many, it’s because he has brown skin.

Each time fans pressure ownership to make a change in the front office or coaching staff, they gamble with the hope that the grass will be greener on the other side. They forget how far the Lions have come under Caldwell. But the organization has benefited tremendously from Caldwell’s stability and consistency. If he is fired in the next couple of weeks, he will surely bounce back with his character still intact.

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But for the rest of us, we are faced with yet another lesson on just how far we have left to go as a society. I’ll remember 2017 for many reasons. But at the forefront of my mind will be the racism I experienced and the similar experiences of many others. I’ll remember sitting in the waiting room with six to eight doctors concerned about my newborn daughter's health, only to be bombarded with messages at the same time from people in the community about how a black man couldn’t run the Times Herald Sports section.

One message said I was a failure. Another person said he couldn’t wait to see me to bash my face in. Others said that I should be embarrassed for letting the community down. Throughout the year, these messages continued and crescendoed recently when I took off for two weeks to spend time with my family.

Nearly every other day someone had something negative or hateful to say about me. After a while, like with Caldwell, the harsh words just roll off your back. It's just what many African-Americans will experience over the course of our lives.

So I understand if many will simply think this column is me pulling out the race card. It's no longer surprising to see people run away from conversations about race.

But after thinking through my own experiences in 2017 and watching from afar what Caldwell has endured, it's clear I've learned yet another life lesson through sports this year.

Unfortunately, this time, that includes the understanding of how racism still continues to affect African-Americans tied to sports, even on a national stage.

Contact Joseph Hayes at (810) 989-6268 or at jahayes@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @Joseph_Hayes11.