Lions fire Jim Caldwell

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The Lions have kicked off a new year by starting a search for a new head coach.

The team announced on Monday morning that General Manager Bob Quinn informed Jim Caldwell that has been fired.

Caldwell went 36-28 in four years with the Lions and took the team to the playoffs twice, but a second straight 9-7 season wasn’t enough to get them back into the postseason this year. A lopsided loss to the Ravens in Week 13 and a sloppy loss to the Bengals in Week 16 may have sealed Caldwell’s fate after the team mulled making a change before the 2016 season.

The firing gives Quinn, who came to Detroit from New England, his first chance to hire a head coach since joining the Lions that year. Early reports have honed in on Patriots defensive coordinator Matt Patricia as a top candidate for the job and the Lions will be able to interview him this week with New England on a bye.

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