The new year has definitely gotten off to a rocky start for Lions offensive coordinator Jim Bob Cooter, and that's because he's out of a job.
In a move that was announced Tuesday, the Lions have decided not to renew Cooter's contract, which expired following the 2018 season. Lions coach Matt Patricia was actually asked about Cooter's future on Monday and he definitely sounded non-committal about bringing him back.
"I think it's only fair at this point of the season for all aspects of the team -- Players, coaches, personnel, all of it -- to allow the emotion of the season to come down," Patricia said, via USA Today's Lionswire. "And for everybody to just have that opportunity to clear your head and then go back through and analyze everything from that standpoint to see what is best for the team moving forward, in all aspects. It's not just coaching. It's support staff, it's players, it's scheduling, it's everything. So, we'll definitely evaluate everybody."
Cooter was originally hired by the Lions in 2014 when Jim Caldwell was still the coach. At the time, Cooter was hired to serve as the team's quarterbacks coach, but he didn't keep that job long because he was promoted to offensive coordinator in October 2015.
After Caldwell was fired following the 2017 season, Patricia kept Cooter on his staff as offensive coordinator and the one-year trial period basically turned into a disaster. The Lions finished the 2018 season with an offense that ranked 24th overall in the NFL in total yards while also ranking an ugly 25th in points per game (20.3).
The next move for Cooter could be a reunion with Caldwell. The former Lions coach has been interviewing for several jobs around the league and if he gets hired, it wouldn't be a shock to see him hire his former offensive coordinator.
