Jim Caldwell enters his third season with the Carolina Panthers and his first as a Senior Coaching Advisor, after spending the previous two seasons as a senior assistant. Reporting directly to Head Coach Dave Canales, Caldwell assists the team on offense, defense and special teams.
With 44 years of coaching experience on his resume, including 21 years in the NFL, Caldwell has served as a head coach for 15 seasons. In seven seasons leading the Indianapolis Colts (2009-11) and Detroit Lions (2014-17), Caldwell compiled a 62-50 (.554) regular-season record, with four playoff berths, two 11-win seasons and one conference championship victory. He also won Super Bowls as an assistant coach with Indianapolis (Super Bowl XLI) and Baltimore (Super Bowl XLVII). Overall, teams on which he has held a coaching position have qualified for the playoffs 13 times in 21 seasons.
Prior to joining the Panthers in 2023, Caldwell served as the assistant head coach and quarterbacks coach for the Miami Dolphins (2019).
In four seasons (2014-17) as Detroit's head coach, Caldwell went 36-28 (.563), appearing in two playoff games after the team had only made the postseason once in the previous 14 seasons and becoming the first Lions head coach to have a winning record since 1972. During his tenure with the team, the Lions accumulated their best four-year divisional winning percentage since divisional play began in 1967 (.667).
Before taking the helm in Detroit, Caldwell spent two seasons with the Ravens (2012-13), serving as the quarterbacks coach in 2012 before being promoted to offensive coordinator with three games left in the season. In his second season, the Ravens went on to win Super Bowl XLVII. In the team's final seven games, including four in the postseason, the Ravens averaged 400.6 yards per game and 27.3 points per game, including 410.3 yards per game and 31.0 points per game in the playoffs. The Ravens' 31.0 points per game in the postseason was the highest playoff scoring average in NFL history by a Super Bowl team that advanced from the Wild Card round and played four playoff games.
Caldwell spent 10 seasons (2002-11) with Indianapolis, ultimately serving as head coach for the final three (2009-11). During that time, the Colts tied an NFL record with nine consecutive playoff appearances (2002-10), captured six AFC South titles, two AFC championships and won Super Bowl XLI. As the team's head coach, he compiled a 26-22 record (.542), winning the AFC South twice and earning an appearance in Super Bowl XLIV. He became just the fourth coach in NFL history to win 24+ games and earn a berth in the Super Bowl in their first two seasons as a head coach and the second rookie head coach in NFL history to win 14 games, as Indianapolis went 14-2 in 2009.
At the start of his tenure with the Colts, Caldwell worked primarily with the quarterbacks (2002-05) and was promoted to assistant head coach/quarterbacks coach (2006-07), before being named associate head coach (2008) and then head coach (2009). In his decade with the team, Caldwell assisted quarterback Peyton Manning and the team in totaling eight top-10 finishes in total offense and six top-five finishes.
Caldwell's NFL coaching roots date back to 2001 when he worked as the quarterbacks coach for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Caldwell helped quarterback Brad Johnson break then-team records in passing yards (3,046), completions (340) and attempts (540) as the team finished 9-7 and earned an NFC Wild Card berth.
Prior to his tenure in Tampa, Caldwell spent eight seasons (1993-2000) as the head coach at Wake Forest. Caldwell has extensive coaching experience among the collegiate ranks, with stints at Penn State (1986-92), Louisville (1985), Colorado (1982-84), Northwestern (1981) and Southern Illinois (1978-80). He began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at his alma mater, Iowa, in 1977.
A four-year starter as a defensive back for Iowa (1973-76), Caldwell holds a bachelor's degree in liberal arts from the school.
Along with his wife, Cheryl, the couple launched the Jim and Cheryl Caldwell Foundation in 2009. The foundation is committed to the educational empowerment of children through digital technology and "preparing young minds for advancement to the 21st Century." The Caldwells also support several other charities throughout the country.
In 2016, Caldwell's hometown of Beloit, Wisconsin, dedicated the Jim Caldwell Gymnasium at the newly opened Fran Fruzen Intermediate School in his honor. He was inducted into Beloit High School's Hall of Fame in 2011 and the Wisconsin Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2013.
The couple has four adult children – Jimmy, Jermaine, Jared, and Natalie – and four grandsons – James III, Joshua, Larry III and Landon.
- 1977 | Iowa - Graduate Assistant
- 1978-79 | Southern Illinois - Defensive Backs
- 1980 | Southern Illinois - Defensive Coordinator
- 1981 | Northwestern - Defensive Backs
- 1982 | Colorado - Outside Linebackers
- 1983-84 | Colorado - Quarterbacks and Wide Receivers
- 1985 | Louisville - Defensive Backs
- 1986 | Penn State - Wide Receivers
- 1987 | Penn State - Quarterbacks
- 1988-92 | Penn State - Quarterbacks/Passing Game Coordinator
- 1993-2000 | Wake Forest - Head Coach
- 2001 | Tampa Bay Buccaneers - Quarterbacks
- 2002-08 | Indianapolis Colts - Assistant Head Coach/Quarterbacks
- 2009-11 | Indianapolis Colts - Head Coach
- 2012 | Baltimore Ravens - Quarterbacks/Interim Offensive Coordinator
- 2013 | Baltimore Ravens - Offensive Coordinator
- 2014-17 | Detroit Lions - Head Coach
- 2019 | Miami Dolphins - Assistant Head Coach/Quarterbacks
- 2023-24 | Carolina Panthers - Senior Assistant
- 2025- | Carolina Panthers - Senior Coaching Advisor
