Jim Caldwell is one of the most respected NFL coaches of the last 25 years. Caldwell once served as Peyton Manning‘s quarterbacks coach for several seasons before taking over as his head coach with the Indianapolis Colts. Caldwell later also served as the head coach of the Detroit Lions. Overall, he was an NFL head coach for seven seasons.
This weekend, Caldwell was in Blacksburg to speak to the 2026 Virginia Tech Hokies as a guest of head coach James Franklin.
In addition to his time as an NFL head coach, Caldwell was also the first black head coach in ACC history with Wake Forest back in 1993. He’d serve in that role for eight seasons before permanently moving to the NFL in 2001. Caldwell won two Super Bowls as an NFL assistant.
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Back before the 71-year-old jumped into coaching, he played cornerback at Iowa from 1973-76. He went undrafted and immediately jumped into coaching in 1977.
You can see in the above photos that Caldwell had the attention of the entire Virginia Tech team. A man with close to 50 years of coaching experience in both college and the NFL has plenty to offer.
