Caldwell was a great coach for Stafford individually, but a quick apples for apples comparison shows up huge differences in what Stafford had around him in the Caldwell years versus what Goff has now.
To start, Joe Lombardi is one of the worst OCs in NFL history, and while Jim Bob Cooter was clearly better than Lombardi, I think we can all agree that he doesn’t come close to Ben Johnson.
Then there’s the players:
Stafford always had a good 1-2 at WR, but never had a TE like LaPorta, got one good year out of Bush and then basically nothing at RB, and the O-line was never close to the current O-line. Worse scheme + worse players = worse results.
I don’t really know what you expected Stafford to speak up about? It’s literally the GM and HC’s jobs to figure out how to get the best out of the talent that is on the roster, they both get paid millions for that, so why should it fall on the QB to be their line manager alongside all the other stuff a QB takes on for the team? Would a diva Matthew Stafford have really helped things?
“Hey Martin / Bob and Jim, you both suck at your jobs. Draft better players and hire better coaches.”
“Oh wow, thanks Matthew. We never thought of that.”
Huh?
We don’t know what Stafford spoke up about. One thing you can say of him is that he was always dignified and respectful in the public domain, but behind the scenes he might well have been pushing for change or evolution.
Look at Aaron Rodgers. A genuine elite QB, but he moaned and whined and got his way, and the Packers won precisely nothing in all those years that Rodgers was influencing personnel and scheme decisions.
Caldwell was too stubborn, chose mediocre staff and was too loyal to them, and was too conservative. Quinn was a mediocre talent evaluator, Mayhew the same. None of that is Stafford’s fault, nor was it his responsibility to change it. That’s on ownership and the self scouting process.
