The Detroit Lions fired Jim Caldwell despite finishing 2017 with a winning record.

Since 1978, 16 teams with a winning record fired their head coach. In 94 percent of the cases, the team brought back its head coach. Four of the coaches that were fired (Art Shell, Tony Dungy, Lovie Smith and Caldwell) were black. There have only been 17 black head coaches who have coached at least one entire season but 23.5 percent of them were fired from winning teams.

Since 1978, there have been 174 white head coaches and only 12 (6.9 percent) were fired from a winning team.