Mike Caldwell

http://www.azcardinals.com/team/coaches/mike-caldwell/499e76e2-b7f3-4ee4-a8e4-9719e4c5ce99

Biography

Mike Caldwell enters his second season as linebackers coach, his second stint in Arizona after playing the same position with the Cardinals in 1997. He joined the Cardinals as an assistant on 2/5/13 after a five-year coaching tenure with the Philadelphia Eagles (2008-12).

With the Cardinals in 2013, Caldwell oversaw an inside linebacker group that featured standout seasons from Karlos Dansby and Daryl Washington. A second-team All-Pro selection, Dansby established career highs in tackles (135), INTs (4) and passes defensed (21) while also notching 6.5 sacks. He became just the fourth player with at least six sacks, four INTs and two INT-return TDs in a season since sacks became an official statistic in 1982. Washington finished second on the team with 81 tackles while also adding three sacks, 10 tackles for loss, two INTs and a fumble recovery.

Arizona’s defense finished as the NFL’s sixth-ranked overall unit and featured the league’s top-ranked run defense (84.4 yards per game) after allowing the fewest rushing yards in team history for a 16-game season (1,351). The Cardinals also had 47 sacks, the third-highest total in franchise history, and had 30 takeaways, including 20 interceptions which tied for the fifth-best total in the NFL.

After serving as a training camp coaching intern with the Eagles in 2007, Caldwell began his coaching career as a defensive quality control coach with Philadelphia in 2008. He was promoted to assistant linebackers coach in 2010 and elevated to linebackers coach in 2011. During his first season overseeing the linebackers, Caldwell helped develop several young players into key roles, including Jamar Chaney who intercepted three passes to go along with a team-leading 104 tackles. He also integrated two rookies into the rotation – sixth round pick Brian Rolle, who started 13 games and contributed 63 tackles, one sack and a fumble recovery for a TD, and fourth rounder Casey Matthews. In 2012, Caldwell oversaw standout linebacker DeMeco Ryans, who led the team with 113 tackles and 15 tackles for loss.

A linebacker and special teams standout during his playing days in the league, Caldwell enjoyed an 11-year NFL career with Cleveland (1993-95), Baltimore (1996), Arizona (1997), Philadelphia (1998-2001), Chicago (2002) and Carolina (2003).

He played in 159 career regular season games and posted 14.5 sacks and eight INTs, while also proving to be a top special teams performer. He was voted by his teammates as the Eagles special teams MVP in 1998. During his lone season in Arizona in 1997, Caldwell appeared in all 16 games and totaled 33 tackles, two sacks, an INT, a forced fumble and nine special teams tackles.

Born in Oak Ridge TN, Caldwell played collegiately at Middle Tennessee State before being selected in the third round (83rd overall) by the Browns in the 1993 NFL Draft. He earned his degree from Middle Tennessee State in Business Administration. Caldwell and his wife, Sue, have two daughters, Sydnei and Saniah, and a son, Simeon. His niece, Nikki, is the head women’s basketball coach at LSU.

 

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Kacy Rodgers

Kacy Rodgers enters his fourth season as a member of the Dolphins’ coaching staff, having joined the club after a five-year stint with the Dallas Cowboys (2003-07), the final three of which he tutored that team’s defensive line.
In 2010, Miami finished seventh in rush defense and third in rushing yards per carry at 3.6. Rodgers oversaw a defensive line that featured Randy Starks, who played in his first career Pro Bowl, and also featured career best performances from Kendall Langford, Tony McDaniel and Paul Soliai. The unit will receive a boost from 2010 first-round draft pick Jared Odrick, who returns after being limited to one game last season due to injury.
Rodgers’ first two years with the Cowboys (2003-04) were spent coaching the club’s defensive tackles. Under Rodgers, defensive tackle La’Roi Glover was selected to the Pro Bowl each year from 2003-05. In four of Rodgers’ five seasons with Dallas, the team ranked in the top ten in the NFL in rush defense, including a No. 6 finish in 2007 when they allowed an average of just 94.6 yards rushing per game.
Before entering the NFL ranks, Rodgers was an assistant at the collegiate level, including posts at Tennessee-Martin (1994-97), Louisiana-Monroe (1998), Middle Tennessee State (1999-2001) and Arkansas (2002). He tutored the defensive line at all four stops, while having also been assistant head coach at Tennessee-Martin (1997) and Middle Tennessee (2000-01).
Rodgers was a four-year letterman at the University of Tennessee (1988-91), where he played linebacker and defensive end on teams that won a pair of Southeastern Conference championships (1990, 1991) and appeared in three New Year’s Day bowl games. He earned his degree in political science from the school in 1993. Following his playing career he went to training camp with the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1992 as a college free agent. He also played with the Shreveport Pirates of the Canadian League in 1994. Rodgers is a native of Humboldt, Tennessee where he starred at Humboldt High School. He and his wife, Marcella, have a son, Kacy II, who is a sophomore at the University of Miami.