Jim Caldwell's coaching staff is rounding into form after the hire, Monday, of former University of Miami head coach Al Golden to coach the tight ends.
The Lions did some shuffling of their coaching staff midway through last season when they fired offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi and offensive line coaches Jeremiah Washburn and Terry Heffernan. Then tight ends / assistant head coach Ron Prince took over the offensive line and special teams assistant Devin Fitzsimmons moved over to coach the tight ends for the remainder of the season.
Prince remains the offensive line coach heading into the 2016 season, but the team has moved Fitzsimmons back to his special teams role, which provided the opening for Golden to take over the tight ends.
Golden, 46, was the head coach at Miami from 2011-2015 and at Temple (2006-2010) before that. He amassed a 59-59 record over his 10 years as the head man at both schools.
Before becoming a head coach in the college ranks, Golden was the defensive coordinator at Virginia (2001-05), coached the linebackers at Penn State (2000), the linebackers at Boston College (1997-1999) and was a graduate assistant at Virginia (1994-96).
Golden played tight end at Penn State from 1987-91 and spent one season in the NFL with the Patriots in 1992 before turning his career to coaching.
He'll be very familiar with Lions tight end Eric Ebron, who played collegiately at North Carolina, an ACC foe of Miami's. Ebron had eight catches for 199 yards and a touchdown against Golden and the Hurricanes back in 2013.
