Mike Caldwell came to Middle Tennessee in 1989 from Oak Ridge High School and left as an All-American linebacker in 1992. Caldwell played for coach Boots Donnelly on teams that won three OVC championships while collecting 248 career tackles. As a senior, Caldwell had 76 tackles to lead the team and scored three touchdowns, two on fumbles and one on an interception return. His play that year earned him All-OVC and All-American honors and he started in the Blue-Gray All-Star game.
Caldwell was drafted by the Cleveland Browns in the third round and played 11 seasons in the NFL with six different teams.
Caldwell made an immediate impact for the Cleveland Browns as a rookie. He would finish with 42, 40, and 70 tackles from 1993 to 1995 with 3 interceptions. After one year with the Baltimore Ravens (54 Tackles, 4.5 Sacks, 1 INT) he signed with the Arizona Cardinals in 1997 and had 29 tackles with 2 Sacks and 1 INT. From 1998 to 2001 he played with the Philadelphia Eagles registering 221 tackles with 5 Sacks and 3 INT. In 2002, he signed with the Chicago Bears where he had 61 tackles and 3 Sacks before closing out his career with the Carolina Panthers. Caldwell began his coaching career with the Philadelphia Eagles, working first as a training camp intern (2007) before spending two seasons as a defensive quality control coach (2008-09). He then spent the 2010 season as the Eagles assistant linebackers coach before being elevated to linebackers coach, a position he held for two seasons (2011-12).
Mike Caldwell joined the Super Bowl LV Champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers after spending the previous four seasons working as the assistant head coach/inside linebackers coach with the New York Jets undercurrent Buccaneers Defensive Coordinator Todd Bowles, then the Jets head coach. In Caldwell’s first season with the Jets, his unit was part of a defense that set a franchise record with just 83.4 rushing yards allowed per game.
Under Caldwell’s guidance, Jets linebackers excelled, posting some of the best statistical seasons of their careers. Before his time with the Jets, Caldwell spent two seasons coaching linebackers for the Arizona Cardinals (2013-14). The Cardinals 2013 unit led the NFL in run defense (84.4 yards allowed per game) while posting the sixth-best overall defense.
Mike and his wife, Sue, have three children – two daughters, Sydnei and Saniah and a son, Simeon. His daughter Sydnei is a basketball player at Arizona State University.