Colts Head Coach Jim Caldwell almost lasted with that title after a 2 and 14 season, and just one year after the Indianapolis Colts lost to the New Orleans Saints in Super Bowl XLIV in Miami. But after Colts Owner Jim Irsay fired General Manager Bill Polian and his son Chris Polian, who was the team’s president, then hired Ryan Grigson as the new GM, the handwriting was on the wall. Or so it seemed.
Earlier today, Twitter tweets reported that Coach Caldwell was going to remain with the organization in the role of head person. But after Colts fans took to Twitter to express their displeasure, it seemed that Irsay reversed his course and fired Jim. A wild turn of events, but it leaves Caldwell without a job for now.
What happened?
Unfortunately for Caldwell, Peyton Manning happened, or more to the point, the absence of Manning, sidelined with a career-threatening neck injury that leaves his status as returning passer still up in the air as of this writing. Between the lack of a real, transferable offensive system, and a defense that wasn’t created with the idea of shutting down opponents but sacking their quarterbacks, the Colts lost game after game in 2011, some, like the 60-point disaster against the New Orleans Saints in dramatic fashion. Caldwell looked helpless to do anything, changed defensive coordinators too late, and eventually posted a season performance that had all except Irsay seeing red.
But what saved Caldwell, at first, was Polian, who was for all of his current bad habits, smart enough to see through to the problem of Manning and the Lockout-shortened 2011 NFL Season. Not that Caldwell was, say Tony Dungy, but those other elements were big factors in Caldwell’s eventually release. All that said, I’m not a big fan of the new man as GM, Ryan Grigson.
It’s not that he replaces Polian, but that when I look at him I don’t see the word “system;” I see the word ‘eye-baller.’ Ryan’s the type of person who seems as if he’s not going to form a real plan of action that is based on an analytical approach, complete with a way of getting to that one number that says this is the player we need, and for these reasons.
He’s not that guy.