Thoughts on The End of an Era

[poizond13]

Here are my thoughts on the recent happenings that have occurred with the Colts.

I'm really disappointed about Caldwell being let go. He was a great man and a great football coach. The players believed in him and fought hard for him, even at 0-13. I don't really see the need for the change. I thought continuity was more important than changing things for the sake of changing them. This team has been successful for a very long time, and Caldwell's been a big part of that. I don't think one bad season warrants throwing that all out. That's why I respect organizations like the Steelers. They stick with the people they believe in, regardless of the ups and downs they may go through. They've only had about 3 head coaches in the last thirty years, and look at the success they've had in that time. I was hoping we were going in that same direction, as for the last twelve years we've had continuity throughout the organization. I can't believe our owner wants to throw everything out after ONE bad season, one in which we didn't even have our best player on the field.

Caldwell's approach was one that I loved, but was very unpopular with fans. He never showed any kind of emotion and was averse to making outlandish statements and yelling at players. Fans want a loud guy who yells and gets angry on the sideline. Then again, most fans are idiots who know very little about football. You don't need to show emotion or get angry on the sideline. This is the NFL, not high school ball. Caldwell was a good head coach and a very smart guy. Unfortunately, he'll never get the credit he deserves for two very successful seasons, despite a ton of adversity. Losing Peyton Manning was just too much to overcome.

Another aspect that I'm not too happy about is the way this firing was handled. Caldwell is a class guy who's always done the right thing for the organization. He's always said and done all the right things and handled things with the utmost of class. Yet, he was basically left to hang in the wind for the past two weeks before Irsay made the decision to fire him. Now it will be very difficult for him and his assistants to find other jobs. Why not fire him right away, and save him and his family from having to wonder for two weeks whether he'll have a job? They even brought him in for a meeting with Steve Spagnuolo for the D. Coordinator position, leaving Caldwell to believe he'd be retained. He even called his assistants to inform them they'd be staying. Then Irsay fired him the next day. This makes no sense and was really the wrong way to handle it. Caldwell deserved better. For the past 12 years we've been a steady, solid organization that does things the right away. The last two weeks we've been anything but. It sure seems like there's some chaos going on right now at the Colts complex.

About Ryan Grigson, he seems like a promising young guy and a phenomenal talent evaluator. But I kind of wonder if he's in over his head a little bit. He's never had this kind of responsibility before. He admittedly knows very little about the salary cap, which is a huge part of the job. And in watching him in his two press conferences with the team, he seems a little uneasy and unsure of how to answer certain questions. He came across as a poor public speaker and clearly as someone who will be learning on the job. I'm not sure that was the guy we needed. Bill Polian was, in my opinion, the best football executive of all time. He knew every aspect of what being a general manager took, and he was a salary cap expert. It's going to be years before Grigson can gain that kind of knowledge. It's a big risk to put Grigson in charge of the franchise. I still don't understand why you would get rid of a known commodity in the Polians, in favor of someone who's going to be learning on the job. You see young guys come in all the time in this league. Sometimes it works out, sometimes it's disastrous.

Whatever happens, I'll forever be grateful to the Polians, and Caldwell, for what they did for this franchise and this City. It was the greatest era of football that any team has ever experienced, in my opinion. We won, and we won the right way. The organization was run the right way. Colts football meant something, and anyone should be proud to be a Colts fan in large part because of their contributions. I'll never understand how so many fans can turn their back on people who did so much for this team after one bad season. It just proves my theory, the vast majority of football fans know nothing about the game. If it were up to the fans, every coach in the league would be fired after a single sub par season.

Having said that, I'll always look back at these past 12 years of Colts football as an amazing time. No one can ever take away all the amazing memories, the greatness of which most other fans will never experience. So many great memories come to mind. But my greatest moment as a football fan, and this will never change no matter what happens, is Jospeh Addai marching into the end zone to take the lead in the final minutes of the AFC Championship game against the Patriots in 06. I'll always have that memory engraved in my mind as a special moment, and in many ways it's a sweeter memory than winning the Super Bowl was. No matter how many Super Bowls we win in the future, I don't think anything could ever surpass that moment.

It's still surreal and hard to believe it's over. I didn't think, and still don't think, it should have ended that soon, and on such a bad note. It's a shame to see it end that way. But the reality is, this is a new era. I can only hope it will be anywhere near as good as the previous one was. But as a Colts fan, I trust and still believe in Mr. Irsay to do the right thing for the team, and my love for the horseshoe continues as strong as it ever was. We will see what the next chapter holds.

[VanDokken]

Here are my thoughts on the recent happenings that have occurred with the Colts.

I'm really disappointed about Caldwell being let go. He was a great man and a great football coach.

I am gonna stop you right there...coach wise Caldwell was anything but great. I live in Winston-Salem and any Wake Forest fan has known for years before he went to the NFL that he was not a good coach..

[demolition23]

A good coach and front office would never go 0-13 to start a season with the talent they had available - even after losing Manning. If they'd gone 5-11 and fired people I'd think you had a point, but the people in charge weren't managing for all contingencies and obviously didn't have any plans beyond riding Manning's arms. Not good enough for the money they were earning.

[poizond13]

A good coach and front office would never go 0-13 to start a season with the talent they had available - even after losing Manning. If they'd gone 5-11 and fired people I'd think you had a point, but the people in charge weren't managing for all contingencies and obviously didn't have any plans beyond riding Manning's arms. Not good enough for the money they were earning.

Of course it wasn't good enough. 2-14 is never good enough, especially when you consider we were one of the top spending teams in the league. And Bill Polian himself said, when you go 2-14 in the NFL, you understand that's not good enough and you can't be shocked when you lose your job because of it. I just thought Caldwell, and certainly the Polians, had earned some leeway and collateral with the organization after all they'd accomplished over the last 12 years. I thought they'd earned the right to have at least one season to redeem themselves.

[bigpaparob74]

All kinds of questions/comments about this post...

1. When saying that you were grateful for everything that the Polians/Caldwell had done for "this city." Do you live here in Indy?

2. Gotta agree with VanDokken- he's not a great coach. He's had some success the past 3 years here in Indy, but a retarded monkey could have coached the team with the talent on their roster. Also...look at his stellar record while at Wake Forest (26-63).

3. Obviously, he was handpicked by Tony Dungy to be the next coach. I don't recall him be listed as a hot candidate for any other H.C. positions before being handed the "head coach in waiting" title. This was a case of one brother helping another out. BTW, Dungy was recently quoted as saying that he felt like Caldwell would be back next season and that he would probably draft RGIII over Andrew Luck. Anyone notice a coincidence??

4. The Polians- I agree that Bill had built a great team for over decade, but have mostly missed on their last 5 drafts. Their success has been finding undrafted players because they had assembled a great staff of scouts. Chris Polian on his way up to the GM position had run most of their scouting staff out of town. Bob Kravitz (sports writer for the Indianapolis Star ) wrote a great article about this midway through the season. The actual article isn't available online, but you can still find various media responses to the article via google.

Here is one....
http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/20 ... the-colts/

Many people here in Indy had grown tired of Bill Polian and his abrasive comments towards the media and the fans. He could get away with it while winning games and having strong drafts, but that simply hasn't been the case recently.


5. Calling this era of Colts football the greatest that any team has ever experienced?? I think the Steelers of the 70's, 49ers of the 90's and the Patriots (who owned your Colts for the longest time) of the '00's might disagree with you.

6. Good thing for most of the Colts fans that IU basketball and the Pacers are having a good year. They had one a new bandwagon to jump to as the wheels were falling off the Colts wagon.

[dtmfs]

5. Calling this era of Colts football the greatest that any team has ever experienced?? I think the Steelers of the 70's, 49ers of the 90's and the Patriots (who owned your Colts for the longest time) of the '00's might disagree with you.

Truly one of the dumbest things ever uttered on these boards, then again not very surprising considering the source. it's like saying the atlanta braves run of 14 straight division titles is the greatest era of any team in baseball history.

[bane]

A good coach and front office would never go 0-13 to start a season with the talent they had available - even after losing Manning. If they'd gone 5-11 and fired people I'd think you had a point, but the people in charge weren't managing for all contingencies and obviously didn't have any plans beyond riding Manning's arms. Not good enough for the money they were earning.

Of course it wasn't good enough. 2-14 is never good enough, especially when you consider we were one of the top spending teams in the league. And Bill Polian himself said, when you go 2-14 in the NFL, you understand that's not good enough and you can't be shocked when you lose your job because of it. I just thought Caldwell, and certainly the Polians, had earned some leeway and collateral with the organization after all they'd accomplished over the last 12 years. I thought they'd earned the right to have at least one season to redeem themselves.

I think you have a valid point RE Polian, but I really don't think it applies to Caldwell. The Colts have gone steadily backward under his watch. He inherited a great team. He hasn't done anything to improve or even maintain it . Otherwise, I thought that was a pretty well thought out and well worded post.

[WTF]

5. Calling this era of Colts football the greatest that any team has ever experienced?? I think the Steelers of the 70's, 49ers of the 90's and the Patriots (who owned your Colts for the longest time) of the '00's might disagree with you.

Truly one of the dumbest things ever uttered on these boards, then again not very surprising considering the source. it's like saying the atlanta braves run of 14 straight division titles is the greatest era of any team in baseball history.

I could be wrong, but I think you misread what bigpaparob wrote.

[Facedown]

5. Calling this era of Colts football the greatest that any team has ever experienced?? I think the Steelers of the 70's, 49ers of the 90's and the Patriots (who owned your Colts for the longest time) of the '00's might disagree with you.

Truly one of the dumbest things ever uttered on these boards, then again not very surprising considering the source. it's like saying the atlanta braves run of 14 straight division titles is the greatest era of any team in baseball history.

I could be wrong, but I think you misread what bigpaparob wrote.

I think dtmfs may have been talking about p13.

[WTF]

I believe you are correct. P13 for the win in sensationalism.

[poizond13]

5. Calling this era of Colts football the greatest that any team has ever experienced?? I think the Steelers of the 70's, 49ers of the 90's and the Patriots (who owned your Colts for the longest time) of the '00's might disagree with you.

Truly one of the dumbest things ever uttered on these boards, then again not very surprising considering the source. it's like saying the atlanta braves run of 14 straight division titles is the greatest era of any team in baseball history.

Since it's so dumb, surely you can tell me what team ever won more games in one decade than the Colts from 2000-2010? I'm sure you can find many teams, since my statement was so ridiculous. I'll wait..

[Rainbow Bright]

5. Calling this era of Colts football the greatest that any team has ever experienced?? I think the Steelers of the 70's, 49ers of the 90's and the Patriots (who owned your Colts for the longest time) of the '00's might disagree with you.

Truly one of the dumbest things ever uttered on these boards, then again not very surprising considering the source. it's like saying the atlanta braves run of 14 straight division titles is the greatest era of any team in baseball history.

Since it's so dumb, surely you can tell me what team ever won more games in one decade than the Colts from 2000-2010? I'm sure you can find many teams, since my statement was so ridiculous. I'll wait..

The Utah Jazz and Phoenix Suns for starters. No titles to show for them either.

[Facedown]

I'll take that, from 2001-2010 the Patriots had 121 regular season wins and the Colts had 115.
Throw in the years of 2002-2011 and its Patriots 123, Colts 111.

[poizond13]

I'll take that, from 2001-2010 the Patriots had 121 regular season wins and the Colts had 115.
Throw in the years of 2002-2011 and its Patriots 123, Colts 111.

WRONG.
We had 115 wins from 2000-2009. Patriots had 112. Try again.

[Facedown]

I'll take that, from 2001-2010 the Patriots had 121 regular season wins and the Colts had 115.
Throw in the years of 2002-2011 and its Patriots 123, Colts 111.

WRONG.
We had 115 wins from 2000-2009. Patriots had 112. Try again.

WRONG.
You said "tell me what team ever won more games in one decade than the Colts from 2000-2010?"
2001-2010 fits in there and 121>115.
Idiot.

[Facedown]

And by the way, from 2000-2010
Patriots 126
Colts 125

[Space Bear]

I'll take that, from 2001-2010 the Patriots had 121 regular season wins and the Colts had 115.
Throw in the years of 2002-2011 and its Patriots 123, Colts 111.

WRONG.
We had 115 wins from 2000-2009. Patriots had 112. Try again.

WRONG.
You said "tell me what team ever won more games in one decade than the Colts from 2000-2010?"
2001-2010 fits in there and 121>115.
Idiot.

[poizond13]

WRONG again. The 2000s decade was 2000-2009. The Colts own the record for most wins in a single decade. No one cares how many games the pats won from 2001-2010.

[Space Bear]

I'll take that, from 2001-2010 the Patriots had 121 regular season wins and the Colts had 115.
Throw in the years of 2002-2011 and its Patriots 123, Colts 111.

WRONG.
We had 115 wins from 2000-2009. Patriots had 112. Try again.

WRONG.
You said "tell me what team ever won more games in one decade than the Colts from 2000-2010?"
2001-2010 fits in there and 121>115.
Idiot.

[poizond13]

WRONG again. The 2000s decade was 2000-2009. The Colts own the record for most wins in a single decade. No one cares how many games the pats won from 2001-2010.

[Machado]

WRONG again. The 2000s decade was 2000-2009. The Colts own the record for most wins in a single decade. No one cares how many games the pats won from 2001-2010.

STFU already! This forum is sick and tired of your b.s., lies, half-truths and outright disrespect for the game of football

Go deposit your tears into your favorite Bret Michaels blanket and move
along Jr.!

[Facedown]

WRONG again. The 2000s decade was 2000-2009. The Colts own the record for most wins in a single decade. No one cares how many games the pats won from 2001-2010.

WRONG again.
You didn't say the 2000-2009 decade.
Since you're a moron, I'll guess that you don't know that one of the definitions for the word decade is "any consecutive 10 year period" so the Colts don't own the record for the most wins in a single decade.
No one cares how many games the Colts won from 2000-2009, just about how laughable they were to go 2-14.

[Crazy Levi]

Since it's so dumb, surely you can tell me what team ever won more games in one decade than the Colts from 2000-2010? I'm sure you can find many teams, since my statement was so ridiculous. I'll wait..

You are such a stupid fuck. Nobody cares about this stupid stat you keep throwing out. Here's some Football DYNASTIES that far and away surpass the Colts' meager acheivments from 2000-2010:

Pittsburgh Steelers - 4 Super Bowl wins and plenty of division titles between 1971-1979, not to mention four Super Bowl Appearances and 2 wins over the last 15 years.

The 49ers - four rings between 1981-1990

The Redskins - three rings in four Super Bowls between 1982-1992

Dallas Cowboys - 3 super bowl titles in 4 years in the early 90s

Patriots - a shitload of super bowl wins and division titles in the 2000s.

The Giants - two super bowl wins in 5 years in the late 1980s

I could go on and and but you are way too fucking stupid to comprehend this.

The Colts had a fine run during the Petyon Manning era, nobody would argue otherwise, but the fact of the matter is they only won ONE Super Bowl, and that pales in comparison to the true "greatest eras" of NFL football.

You stupid fucking retard.

[Machado]

Since it's so dumb, surely you can tell me what team ever won more games in one decade than the Colts from 2000-2010? I'm sure you can find many teams, since my statement was so ridiculous. I'll wait..

You are such a stupid fuck. Nobody cares about this stupid stat you keep throwing out. Here's some Football DYNAASTIES that far and away surpass the Colts' meager acheivments from 2000-2010:

Pittsburgh Steelers - 4 Super Bowl wins and plenty of division titles between 1971-1979, not to mention four Super Bowl Appearances and 2 wins over the last 15 years.

The 49ers - four rings between 1981-1990

The Redskins - three rings between 1982-1992

Dallas Cowboys - 3 super bowl titles in 4 years in the early 90s

Patriots - a shitload of super bowl wins and division titles in the 2000s.

I could go on and and but you are way too fucking stupid to comprehend this.

The Colts had a fine run during the Petyon Manning era, nobody would argue otherwise, but the fact of the matter is they only won ONE Super Bowl, and that pales in comparison to the true "greatest eras" of NFL football.

You stupid fucking retard.

[johnk5150]

WRONG again. The 2000s decade was 2000-2009. The Colts own the record for most wins in a single decade. No one cares how many games the pats won from 2001-2010.

No one cares who won the most games in any decade. Regardless of the semantics of what years are involved.

[bigbuttskinner]

WRONG again. The 2000s decade was 2000-2009. The Colts own the record for most wins in a single decade. No one cares how many games the pats won from 2001-2010.

Your stats cover regular season wins, only. Throw in the playoff wins and the Pats won the most games. Whoops, you must have forgotten that. Shoot.

[dtmfs]

I've asked this before, is P13 that fucking dumb or is he just trolling? winning the most regular season games in a decade means jack shit if you don't have the TITLES to go along with it. hence my anology of the Atlanta braves who won an insane amount of division titles but only WS one title, the Yankees from 96' on obviously had the better era with all those rings even if they didn't win 14 straight division titles. I suppose P13 thinks the Mariners team who won the most games in a season is the greatest team in MLB history. And how many people actually think the 72' Dolphins are the best team ever? I'm a dolphins fan and I don't even think that shit.

Look at Brady and Mannings winning %, manning is 141-67 at a % of .678 with one championship.

Brady is 124-35 winning at a .780 clip with 3 titles.

It dosent exactly take Einstein to figure out Brady has had the better run.

[Luminiferous]

I've asked this before, is P13 that fucking dumb or is he just trolling?

Yes.

[Facedown]

I've asked this before, is P13 that fucking dumb or is he just trolling?

Yes.

[poizond13]

Ok, looks like the trolls have had their fun. No surprise there. Now back to the topic at hand, for the few people here who actually want to talk football.

Numerous assistants were officially let go in the wake of Coach Caldwell's firing. Grigson is on a path of destruction throughout the franchise. I don't think anyone he's met with in the organization has kept their job. I really, really hope Clyde Christensen is retained as offensive coordinator. There's nothing wrong with our offense. We've had the same offensive system since 1998. To through that away would be foolish.

Still no clue who Grigson has in mind for head coach. I don't really have any candidates that I would prefer. I am sure he'll do his due diligence and bring in the right person for the job. I also have no clue what our roster willl look like next year, other than it will certainly have Andrew Luck on it. As for Peyton, I can't fathom the possibility of him playing somewhere else. Although I do have to admit, with all that's happened in the past few weeks, that's absolutely a possibility. With Peyton, I think we'll have a good team next year. Without him, we're going to be in a slow rebuilding mode for the next several years.