Is Jim Caldwell the worst coach in the league?

[PatsFanSince74]

Yeah, probably. He should be fired today after last nights beat down. But who knows, maybe the Colts are throwing in the towel to get Luck so Caldwell is getting a free pass this season.

I don't care what anyone says, the Colts aren't THIS bad without Peyton Manning...something has to be up.

Whichever two teams get the worst records in the league should do a reverse playoff game to see who gets the #1 pick.

No, they are this bad and Mo did a better job than I can of detailing why. I think they'd be struggling to be 8--8 even with Peyton. And there's no way that Caldwell gets a free pass after last night.

I'll just add that Andrew Luck strikes me as a very smart young man. Smart enough to decide at some point that he doesn't want to play for a toxic ownership/management and let it be known that he doesn't want to go to Indy. I know that Peyton has already been talking to him, but Manning will be gone, as Dungy suggested, if Luck is drafted by Polian.

If Miami fires Sparano before the season is out and brings in a Cowher or Dungy either mid-season or before the Draft, I could see Luck making it clear that that is where he wants to be. He's played all his football in Texas and California; Florida is probably to his liking.

And before we dismiss that a talent like Luck could dictate where he goes, remember that it worked for Eli who wasn't put in the same category at the time.

 

[skspikex2]

With the bye week for patriots, I get to see some head scratching games. 2 mins offense chargers is a joke. Tebow suck for 96% of the game, but came out with the win over a dysfunction dolphins. 2 or so mins left in the game and you punt, to a qb (rodgers)that you can't stop the entire game. And then the if we have manning, it be a good game.....

Make me appreciate bellichick even more.

 

[mgcolby]

I have never seen him actually talk on his headset, I have never seen him talk to a player on the sideline. Hell most of the time when the camera is on him he looks like he doesn't know where he is.

 

[LiveShot]

He's almost at the bottom of the cesspool but Sporano is at the bottom in the mud.

 

[chris_in_sunnyvale]

Spagnulo's Rams haven't lead in a game since week 2 and their total game time...all season, mind you...with a lead is 6:28.

Their points through 6 games is the lowest since the Akili Smith Bengals in 2000. Spagnulo and Josh McDaniels are tearing it up in St. Louis, I tell ya.

I think Spagnulo and Caldwell are battling it out for league's worst coach.

Sparano is bad, but to be called the worst he'd have to really screw it up even more in my book. He'll always get credit from me for unleashing the wildcat on the unsuspecting Pats in 2008, playing a large role in their missing the playoffs by one game. That was an example of excellent coaching so we know he has it in him.

Regards,
Chris

 

[PATRIOTSFANINPA]

Spagnulo's Rams haven't lead in a game since week 2 and their total game time...all season, mind you...with a lead is 6:28.

Their points through 6 games is the lowest since the Akili Smith Bengals in 2000. Spagnulo and Josh McDaniels are tearing it up in St. Louis, I tell ya.

I think Spagnulo and Caldwell are battling it out for league's worst coach.

Sparano is bad, but to be called the worst he'd have to really screw it up even more in my book. He'll always get credit from me for unleashing the wildcat on the unsuspecting Pats in 2008, playing a large role in their missing the playoffs by one game. That was an example of excellent coaching so we know he has it in him.

Regards,
Chris

Missing the playoffs by one game was because of No Brady more than that Wildcat game....it would have been irrelevant had Brady played all season.

 

[lurker1965]

I'm 90% sure (based on nothing) that Polian told him his job is secure if he goes 0-16 and they draft Luck.

I'm sure Sparano heard the same, but he does not trust the team owner to not go after Cowher or somebody.

 

[SteveBsFan]

I have a feeling this Colts season is just going to add more fuel to the fire of people saying Manning is the MVP of the league because this clearly shows how bad the Colts are without him.

This is definitely a hard argument to disprove, that's for sure. The guy has basically been running the offense for years, and it's painfully obvious now.

On the flip side, he's also always wanted to be the highest paid QB in the league, at the expense of his team, and we also don't know how much he bothered to mentor guys like Painter. To counter that, we also don't know how much Brady actually mentored Cassel either.. but we do know he's been about the team much more than Manning in his career and has left money on the table so his team improves.

Without Brady, the Patriots went 11-5 and should have made the playoffs (11 wins in the NFL is a playoff spot in every year but 2008 I guess). However, they were also coming off a 16-0 season. Right now, the Colts could win out and still only have declined by 1 game from last year's 10 win team. The Patriots dropped off by 5 games without Brady.

Of course we all know the Colts won't win out, and will probably finish with 10+ losses, and that is because while Manning is certainly the most valuable player on his team and possibly the league, Caldwell and the FO is definitely at the bottom of the barrel. It's very clear not only did Manning make Dungy look good, but Polian as well.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

Spagnulo's Rams haven't lead in a game since week 2 and their total game time...all season, mind you...with a lead is 6:28. Their points through 6 games is the lowest since the Akili Smith Bengals in 2000. Spagnulo and Josh McDaniels are tearing it up in St. Louis, I tell ya. I think Spagnulo and Caldwell are battling it out for league's worst coach. Sparano is bad, but to be called the worst he'd have to really screw it up even more in my book. He'll always get credit from me for unleashing the wildcat on the unsuspecting Pats in 2008, playing a large role in their missing the playoffs by one game. That was an example of excellent coaching so we know he has it in him. Regards, Chris

Sparano's made a HC career out of getting credit for things he had little to nothing to do with... His coaching resume is pretty sparse and he didn't even meet Parcell's until he was on his personal back nine in Dallas. Parcell's made his mark by attracting the best and the brightest in his heyday. They generally left him of their own volition. Sporano initially got left behind... He was a Div II college coach who lost three NFL position jobs in his first four years in the league before landing in Dallas just as Parcell's swooped in for what should have been his ill advised swan song...if not for his immense ego and greed... The crew he groomed there (with the exception of Sean Payton who had already spent some quality time in the league with Gruden and Callahan at the Eagles and then Coughlin at the Giants) largely turned out to be like the weak branches sprouted off a dying tree... Sporano doesn't have any convictions to have the courage of and Ireland is indecisive and couldn't make a decision with any conviction. Drove Parcell's nuts. He left because of them as much as Ross. Ross is such a dolt he was just a more convenient excuse for taking the money and running one last time...than backstabbing incompetent protogees you handpicked....

Of course Caldwell's resume is even thinner. Several seasons as HC at Wake Forrest with a .750 LOSING PCT. nabbed him the QB's coach slot on Dungy's offenseless Bucs and then the same gig plus asst. HC on Tony's next team that didn't need either...

 

[Betterthanmost]

Jim Caldwell is really good, look what he was able to do with Manning in the team. It is sad that Manning took his playbook with him to Europe and left it there. BB would be wise to hire Caldwell when the Colts kneejerk and fire him.

 

[Wolfpack]

Yes he is the worst in the league. Peyton Manning has singlehandedly kept Caldwell off the unemployment line for 2 years.

I'm not going to argue the whole undefeated season thing because no one really knows who was behind that. But we do know Caldwell was like a deer in headlights on the sidelines of Super Bowl 44 as he got outcoached left and right.

Also, he called the single most moronic timeout in history when the Jets were driving against the Colts in the playoffs last year, which helped the Jets get an extra play to set up the winning FG.

I have no doubt whatsoever that Peyton will be plenty happy with Caldwell gone - and who can blame him?

 

[BradyFTW!]

Frazier's worse, IMO, because his team actually has some talent and he still finds ways to mess everything up. Probably Sparano too.

 

[NinjaZX6R]

Yes. And they signed his replacement at the start of the season.


Jim had a mediocre (below 500) record as a HC of Wake Forest.

 

[Mainefan]

I don't know if any coach can top Tony Sparano's decision to go for two points after a touchdown in the Denver game. This piece of stupidity made it look like Tim Tebow won the game, when he only lucked into a victory. I can't imagine BB doing this any more than I can imagine him juggling oranges during a game.

 

[Commander Shears]

Yes. And they signed his replacement at the start of the season.


Jim had a mediocre (below 500) record as a HC of Wake Forest.

It wasn't mediocre. It was 26-63. Jim Caldwell has no business being in the NFL in any capacity.

 

[TruthSeeker]

I have a feeling this Colts season is just going to add more fuel to the fire of people saying Manning is the MVP of the league because this clearly shows how bad the Colts are without him.

This is definitely a hard argument to disprove, that's for sure. The guy has basically been running the offense for years, and it's painfully obvious now.

On the flip side, he's also always wanted to be the highest paid QB in the league, at the expense of his team, and we also don't know how much he bothered to mentor guys like Painter. To counter that, we also don't know how much Brady actually mentored Cassel either.. but we do know he's been about the team much more than Manning in his career and has left money on the table so his team improves.

Without Brady, the Patriots went 11-5 and should have made the playoffs (11 wins in the NFL is a playoff spot in every year but 2008 I guess). However, they were also coming off a 16-0 season. Right now, the Colts could win out and still only have declined by 1 game from last year's 10 win team. The Patriots dropped off by 5 games without Brady.

Of course we all know the Colts won't win out, and will probably finish with 10+ losses, and that is because while Manning is certainly the most valuable player on his team and possibly the league, Caldwell and the FO is definitely at the bottom of the barrel. It's very clear not only did Manning make Dungy look good, but Polian as well.

I agree that this Colts performance this year says a lot about the value of Peyton Manning to the team. However, it also says a lot about the GM and coach of the Colts who, for years, shaped the team so that Peyton was a SPOF (single point of failure). The backup QBs were (are) laughable and even the defense was designed based on a highly efficient offense that scored early and often (as can be seen by their quick but light weight defensive ends).

The saying goes that the second most important player on a team is the backup QB. Clearly, the Colts put no weight in this principle and they are paying the piper. The Patriots had a very different philosophy - draft QBs (using multiple 3rd draft picks over the past few years) and put forth a lot of effort to train them up. Then when the starter is out, the backup can come in and at least manage the offense.

It's hard to say where Peyton's brilliance ends and the coach/GM irresponsibility begins, but I think that if Peyton played for the Patriots, the transition to the backup QB would be similar to what we saw in 2008.

 

[TruthSeeker]

I don't know if any coach can top Tony Sparano's decision to go for two points after a touchdown in the Denver game. This piece of stupidity made it look like Tim Tebow won the game, when he only lucked into a victory. I can't imagine BB doing this any more than I can imagine him juggling oranges during a game.

People seem to be crazy about this but it's just not that bad a decision. If it had succeeded, then the Dolphins would have been up 3 scores and won the game. Since it didn't succeed, then the Broncos only had to get 1 2-point conversion instead of 2 2-point conversions. In fact, percentage-wise, I bet that it increased Miami's chance of winning the game (noting that 2 point conversions are successful over 40% of the time).

People criticize anything other than standard decisions when they fail because they are not standard. The actual percentages of the situation are often ignored - just as in BBs decision to go for it on 4th down deep in the Patriots territory which has been statistically shown to have significantly increased the Patriots chance of winning but is still roundly criticized solely because it's not the standard decision. And people who believe that it was wrong refuse to understand or accept the statistics - but that's the way people are.

 

[Dessalines]

I voted NO, because I think he's tied for that honor with Tony Sparano.