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.
The Colts are this bad without Peyton Manning. They were never more than a .500 team without him even in their prime. He got more out of a couple of studs and a boatload of marginal talent. And Polian has let them down over the last 3-4 years. Really lost his drafting fastball, let some decent/marginal players walk over $$ while signing a handful of studs (and even a few marginal or aging personal favorites) to silly deals that forced him to part with them them when their performance waned. He didn't want to have to re-sign Addai, or draft another LT, but his high draft busts dictated he had to. Total aversion to outside FA except for kickers. Everyone else has to learn to do it his way, doesn't have a coaching staff that can teach an old dog new tricks or coach situations. Alienated his core coaching braintrust (Moore and Mudd) and watched Dungy head for the hills after two more one and done seasons when he saw the writing on the wall. Had no plan to replace them beyond next man up... And none of the understudies has any cache or apparently coaching competence...
The personnel stuff is all on Polian (players and staff). He's the President and CEO and wielded so much influence within the league and within the Irsay empire he even got to gift his worn out GM hat to his son...
Caldwell is just a fallguy for a franchise that hitched it's wagon to a #1 draft pick back in '98 and intended to ride it into the sunset. Only an eclipse (maybe even nuclear winter) occurred during the lockout and the wagon is broken...possibly beyond repair. I think there was alway a broad plan B for when Manning finally retired, and it involved Polian retiring as well and potentially a whole new staff and system and scheme in Indy for whichever sucker landed the distinction of following and coaching a GOAT. Plan just wasn't ready to be implemented until 2015-16... Now it either has to be implemented incrementally starting in 2012 (if Manning can return for a couple of more seasons) or on the fly.
The plan B here has always been different. It was to build something that endured rather than something fleeting to be remembered fondly. The plan here (adapted once Brady surfaced) was to build a good team around a great QB so at best you could consistently compete for championships in the here and now and still remain competive with just a good (preferably developmental) QB for the forseeable future. That's the long term value model vs. the limited window model.
Forgive the baseball analogy, but BB would rather know he can single and double you to death indefinitely than swing for the fences every at bat. Because he knows all to well every swing doesn't knock one out of the park and the cap limits the number of HR sluggers you can field while still fielding a team that can absent them drive in enough runs and make just enough plays on defense to still be competitive.
The 2011 Colts are essentially a one man offense and a one or two man defense. Lose either of Mathis (used to be Harrison) or Freeney and they can't compete at the next level. If the loss is Manning they can't compete period. Part of that is lack of talent on the roster and part of that is lack of talent development behind him (and them on defense) due to inferior coaching. It's standard operating procedure for teams to invoke the next man up mantra, but the words ring hollow when that guy's a draft bust or cap driven jag and your staff lacks the capacity to coach less talented players or underperformers up... Dungy wasn't a great HC, but he, Moore and Mudd were great teachers of their particular schemes. Their replacements (except for Manning who essentially took over as OC) aren't.
