Report: Caldwell will be fired if Colts go winless

AP

Two years after being within two games of an undefeated regular season, the Colts are within three games of a winless season.  And if the Colts complete the feat, coach Jim Caldwell reportedly will be fired.

Per Jason La Canfora of NFL Network, sources close to the situation have said that “unequivocally” an 0-16 finish will cost Caldwell his job.

It’s no surprise.  No coach should be able to survive an 0-16 season, regardless of any excuses that could be identified for the outcome — and regardless of whether it can be characterized as an aberration.

The only remaining questions at this point are:  (1) whether Caldwell’s goose already is cooked, regardless of the final three games; (2) whether Caldwell would be fired before the end of the season in order to give a current member of the staff a test drive; and (3) whether the Polians will be fired, too.

113 responses to “Report: Caldwell will be fired if Colts go winless

  1. Worst coach ever. He tanks a chance for a perfect season and is now exposed for the loser he is. Should have been fired months ago.

  2. So one win and he’s much better than if he went winless? Whoever is making decisions in Indy needs to be fired if this is the logic.

  3. He is a terrible coach…should have never got the job in the first place…but i think we all know why he did…just sayin…

  4. I say fire him. I think being without Manning an entire season is enough of an excuse to have a bad year and win only 6 or 7 games, but 16? No team should take that big of a drop-off no matter which star they lose. The rest of the team should be able put together a few wins at least. That’s were a good coach can prove himself. By picking up the pieces and winning some games.

    Actually I think he could have been fired for calling a time-out that helped the Jets win a playoff game!

  5. It is my sincere hope that they fire the Polians…

    As Albert Einstein eloquently put it

    “You cannot solve problems with the same level of consciousness that created them.”

    We appreciate the Polians for what they did in building this franchise, but these men are the root of this 0-16 (Yes Colts will go winless) dumpster fire.

    Time for a new hand to work the till…

  6. Why do things have to get so blatently obvious for the Colts to make a move??

    Everyone said they Colts were a BAD team without Manning, but Polian would dismiss them as “noise” and those people don’t know what they are talking about… Now that they are without Manning and that theory has been proven true, only now has Polian admitted they have a lot of work to do to fix the problems.

    Why wait until it’s painfully obvious that your team is so badly broken and badly coached that you need to make a change??

    Good CFO’s make financial adjustment BEFORE their company goes into bankruptcy… bad ones wait until they hit bankruptcy to implement changes… sorry, but by then it’s too late.

    Bill Polian is so stubborn that he won’t admit he messed up until it’s 100% obvious to even casual NFL fans. The guy is so infatuated with himself and his ego… When Caldwell goes after the season, hopefully Polian goes with them… and it shouldn’t take an 0-16 season to see that…

  7. Everyone in management at that organization needs to go, starting with the Polians. What they’ve done with that franchise is borderline criminal. Losing one player–not even Peyton Manning–can’t account for this total meltdown.

    If they choose to come out, Andrew Luck, RGIII, and Matt Barkley need to play the Eli card and demand to go anywhere else unless Irsay has the good sense to clean house.

  8. Not that Caldwell should stay, but the Polians should be first to go. That team is a testament to terrible personnel decisions.

  9. He needs to go! I know Peyton is great but man he didn’t play defense too! What the hell Indy?

  10. So what you’re saying he’s fired? Why not fire the gm too? It’s not like he loaded the team with talent. Pats went 11 – 5 went Brady blew his knee out.

  11. If I’m the Jaguars and the Colts come into week 17 at 0-15, I’m doing everything I can to lose that game if it helps secure another year of the Caldwell regime.

  12. Either Caldwell or the Polians got to go. Personally, I’d prefer both.

    Do not be surprised to see Bill Polian scapegoat himself at the end of the season and step down, leaving his little boy as the head honcho GM and a franchise QB waiting in the wings in Andrew Luck.

    There is a reason why Polian made stupid cuts during the preseason and regular season (some of which were signed and instantly started for other teams). There are reasons why the Colts cut their second best CB without letting him play much. There are reasons why they waited until the last week of pre-season to sign Kerry Collins out of retirement when they knew Peyton would be out for a while. Want to know the reasons?

    Polian knew the season was through when Peyton was injured. Suck for Luck started during the pre-season. Polian did just enough to keep the team from winning. Keeping Caldwell around all season was another part of the ploy, because Caldwell will not win you ANY games.

  13. There’s apparently two players on the Colts who were also on the winless Detroit Lions team!

    Those guys deserve a metal for bravery in the face of haplessness.

  14. A good take on this story late this afternoon on Sirius…might’ve been Ross Tucker. His take: so 1 win makes the difference? You potentially keep the guy because he managed to motivate the team to 1 win?

    No coach should be surviving a 1 win season either.

  15. He should be fired regardless if they go 0-16 or 1-15. Nobody should be that bad that they can’t even win a game. I guess the “Suck for Luck” campaign has backfired on Caldwell though

  16. Are those the only remaining questions about the Colts? I think I can come up with a few more….

  17. Fire them all!!! Hire Fisher and let him pick his front office. Although, I have a feeling that Bill will act as the fall guy and take the blame so that Chris Polian can keep his job.

  18. I would hope the Polians would be fired also, they did nothing to get Caldwell a QB before the season or during when they had plenty of opportunities to do so. I think the league should be investigating the lack of action by the Colts to do everything in their power to win. It was obvious from the on-set that the Colts wanted to use the P. Manning injury to secure the draft rights to A. Luck.

  19. If that’s what it takes, I hope they go 0-16. I’m sure he’s a nice guy but:

    1. He always has that deer in the headlights look that doesn’t instill confidence.
    2. He’s terrible at clock management.
    3. Without Peyton, we’ve seen the results.
    4. He’s not really the coach – Polian calls the shots – like resting players 2 short years ago when they could have gone 16-0.

    May as well get rid of the Polians too and give the next coach GM responsibilities.

  20. I’m sure my Bears already have a position in mind for Caldwell, given their inexplicable affinity for hiring people with a history of incompetence and mediocrity (see: Rod Marinelli, Mike Tice, Mike Martz, Jerry Angelo, et al.).

  21. He (Caldwell) should never of had this job to begin with after Dungy left. Gruden, Saban, Cowher,hell Harbaugh doesn’t lose that last Superbowl, they were our coached and worse, PEYTON deserves better…….HELL Rob Ryan wins with that team and would win with this team.

    Calwell….off with his head!

    Andre Xcellence

    HYISI Network!

    @hellyeahisaidit

  22. The Colts were a joke of a franchise before Manning and now they’re back to being a joke of a franchise without Manning. Enjoy Andrew Luck Colts fans. Peyton Manning only comes around once in a lifetime

  23. It seems that during NFL games most head coaches are useless. The offensive coordinator calls the plays, the defensive coordinator calls the defense. The head coach might as well stay up in the booth and just call down when he wants a timeout.

  24. “Caldwell will be fired if Colts go winless”

    Your kidding, I thought it would be inevitable he would be back if he only won 1 game. Especially since non rebuilding teams with 1 win bring back their coaches.

  25. I’d be willing to bet the Colts purposely leaked this out in an attempt to motivate the players, of course assuming they don’t want Caldwell fired. Yeah, 1-15 still sucks but it sure beats the hell out of 0-16!

  26. i’ve never seen an NFL coach with a more confused look on his face, game in, game out. i always thought Lovie Smith looked kinda lost on the sideline, but Caldwell looks like a janitor that wandered on to the field.

  27. This isn’t just his fault. If Peyton Maning is the difference between going 9-7 or 0-16 then this team doesn’t have the talent anyways and that’s not the head coaches fault.

  28. and he stays if he goes 1-15? fire him and put peyton as head coach. he can do better in his sleep. ha. OR win 3 games and let our vikes get andrew luck(then we trade ap for a hershel walker type trade BUT I am dreaming as the vikes are the only dumb asses to do that! thanks mike lynn-idiot)

  29. Dungy made the Bucs a SB team that Gruden inherited. Dungy was a good coach before Peyton. He’ll,even with Peyton he only won 1both SB so its not like Peyton was the catalyst for greatness. Belicheat on the other hand,sucked in Cleveland(but who hasn’t)i before slinking away and lucking into Brady. People tend to forget that.

  30. PM is not a one man team. The problem is that Polian built his team to be too dependent financially and team wise on one player and he lets him dictate a lot of stuff players shouldn’t be allowed to.

    Well coached and properly built franchises can/do win games without even their mainstay/elite QB: Steelers in 10, Pats in 08, and I bet GB could win some as well with Flynn. I bet Payton in NO could get some wins without Brees as well. The job division rival Kubiak alone has done with his third string rookie QB should tell Colts fans it should be over from Polian on down management/coaching wise.

    Plus Polian’s a huge egomaniac so he doesn’t want a real HC who wants to have say over anything important. The last time he had a HC with a backbone (Mora) he fired him after a losing but not winless season because Mora wanted to keep his DC and Polian didn’t. Mora’s former DC is now coordinating a top ranked unit in SF so who was right? Anyone who thinks Caldwell decided to pull those guys in 09 so they wouldn’t go 16-0 is naive. That was Polian all the way. I believe that is why he’s so in Caldwell’s corner even now. He wants a puppet HC.

    If Irsay is a good businessman, he will dump that entire Polian family plus Caldwell after this year.

  31. Oh, I see. Now that he’s done his job and secured first place in the “Suck for Luck” sweepstakes, they’re going to fire him for losing.

  32. This is just Irsay and Polian caving to pressure from Goodell and other owners who want to make people think the Colts didn’t purposefully tank the season once Manning was lost to grab the next Franchise QB in the draft.

    If Luck wasn’t available they’d have a few wins and fewer on purpose fumbles

  33. Time for someone else to breath some life into this roster. Like them or not everybody liked to watch the Colts when Peyton was playing and they were winning.

  34. Look, you cannot put this at Jim Caldwell’s feet.

    Seriously, what would GB’s record be without Aaron Rodgers? I’m not saying they’d be 0-13, but I don’t think 4-9 or 5-8 would be unreasonable.

    The Colts played with fire for a VERY long time. Jim Sorgi is the greatest paid clipboard holder in the history of the NFL. The Colts assumed Peyton would never get hurt, and if he did, it would be maybe a game. I mean, EVERYTHING the Colts are revolved around him.

    And, of course (and rather predictably), when he goes down, they have absolutely no backup plan. They gave him a truckload of money without doing due research into his injury (which now, $28M is pending to bite them seriously in the *** unless they continue to “Suck for Luck” in which case Manning can pack his bags, see you later).

    I don’t think Caldwell is a bad coach. But let’s be honest here: Outside of Reggie Wayne, Dwight Freeney, Robert Mathis and Dallas Clark, how many of those Colt starters are starters for other teams? Their defense has been soft for years, and their entire offense is Peyton.

    In this age of overreaction, I think Caldwell deserves at least 1 more chance. Unless the thought process is “clean house” and bring everyone in, including Luck, at the same time. Which means a possible 1-15/2-14 season next year.

    Hope Colt fans enjoyed all that success: How does it feel to see the evil stepsister (Houston) win your division? LOL

  35. Colts fans are facing the same dilemma that Lions fans faced during the 2008 season.

    On the one hand, people didn’t want the team to go 0-16.

    On the other hand, Lions fans were afraid if Moronelli won a game, the Lions would retain poundtherockhead as head coach.

    There was still some question that he would be retained even with the 0-16 season.

    Fortunately, fan pressure and empty seats forced the Lions front office’s hand and a new head coach was hired.

  36. dansyndersux says:
    Dec 14, 2011 11:13 PM
    As he should. The colts have ignored the backup qb position for a long time and now they are paying dearly.
    _______________________________________________________

    The QB situation is the only thing Caldwell can argue is not entirely his fault. However, not having a QB is not an excuse to go winless. If it was, the Browns would have been winless for the last decade, but they always scrape a few wins together.

  37. Shouldnt have been hired in the first place. How is it a coach can name his successor? I guess the Rooney Rule only works one way. Why weren’t the Colts required to interview candidates before coach dingy just gave him the job?

  38. @jaimelho2

    I agree with you. This team should not be this bad just because they loose Manning. I honestly believe the Colts want to have the worst record to get the first pick and take Luck. They can win a game or two now and still get it. Lets see what they do.

  39. I REALLY wish this sort of thing would have happened when Dungy was in charge. Can you imagine his holier than thou routine had he went 0-16? Make no mistake, he would have done the same thing without Peyton. Just name Peyton the Coach/QB next year and keep him under contract.

  40. brownsfn says:
    Dec 14, 2011 11:13 PM
    He is a terrible coach…should have never got the job in the first place…but i think we all know why he did…just sayin…

    ===================================

    Um…Caldwell had been Indy’s assistant head coach for years and was always presumed to be the guy taking over when Dungy left. With Payton Manning as their QB, I’m sure the Colts could have gotten about any other available coach they wanted to after interviewing Caldwell if they didn’t want him. Obviously, they thought he was the best guy (unless they just thought they could get him for cheaper than some other coaches and that helped their decision), since they had absolutely no obligation to hire him.

    In other words, no, race or the Rooney Rule clearly had nothing to do with him being hired.

  41. If Caldwell goes, this becomes the hottest job out there with Luck ready to start his HOF career. Whether Polian goes or not depends on the coach Irsay has in mind. Any big name candidate won’t want to report to Bill…and certainly not to Chris.

  42. brownsfn says:
    Dec 14, 2011 11:13 PM
    He is a terrible coach…should have never got the job in the first place…but i think we all know why he did…just sayin…

    __
    You sure you have the right screen name…because you sure don’t sound like a “browns” fan to me.

  43. Well, I think Caldwell, and the Polians should go. I mean, seriously, with all that “talent,” they should be able to win ONE game. I mean, all I heard from outlets like ESPN, and NFLN was how “great” the Colts were, and how Peyton was the “face of the NFL.” Well, I don’t think so.

    The pundits said that Brady wasn’t since the NFL didn’t lose viewership or popularity when he went down in 2008. Well, the NFL is just as popular if more so today , and guess who is gone ? Peyton Manning, so that myth was busted.

    I mean, the Polians built a team and a system that only one man, Peyton Manning, can run. Well, when that one man goes down, this is what you get. You can’t put all your eggs in one basket. When you do, like the Colts did for YEARS, this is what you get.

  44. Caldwell is a scapegoat, everyone knew he wasn’t capable of being a head coach, please don’t pretend your surprised. The Polians are the real frauds, they diss their fans and crap on NFL karma every year around week 14.

    Even if your not a Colts fan but rather, an NFL fan, and an NFL sunday ticket holder, and to even think the Polians WOULD EVEN trot this disgraceful team out on the field against anyone every Sunday and display them as an “NFL” quality team, when everyone who’s not a fan sees otherwise…Either the Polians purposely tanked the season…. or…Manning was THE real guy and the Polians were frauds all along. Nevertheless, they should be fired for either and this travesty alone should keep them out of the hall of fame. A total disgrace to the integrity of the game

  45. @Deb

    Everyone in management at that organization needs to go, starting with the Polians. What they’ve done with that franchise is borderline criminal.
    ——————————————–

    So, for the past several years Bill Polian has been credited with building a great, talented, Super Bowl ready franchise… but now the job he’s done is “criminal?” What’s criminal is the coaching job that Caldwell has done. Losing Manning was a huge blow, and the word huge doesn’t begin to cover it. Having said that, does anyone really believe that if Parcells, Cowher, or Fisher were coaching THIS TEAM that their record would be even remotely close to what it is now? Coaching is the magic in this league. Everybody has talented players… everybody. Coaching is the difference maker. Caldwell had his chance and failed. He needs to go, and the fact that it’s even implied that he could survive if the Colts win a game or two the next three weeks is unfathomable to me. Polian will most likely need to go too, because Jeff Fisher, or any proven coach, will want control over the personnel. I agree it’s time for Indy to clean house, but I would say Bill Polian had a nice run. He played a big part in building a team that for years was a major contender.

  46. No question this guy should be fired. There is talent on this team and it’s up to the coach to get it out of them. They lost ONE guy. Granted a very important guy, but it’s the coach’s job to instill the belief in these men that they can overcome it. They all TANKED the season, lost hope and played like sissies. They make the 2008 Lions look like the 85 Bears. Two years removed from the Super Bowl and now this?

  47. darkembryo says:
    Dec 14, 2011 11:38 PM
    Fire them all!!! Hire Fisher and let him pick his front office.
    ========================

    Yes, because anytime you can hire a guy who made the playoffs in 6 of his 17 seasons, won 5 total playoff games in those 17 seasons with 3 coming in one year, never won a Super Bowl, and oh by the way- has no experience running the overall football organization of any team- that’s a move you have to make. He is definitely the guy you want lording over your entire operation.

    Other than the fact that Fisher is incessantly pushed by guys like Schefty and Mort because he was always such a good source for them, I don’t know why everyone is so high on this guy.

  48. The majority perspective is that the Polians are intent on losing. Now they have already made Larry Coyer a scapegoat, and soon Jim Caldwell will follow him. I agree they need to be fired, only now, not later. The time is always right now to do what is right.

    The Polians need to be fired too. They put this team together, they control this organization with an iron fist. All the while team owner Jim Irsay spends his time living it up and posts unintelligible tweets. Fans do pay to see someone lose on purpose. The Polians should be blacklisted for what they have done. They also have managed this team so poorly and run quality people out. Their draft record gets an F, along with their overall team management.

    If the Polians are still employed next season, Colts fans need to find another sport to spend their money on. Sports is about winning and these jackasses and have betrayed that, all the while pointing the finger at everyone else.

  49. “(1) whether Caldwell’s goose already is cooked, regardless of the final three games;”

    I hope so, unfortunately this means a lot of other ppl will lose their jobs as well, but this guy cannot be a head coach.

    “(2) whether Caldwell would be fired before the end of the season in order to give a current member of the staff a test drive;”

    I hope not. I don’t see anyone else on staff that would do anything different. Wait until the end of the season. The only reason to fire at this point in the season is to make a statement. They should wait until the end of the season, regardless if they win a game.

    “and (3) whether the Polians will be fired, too.”

    I hope so. GM’s love to take credit for building a winning team and that is what they have done over the past 10 years. When now we see they have drafted a few good players over that time span and drafted one legend that we see is good for 10 wins a season by himself. Now that he is gone you see what they really built. Can’t hide behind Manning anymore…The team they have built can’t win a game. Some of the blame has to go on Polian.

  50. The problems in the personnel department are the central loci of the Colts’ failures this season, not simply the loss of star quarterback Peyton Manning or coaching inadequacies. Manning’s loss alone, to be sure, should have cost the Colts a return trip to the playoffs, but it should not have led to the complete collapse of the entire 2011 season. Serious decisions about the future direction and composition of the franchise need to be made to right the ship and build a roster that can survive the loss of a single player, even if that player is Peyton Manning. The Polians need to be held accountable.

  51. Caldwell should be fired because it took him HOW LONG to realize it should be Orlovsky and not Painter starting? It was clear when the season started, he had lost the team.

    The Polians should be fired as well. Talent evaluation has been horrible the past few drafts.

    I would endorse Jeff Fisher as the new head coach of the Colts, I would not give him GM powers though. Is Ron Wolf available? Anyone but the Polians in the front office please…

  52. Caldwell is a horrible coach. Him and Dungy rode the Peyton Express for as long as they could. Now that gravy train is done Caretaker Caldwell has to actually do some coaching that consists of more than playing chearleader.

  53. Fire the entire coaching staff and start over! Just because your QB goes down doesn’t mean everybody else has amnesia and forgot how to play. The coaches should have been able to fire this team up to play regardless if Manning is under center. One helluva lot of QBs have gone down this year and their teams are in the playoffs. No excuses! Fire everybody!

  54. Been saying this since Day 1. No way Caldwell should get another go if his team is winless.

    Not even losing Manning can excuse that kind of fail.

  55. yankeemofo says:

    The Rooney Rule, another reason to hate the Steelers.
    ————————————————
    The owners jointly decided they wanted a way to give more opportunities to minority coaches and formed a committee to devise methods for doing so. It’s called the Rooney Rule because Dan chaired the committee, not because he came up with the rule all by himself and forced it on everyone else. And the rule simply requires teams to interview a minority coach. They’re not required to hire anyone. Indy didn’t interview for that position. Caldwell was the planned successor long before Dungy retired. Polian wanted a guy he could run, and he didn’t care what color that guy happened to be.

    I don’t care if you hate the Steelers, and your bigotry is your own business. But try getting your facts straight.

  56. @10kmp …

    Polian’s always had a gigantic ego, but now it’s finally overwhelmed his football sense. You can’t lay all this on Caldwell. I agree that he’s completely ineffective, but he’s just a puppet in this situation. Many teams have continued to perform without their starting QB–most notably this season, the Texans. Please scroll to CKL’s post. She has covered this whole issue beautifully, and there’s no need for me to repeat what she’s already posted.

  57. Get a clue joerevs300, you don’t know what you’re talking about! Nuff said!

    joerevs300 says:
    Dec 15, 2011 6:44 AM
    Look, you cannot put this at Jim Caldwell’s feet.

    Seriously, what would GB’s record be without Aaron Rodgers? I’m not saying they’d be 0-13, but I don’t think 4-9 or 5-8 would be unreasonable.

    The Colts played with fire for a VERY long time. Jim Sorgi is the greatest paid clipboard holder in the history of the NFL. The Colts assumed Peyton would never get hurt, and if he did, it would be maybe a game. I mean, EVERYTHING the Colts are revolved around him.

    And, of course (and rather predictably), when he goes down, they have absolutely no backup plan. They gave him a truckload of money without doing due research into his injury (which now, $28M is pending to bite them seriously in the *** unless they continue to “Suck for Luck” in which case Manning can pack his bags, see you later).

    I don’t think Caldwell is a bad coach. But let’s be honest here: Outside of Reggie Wayne, Dwight Freeney, Robert Mathis and Dallas Clark, how many of those Colt starters are starters for other teams? Their defense has been soft for years, and their entire offense is Peyton.

    In this age of overreaction, I think Caldwell deserves at least 1 more chance. Unless the thought process is “clean house” and bring everyone in, including Luck, at the same time. Which means a possible 1-15/2-14 season next year.

    Hope Colt fans enjoyed all that success: How does it feel to see the evil stepsister (Houston) win your division? LOL

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