Dungy weighing in on Irsay Comments

[amfootball]

Why does it matter when he fired him? He decided at some point that he wanted to have his team built differently, and chose a different man to do so. For him to look back and reflect on what he thinks the shortcomings were is perfectly normal.

 

The Colts were unbalanced, were they not? Great offense, but deficient on defense and special teams. Just like Irsay said. He wants more balance, he wants a defense than can pick up the slack, and a special teams unit that can make things easier on both sides of the ball. Why is that so foreign of a concept?

I guess this is lost just on you that he didn't say boo back then but when he ushers them all out, it is their fault that there was not more post-season success. At the end of the day, he is the owner, he calls all the shots. If anyone is to blame it is HIM. As a fan, I would think you would be irate that he let such a "flawed" system that only yielded the most regular season wins in the '00 decade go on for so long?

[jshipp23]

Ummm, the 2001 playoff loss is all on Mora. Completely mismanaged the end of the game.

I haven't seen Pagano manage a game correctly yet...

[Superman]

I guess this is lost just on you that he didn't say boo back then but when he ushers them all out, it is their fault that there was not more post-season success. At the end of the day, he is the owner, he calls all the shots. If anyone is to blame it is HIM. As a fan, I would think you would be irate that he let such a "flawed" system that only yielded the most regular season wins in the '00 decade go on for so long?

 

What are you getting at? What happened happened. I don't always agree with the owner of the team and the decisions that are made. I don't always agree with the decisions his people make. But when he was ready to, he got rid of Polian and decided to hire someone else. That's to his credit.

 

Irsay didn't come out and throw Polian under the bus when Polian was still running his team. If you think his comments now are inappropriate, how much more so would it be to say this kind of stuff back then? He's the owner. His decisions make it very evident where he stood on the issue. He took responsibility by changing regimes. Was he supposed to fire himself? He's the owner. He got rid of Polian and hired someone else because he wanted a different approach, in hopes it would yield better results. What's wrong with that?

[amfootball]

What are you getting at? What happened happened. I don't always agree with the owner of the team and the decisions that are made. I don't always agree with the decisions his people make. But when he was ready to, he got rid of Polian and decided to hire someone else. That's to his credit.

 

Irsay didn't come out and throw Polian under the bus when Polian was still running his team. If you think his comments now are inappropriate, how much more so would it be to say this kind of stuff back then? He's the owner. His decisions make it very evident where he stood on the issue. He took responsibility by changing regimes. Was he supposed to fire himself? He's the owner. He got rid of Polian and hired someone else because he wanted a different approach, in hopes it would yield better results. What's wrong with that?

Polian was his GM for more than a decade. To lay things at his feet seems childish and unprofessional especially the week before Manning is coming to town. And not to mention that Bill did deliver a ring and two SB appearances. If Irsay is irate that they did not win more that is fine but why take to the media as he has? This seems very calculated and to be honest mean. Guys like Dungy and John Fox are quite and men of few words. For both of them to have come out and spoken about this should tell you that your owner is waay out of line on this one. But if you want to defend him for speaking his mind, go ahead. Winning and losing are not that simple. And certainly winning super bowls is not something any FO has the inside track on and never will.

[Superman]

Polian was his GM for more than a decade. To lay things at his feet seems childish and unprofessional especially the week before Manning is coming to town. And not to mention that Bill did deliver a ring and two SB appearances. If Irsay is irate that they did not win more that is fine but why take to the media as he has? This seems very calculated and to be honest mean. Guys like Dungy and John Fox are quite and men of few words. For both of them to have come out and spoken about this should tell you that your owner is waay out of line on this one. But if you want to defend him for speaking his mind, go ahead. Winning and losing are not that simple. And certainly winning super bowls is not something any FO has the inside track on and never will.

 

You're being ridiculous. Polian was the GM. He made the decisions about building the team. Irsay fired him and hired someone else, because he wanted a different approach. How is that not evident?

 

Again, separate Irsay's comments from what he actually did. Disagree about him vocalizing this, or the way he said it. That's one thing. But what he said is absolutely true. The Colts were not well balanced, he wanted the team to be built differently, and he chose to move in a different direction. That's his right as the owner of the team. That's what he should have done, if that's how he felt. Maybe he should have done so sooner; many Colts fans called for Polian's firing for several years. But that doesn't say anything about either his right to make that decision, or the rightfulness of the decision itself. 

[Poster X]

Let me ask you, what team in the cap/FA has been balanced? The Pats teams that won rings were average on O. Brady won with zero HoF at the offensive skill positions. The Bucs of '02 largely won with defense. The Packers of 2010 won with offense and a good enough D. Same with Saints of 2009. I think Manning had a good enough defense many of his years that he played. But he had a killer O. Hard to build both in the cap/FA era. And in terms of ST's, at one point didn't Vanderjagt have the highes FG percentage in the league? And then you got Vinateri?

It is hard to win Super Bowls. What irks me about Irsay is that his comments reflect poorly on him as if he was a blind guide leading the ship. If he didn't like what Polian was doing then stop it. But no, he let's it go on for over a decade and then wants to criticize him on the way out. I don't get it. He is the owner. Fire Polian if he was so flawed.

Vanderjagt (our drunk * kicker) was good in the regular season, but missed when it counted like against the Steelers. Sound familiar? Plus some of those defenses you speak of had players in certain positions that wouldn't be starters on any other teams. others were great, but couldn't stay healthy like Bob Sanders. The o-line was ok, but Tarik Glenn leaving just before the 2007 season sucked because Tony Ugoh was another first round bust. Bill Polian as a gm made some huge mistakes in those later years when drafting players... and when Irsay finally got sick of it he did fire him.

Now with rookies no longer making big bucks right off the bat it will be a heck of a lot easier to build a more balanced team. One that is not so contingent on a few top notch players, but good players all around. I have a feeling Grigson will not make the same mistakes... nor will Irsay let it happen again.

[amfootball]

You're being ridiculous. Polian was the GM. He made the decisions about building the team. Irsay fired him and hired someone else, because he wanted a different approach. How is that not evident?

 

Again, separate Irsay's comments from what he actually did. Disagree about him vocalizing this, or the way he said it. That's one thing. But what he said is absolutely true. The Colts were not well balanced, he wanted the team to be built differently, and he chose to move in a different direction. That's his right as the owner of the team. That's what he should have done, if that's how he felt. Maybe he should have done so sooner; many Colts fans called for Polian's firing for several years. But that doesn't say anything about either his right to make that decision, or the rightfulness of the decision itself. 

Then we agree. You should have said that from the get go. lol. his right to do whatever he wants but the vocalization which is usually his weak spot anyways was ridiculous and ill-timed.

[Superman]

Then we agree. You should have said that from the get go. lol. his right to do whatever he wants but the vocalization which is usually his weak spot anyways was ridiculous and ill-timed.

 

I said that a long time ago.

 

 

Let me ask you this: Were the Colts a balanced team? Were they good defensively? Did they have a strong special teams unit?

 

People are acting like Irsay is just making this stuff up. It's one thing to disagree with him vocalizing it, or to say that he bungled the delivery. But let's not pretend that the Colts didn't have their deficiencies when it came to being a balanced roster. The defense was always underwhelming, the special teams coverage was always problematic.

 

[amfootball]

Vanderjagt (our drunk * kicker) was good in the regular season, but missed when it counted like against the Steelers. Sound familiar? Plus some of those defenses you speak of had players in certain positions that wouldn't be starters on any other teams. others were great, but couldn't stay healthy like Bob Sanders. The o-line was ok, but Tarik Glenn leaving just before the 2007 season sucked because Tony Ugoh was another first round bust. Bill Polian as a gm made some huge mistakes in those later years when drafting players... and when Irsay finally got sick of it he did fire him.

Now with rookies no longer making big bucks right off the bat it will be a heck of a lot easier to build a more balanced team. One that is not so contingent on a few top notch players, but good players all around. I have a feeling Grigson will not make the same mistakes... nor will Irsay let it happen again.

I will be shocked if Grigson approaches anywhere near the level of Polian. Rare to get one GM much less two that can have the best winning percentage for a decade. Will the Colts win more SBs? Maybe. Who knows. Time will tell.

[amfootball]

I said that a long time ago.

 

Missed it. My bad.

[thetigerfox]

Ugh, I'm holding in my Polian comments...   oh so so so tempting....   Must stay classy...  must....

 

 

Hey he was a great guy, we'd come in score in 2 minutes, then he was so nice he built special teams that either let the other team return one for a td, or atleast get the ball at the 35-40  every time...   lol, I think he was just being nice.  

[jshipp23]

I will be shocked if Grigson approaches anywhere near the level of Polian. Rare to get one GM much less two that can have the best winning percentage for a decade. Will the Colts win more SBs? Maybe. Who knows. Time will tell.

Grigson is gonna be the best..He is fearless and innovative , the complete opposite of Polian and his dinosaur philosophy...He just was the beneficiary of Peyton Manning and Jim Kelly..Missed on many draft picks horribly especially later in his career, never did anything in free agency or via trade..He was awful, and wish we fired him a long time before we did..

[Superman]

I will be shocked if Grigson approaches anywhere near the level of Polian. Rare to get one GM much less two that can have the best winning percentage for a decade. Will the Colts win more SBs? Maybe. Who knows. Time will tell.

 

Grigson is on a better pace so far. But doing it for several years in a row is a different story.

[thetigerfox]

Grigson is on a better pace so far. But doing it for several years in a row is a different story.

 

Yup, next year draft and FA should be all about the line.  Time to finally sure this thing up, but in his (Grigson) small stint so far love what he's been doing.  Finally a man not afraid to use all the tools available to him not just the draft. 

[Stephen]

so much drama over nothing lol.

[Poster X]

I will be shocked if Grigson approaches anywhere near the level of Polian. Rare to get one GM much less two that can have the best winning percentage for a decade. Will the Colts win more SBs? Maybe. Who knows. Time will tell.

There should be no doubt in him being gm of the year last year... and we are off to a good start. Jim Irsay was smart on two fronts. Firing Polian, and making a choice to go another direction with players.

[Poster X]

http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/9832784/tony-dungy-jim-irsay-comments-peyton-manning-jim-making-personal

Now Dungy weighs in. "Without Peyton, there would be no Lucas Oil Stadium. This team would be playing in L.A. right now. I don't understand Jim saying this."

Now as far as Dungy's statement goes... there may not be a Lucas Oil Stadium, but the Hoosier Dome aka RCA Dome was fine. I'm not sure why he seems to think we would be L.A. right now.

[amfootball]

There should be no doubt in him being gm of the year last year... and we are off to a good start. Jim Irsay was smart on two fronts. Firing Polian, and making a choice to go another direction with players.

No denying a very good first season. Polian had a decade of great seasons. Long way to go but for sure the future is bright with Luck.

[sadface]

Well I hate to disagree with you but I live in Indiana and Irsay  did say that if he didn't get a new stadium he would move the team to  LA where he would get one.   That is when Peyton went to our legislature to try and get the help to get a new stadium and he was successful.  So OP are correct on that fact.

Susie, you are a class act. The only Mod here who gets it.

 

You are wrong. Irsay never threatened to move the team, and I challenge you to provide a reputable source contradicting my statement.

Both Jim and his Dad threatened to take the team to new cities. We don't need to spend time proving facts to you. This always ends the same way, links are provided and the the credibility is questioned. Done that already. 

[deadman]

Now as far as Dungy's statement goes... there may not be a Lucas Oil Stadium, but the Hoosier Dome aka RCA Dome was fine. I'm not sure why he seems to think we would be L.A. right now.

 

I remember prior to Peyton there was a LOT of talk about the Colts moving. Colts tickets were basically free and seemed like they rarely sold out. Yeah the Colts had the magical 96 season but other than that they were mostly the Colts.

 

I don't think it would be unlike an Irsay to pack up and move the team. Obviously we'll never know what would have happened.

[Shane Bond]

He had some all-time great players though...Sapp,Brooks, Barber, Lynch...That was probably the scariest defense ever in the modern era...

 

and some QB scored 21 points in 3.5 minutes against them. Oh, the same guy is coming to town this weekend.

[Poster X]

I remember prior to Peyton there was a LOT of talk about the Colts moving. Colts tickets were basically free and seemed like they rarely sold out. Yeah the Colts had the magical 96 season but other than that they were mostly the Colts.

I don't think it would be unlike an Irsay to pack up and move the team. Obviously we'll never know what would have happened.

I live in Indy, and don't recall much talk of the Colts leaving despite having some terrible teams prior to say 94 when Marshall Faulk was drafted. Things started to turn around then. If you think for a second Jim Irsay is like his dad... and would be willing to fire up the old Mayflower you are out of your mind.

[BigQandTheManiac]

irsay is putting A LOT of pressure on this team running off at the mouth..regardless if he was taking a shot at manning or not...manning's gonna be ticked...and now he got the whole world against us in the game because of those comments..that's alot of pressure for a young team..not saying they can't do it but still...AND now everybody's looking at this city and the team as the "bad guysor "ungrateful"....he just needs to be quiet it not that hard...ik i might get a lot of negative feedback from my comment but hey..its the truth

[sebrng7]

I have been following Andrew luck since he played at Stanford, and I think he is very good. I just don't understand mr. irsays comments about peyton manning. it takes a full team effort to win a superbowl. peyton did his best to win, but apparently it was not good enough. mr. irsay is following in his dads foot steps. I wonder how long it will be before he leaves in the middle of the night. GO BRONCOS

[ColtsBlueFL]

Did Dungy have a small defense in Tampa? I remember it being large and intimidating.

 

It was never Tony Dungy's philosophy to have small fast players.  He wanted large, fast players.  But drafting at the end of every round year after year, there was rarely or no large fast players available. So between large slow players and small fast players, the small fast player better fit the  Tampa 2 scheme.  He was stuck with BPA small and fast.  Tampa draft early enough to get large and fast, but Buc's O wasn't as stout as Indy's either.

[cbear]

Dungy is being dense. As much as I respect him and his time here, and for all the good he did, he was a part of the problem as well. Polian catered to his philosophy for smaller, faster defensive players. It worked with guys like Freeney and Mathis, but was an abject failure in the middle of the defensive line. Irsay's comments were partly a referendum on Dungy's approach as well. Not surprising that Dungy and Polian are chiming in here.

 

Yep.  I'm not surprised Polian jumped in, but am very disappointed that Dungy decided to pile on.  Of course, his other motive may have been to just stir the pot as an analyist, but even if that were the case, I'm still disappointed that he'd take that course. 

[thetigerfox]

Manning's response in 16 minutes.  Doubt he'll say much but I'm def listening lol

[ViriLudant]

2002: Colts' defense gave up 19.6 pts per game. 7th best.

2003: middle of the pack defense.

2004: slightly worse. 18th ranked.

2005: 2nd best defense in the NFL.

2007: Best scoring defense in the NFL.

Looks to me like Peyton had plenty of defense at times.

[tfunky14]

Dungy's remarks are the dumbest he has ever said..

[Esquire59]

I would much rather see Coach Dungy chime in on the "ringS" issue but apologizing for his woeful underachievement as our head coach. How many times did we clearly have the best team in the AFC and NFL, yet we came up short time and again primarily due to being outcoached by Belichek, Cower and god forbid, NORV TURNER! I'm really sick of Dungy stepping into our program after he quit.

[Poster X]

2002: Colts' defense gave up 19.6 pts per game. 7th best.

2003: middle of the pack defense.

2004: slightly worse. 18th ranked.

2005: 2nd best defense in the NFL.

2007: Best scoring defense in the NFL.

Looks to me like Peyton had plenty of defense at times.

I'm not sure where you get you rankings from, but they are all off per NFL's own website.

2002 8th

2003 11th

2004 Colts were ranked 29th overall in defense.

2005 11th

2006 Colts ranked 21st in defense.

2007 3rd

A tale of two teams. It was the best of times, and the worst of times... and the Colts were wildly inconsistent defensively in those days of old.

[amfootball]

2002: Colts' defense gave up 19.6 pts per game. 7th best.

2003: middle of the pack defense.

2004: slightly worse. 18th ranked.

2005: 2nd best defense in the NFL.

2007: Best scoring defense in the NFL.

Looks to me like Peyton had plenty of defense at times.

Irsay wishes he had those rings that are pictured on your avatar of Bill. lol.

[CanuckColt]

Dungy is a dottery old fool.

[Bluefire4]

I know Irsay really wants the Colts to be great, and I respect that and all, but why talk this week.

[Gavin]

Dungy must have a crystal ball somewhere that gives him insights into alternate realities. I understand his disapproval of Irsay's comments, but his own are just as silly. Since Peyton has left, I think the city of Indianapolis and the State of Indiana at large have done just fine in supporting their football team.

And did just fine before Peyton in all reality

[ThatOneColtFan]

2002: Colts' defense gave up 19.6 pts per game. 7th best.

2003: middle of the pack defense.

2004: slightly worse. 18th ranked.

2005: 2nd best defense in the NFL.

2007: Best scoring defense in the NFL.

Looks to me like Peyton had plenty of defense at times.

 

Just you and your usual rubbish. 

 

This is coming from someone who cares nothing about best QB ever arguments, or defending Manning.

[jvan1973]

Dungy is a dottery old fool.

stay classy.

[deadman]

I live in Indy, and don't recall much talk of the Colts leaving despite having some terrible teams prior to say 94 when Marshall Faulk was drafted. Things started to turn around then. If you think for a second Jim Irsay is like his dad... and would be willing to fire up the old Mayflower you are out of your mind.

 

I was 8 or 9 around that time but I remember the Evansville Courier and Press writing articles about possible locations the Colts would move to. I'm sure they were just trying to sell papers but I distinctively remember them mentioning that Evansville could be a possible location along with Los Angeles and maybe even Nashville. I'm sure the moving topic was only brought up by the media and never mentioned by the Irsays.

 

I'm not saying Jim is anything like Robert but I do think that he would have moved the team if they weren't making any money.

[Blackclouds]

Tony Dungy is absolutely right on this. This is about an owner who doesn't seem to realize how much worth Peyton gave to the team he owns. If anything Peyton was underpaid. 

[Gavin]

I haven't seen Pagano manage a game correctly yet...

opening your eyes would help with that......