How Good Would Manning Be With Great Head Coach?

[unitaswestand]

Jason Whitlock made the comment, I believe, last year that guys like Montana and Brady had great head coaches, but Peyton Manning has...Jim Caldwell. Or, as Whitlock called him, "the guy in the headset". It does make someone wonder how good would Manning be if he played for a Bill Walsh or even Belichick. Sure, Tom Moore is a good offensive coordinator. But I think Manning would do well with ANY offense he had to run. If Jim Harbaugh were head coach and put in his West Coast offense, Manning would still tear up the league.

This year really highlights how little help Manning gets and how much he has to carry the team. In contrast, look how when Tom Brady was out, the team was still a winning team with Matt Cassel. So how good would Manning be if he had that much of a team around him? How many rings would he have? It does really put into light how great this guy is at QB.

Not to take anything away from them, but I was talking to a friend tonight about the Colts WRs. I said if guys like Tamme and Collie were on the Dolphins, they would likely be considered mediocre players who needed upgrades on.

Manning just amazes me how he has accomplished what he has done with such glaring needs in areas of the team. I understand that is the nature of the NFL with free agency. But Manning has never had the luxury Brady had in his three Super Bowl seasons where he could count on the defense to win the game for him if he was having an off game. If Manning doesn't get it done, it likely doesn't get done period.

[GoColts8818]

Tony Dungy owns one of the highest career win % of all-time and produced the team that set the NFL standard for winning and rewrote the record book for winning. He's a first ballot Hall of Famer. In my book that is a great coach.

Caldwell is clearly another story but we have seen Manning with a great coach and it went extremely well I can undrestand people wanting to get back to that.

[unitaswestand]

Tony Dungy owns one of the highest career win % of all-time and produced the team that set the NFL standard for winning and rewrote the record book for winning. He's a first ballot Hall of Famer. In my book that is a great coach.

Caldwell is clearly another story but we have seen Manning with a great coach and it went extremely well I can undrestand people wanting to get back to that.

Good point, but lets be honest. With Jim Caldwell, the team got to the Super Bowl. I think any coach you put in there would have succeeded with Manning doing what he does. I think if Tony Dungy were coach this year, they would still probably be 2-10. So was Dungy really a great coach, or will Manning make anyone look great? After all, Jim Mora did pretty darn good too save for Mannings rookie year and his last year.

I love Tony Dungy. I think he is a good defensive coordinator. I don't rank him as a great head coach. I think if he were a great head coach, the Colts would have had more Super Bowl titles. When the Colts came out and lost to the Steelers with likely their best team ever, they seemed unprepared and off target. Too many times this team has gone into the playoffs and lost to teams they had no business losing to. The halftime adjustments weren't there. The strategy was bad.

I think if we had a great coach, we would have succeeded to some degree without Peyton Manning. We would have won more Super Bowls. I think year underscores just how much Manning means to this team and how he makes coaches look much better than they really are.

[wirymo]

Peyton Manning made Tony Dungy look good. If Peyton would have had a great coach and/or a great defense, then the sky would have been the limit!

[CR91]

Peyton Manning made Tony Dungy look good. If Peyton would have had a great coach and/or a great defense, then the sky would have been the limit!

dungy was already good before he got to indy

[unitaswestand]

Peyton Manning made Tony Dungy look good. If Peyton would have had a great coach and/or a great defense, then the sky would have been the limit!

I agree with you. Think if Manning had the defense that Brady had to win 3 SBs? Peyton shows he can win with whatever coach they have, whatever players around him they have. Seriously, right now the Colts coach hire Josh McDaniels as coach, and Manning would make him a winner. But what I want to see is a great coach make it so Manning doesn't have to do everything. I don't like Bill Belichick as a person much, but I have to give the guy credit. He has put in an offense that if Brady goes out, Cassel or even Brian Hoyer can do well. It is a very QB friendly offense with lots of wrinkles, but easy for a QB to succeed in. Same thing with the Packers. Whether it was Favre, Rogers, or even Matt Flynn, they play well. I think if you put Peyton Manningon the Patriots, he would have five rings.

[wirymo]

dungy was already good before he got to indy

If that's your definition of "good", then sure.

[wirymo]

I agree with you. Think if Manning had the defense that Brady had to win 3 SBs? Peyton shows he can win with whatever coach they have, whatever players around him they have. Seriously, right now the Colts coach hire Josh McDaniels as coach, and Manning would make him a winner. But what I want to see is a great coach make it so Manning doesn't have to do everything. I don't like Bill Belichick as a person much, but I have to give the guy credit. He has put in an offense that if Brady goes out, Cassel or even Brian Hoyer can do well. It is a very QB friendly offense with lots of wrinkles, but easy for a QB to succeed in. Same thing with the Packers. Whether it was Favre, Rogers, or even Matt Flynn, they play well. I think if you put Peyton Manningon the Patriots, he would have five rings.

I would LOVE to see an offensive-minded guy like Josh McDaniels come to Indy.

[unitaswestand]

dungy was already good before he got to indy

True, but do you feel the great personnel at Tampa Bay had something to do with it? Dungy was not the personnel guy and was provided with some great defensive players. Offensively, he ran a very conservative ball control offensive that was ultimately his downfall.

I think Dungy is a good defensive coordinator. But I really don't think a great coach would have lost the playoff games we did.

[unitaswestand]

I would LOVE to see an offensive-minded guy like Josh McDaniels come to Indy.

hahahahaha

[wirymo]

I just want a coach who has the b**** to go for it on 4th down and "play to win" instead of "play to not lose".

[fvantagio]

I would LOVE to see an offensive-minded guy like Josh McDaniels come to Indy.

So he can trade away our talent and draft busts? remember this guy traded Peyton Hillis which everyone could see he was a great player, for Brady Quinn. Yes that Brady Quinn. The guy saw a QB and thought so highly of himself that he truly believed he could make him great. Imagine the coaching of jim caldwell, the ego of ochocinco and the drafting ability of Al Davis. Caldwell is a bad coach but at least he doesnt trade away the talent on his team. McDaniels was one of the sorriest excuses for a coach i have ever seen. I could only imagine what Manning would do to him if he sat him down and tried to coach him up.

[wirymo]

So he can trade away our talent and draft busts? remember this guy traded Peyton Hillis which everyone could see he was a great player, for Brady Quinn. Yes that Brady Quinn. The guy saw a QB and thought so highly of himself that he truly believed he could make him great. Imagine the coaching of jim caldwell, the ego of ochocinco and the drafting ability of Al Davis. Caldwell is a bad coach but at least he doesnt trade away the talent on his team. McDaniels was one of the sorriest excuses for a coach i have ever seen. I could only imagine what Manning would do to him if he sat him down and tried to coach him up.

Very true but I know Peyton would make him look like a great coach!

[wirymo]

Also, Josh McDaniels was horrible, but I'm tired of us having "defensive minded" coaches, yet our defense is always sub par.