Just What Is Today's Nfl Coach?

[Warhorse]

First I want to thank everyone that posted in the Grigson & Caldwell thread. As I read through the responses, I realized that much of the angst between the fans that are in different camps with regards to Jim Caldwell, might be better explained if we shared what we thought an NFL coach really does.

I am far from a knowledgeable NFL fan, but I know that a big difference between the college level coach and the pro level coach is that at the college level, coaches help young men grow up. That is not the general case at the NFL level. I also know that the staffs on NFL teams are much larger. It would be my assumption that an NFL coach is responsible for gathering around him, quality coaches that teach fundemantals (position coaches), coordinators (that are responsible for play calling), so on and so forth. Head coaches seem to be mostly responsible for game management, clock, timeouts, as well as overall spirit, direction, attitude, and character. I know this is a simplistic approach, but I am trying to make a point

It seems that Jim indeed failed on several occasions with regards to clock and timeout management. However, it is also noted that he has largely been responsible for holding together the attitudes of 53 men on a ship diving straight to the bottom. Are we to believe that his game management was the sole cause of 2-14? Really?

What if he did make some mistakes, (lets not forget how BB with the Pats did with the Browns in his first stint), and he has corrected those? If he is now able to acquire the right coordinators, has a handle on his game management, and we already know he is outstanding at holding his team together....no mouthing, arrests, fights, blah, blah, bla....then why on earth do so many people who seemingly have no legitimate background with which to judge other than stating that he must be canned, feel that he is the worst choice, no matter the alternative?

I see people on all sides of the aisle on this, but I would love to hear all of your opinions on just what our NFL coach is truly suppose to be responsible for. And before anyone states, "winning", I would ask you to explain why JC and him alone is the cause of the losing this season. Fire away mates!

[rocking horse]

I was told by my coaches that they would evaluate our talent and determine our strengths and our weaknesses. Then they would install a game plan that would play to our strengths and hide our weaknesses. As players if we played hard and stuck to their game plans we would win most games. adjustmants were made throught the entire game to improve our performance in the games. so if the colts were coached in the same manner then there are only so many reasons we lost so many games this year.. 1.most of our players are not nfl ready. 2. our players did not follow the game plans 3.our talent was not evaluated correctly.. 4. our game plans were not sufficent to suceed..5. there were too many injuries to overcome.. In my opinion i don't think it all was caldwells fault but he is the leader of the team. I just hope we get back to our winning ways and our new gm turns out to be great for our team. this is just my opinion..IN IRSAY I TRUST!!

[Knuckles79]

How do we know the team played for Jim Caldwell ! Saturday a known leader in the locker room spoke out about being out coached ! A nd also to me it seems that maybe the vet guys pulled together and kept this team together! Could the team been playing for thereselves or lets say play for Peyton Manning knowings whats ahead if we did in fact get the number 1 pick ! Just a thought but i am all for a NEW head coach

[tfrugal]

interesting topic.

i would think that ego/charisma/power would be a factor. polian was big, caldwell is small. we dont know grigson yet, but the assumption is he is small at least at first. will the owner fill in that vaccuum? or do we need a big coach? that is what a fisher or the chin (bill the old steelers coach) would bring to the mix.

do we need a commanding head coach to manage peyton and luck? peyton is a huge personality on the team, and if you have them both, after the first year you will have friction. you think caldwell has the ability to pull peyton in the 4th quarter of a game and let luck have some snaps? to pull peyton off the field on a 4th and 1?

i think the colts need a commanding head coach, probably a defense guy just for balance, but jim harbaugh sure seems like a good model. dungy too.

it might be that the colts keep caldwell as the seatwarmer while waiting on the guy. his tenure might well be just a matter of not having the timing right.

[ruksak]

Just What Is Today's Nfl Coach?

Expendable

[doogansquest]

How do we know the team played for Jim Caldwell ! Saturday a known leader in the locker room spoke out about being out coached ! A nd also to me it seems that maybe the vet guys pulled together and kept this team together! Could the team been playing for thereselves or lets say play for Peyton Manning knowings whats ahead if we did in fact get the number 1 pick ! Just a thought but i am all for a NEW head coach

Nice way to pick and choose what was said. Did you hear Saturday's explanation after everyone blew up about that comment? He said that he wasn't talkng about Caldwell, specifically, but that they had lost as a team. The Colts were out-played, and out-coached; the opponent executed well, played more physical, etc.

Furthermore, if you watch any of the locker room videos, you would see a cast of players who believe in Caldwell and love playing for him.

Why do people keep saying that we need to get back to our winning ways, or that we need to climb out of this hole? We are only one year removed from said winning ways, and only two removed from a Super Bowl. Why do the same people who say that QB is the most important position on the field acknowledge that Manning is the best ever, but then ask why we struggled without him? If Caldwell was a Polian puppet, why does he (Caldwell) get the blame?

[LUVTHESHOE]

First I want to thank everyone that posted in the Grigson & Caldwell thread. As I read through the responses, I realized that much of the angst between the fans that are in different camps with regards to Jim Caldwell, might be better explained if we shared what we thought an NFL coach really does.

I am far from a knowledgeable NFL fan, but I know that a big difference between the college level coach and the pro level coach is that at the college level, coaches help young men grow up. That is not the general case at the NFL level. I also know that the staffs on NFL teams are much larger. It would be my assumption that an NFL coach is responsible for gathering around him, quality coaches that teach fundemantals (position coaches), coordinators (that are responsible for play calling), so on and so forth. Head coaches seem to be mostly responsible for game management, clock, timeouts, as well as overall spirit, direction, attitude, and character. I know this is a simplistic approach, but I am trying to make a point

It seems that Jim indeed failed on several occasions with regards to clock and timeout management. However, it is also noted that he has largely been responsible for holding together the attitudes of 53 men on a ship diving straight to the bottom. Are we to believe that his game management was the sole cause of 2-14? Really?

What if he did make some mistakes, (lets not forget how BB with the Pats did with the Browns in his first stint), and he has corrected those? If he is now able to acquire the right coordinators, has a handle on his game management, and we already know he is outstanding at holding his team together....no mouthing, arrests, fights, blah, blah, bla....then why on earth do so many people who seemingly have no legitimate background with which to judge other than stating that he must be canned, feel that he is the worst choice, no matter the alternative?

I see people on all sides of the aisle on this, but I would love to hear all of your opinions on just what our NFL coach is truly suppose to be responsible for. And before anyone states, "winning", I would ask you to explain why JC and him alone is the cause of the losing this season. Fire away mates!

I think I have located 4192

[1959Colts]

"If Caldwell was a Polian puppet, why does he (Caldwell) get the blame?"

All right, so even if we dont blame Caldwell for the poor season...

Why would any team want a Head Coach that allowed himself to be nothing more than a "puppet" ???

[LUVTHESHOE]

Nice way to pick and choose what was said. Did you hear Saturday's explanation after everyone blew up about that comment? He said that he wasn't talkng about Caldwell, specifically, but that they had lost as a team. The Colts were out-played, and out-coached; the opponent executed well, played more physical, etc.

Furthermore, if you watch any of the locker room videos, you would see a cast of players who believe in Caldwell and love playing for him.

Why do people keep saying that we need to get back to our winning ways, or that we need to climb out of this hole? We are only one year removed from said winning ways, and only two removed from a Super Bowl. Why do the same people who say that QB is the most important position on the field acknowledge that Manning is the best ever, but then ask why we struggled without him? If Caldwell was a Polian puppet, why does he (Caldwell) get the blame?

He is not a leader,a real nfl coach. HE has been talked down to and silenced by Polian since he has taken over. He has been yelled at and embarrassed on the sidelines and has had numerous 4th down decisions changed by Peyton. He has been left to dangle like a peon who has no other option by Irsay for 2 weeks. That being said I may not have the exact explanation of a real nfl coach, but I would bet my savings that what I have described is not it.

[1959Colts]

And some of the posters are saying its ok to keep Caldwell for one more year and let him fulfill his contract,

then fire him.

It's like no one expects JC to do well next year!

So why keep him around and have to go through this terrible process all over again?

To me that is just dumb.

[bluephantom87]

To me he has to have that "IT" factor. When the chips are down being able to motivate and elevate his players to "BELIEVE" they can get the job done WHETHER they can or not. The Saints scored 62 pts on the Colts. Losing a KEY component and being able to adapt. Tom Brady (2-time LEAGUE mvp) went down game 1 yet "hoody" adjusted on the fly and the Pats STILL WON 11 games. The Colts on the other hand had SOME idea about Peyton before the season started yet Painter seemed SO unprepared and the coach looked like a deer in headlights! A team with former pro bowlers on the roster went out and WON 2 games out 16 and even MANAGED to be beaten by some of the bottom feeders of the nfl. To inherit a "HEAD" coaching job based on having faith and being a "clone" to the prior coach is ok IF that's what you choose but the time has come (ala Wake Forest) to move in a different direction. SOME guys are just NOT head coach material. What is Caldwell? A game planner week to week based on strengths and weaknesses of the opposition or a do what we do type...Is he a motivator, a defensive guy or offensive guy? After 3yrs most people STILL don't know and I think that speaks for itself. As far as being the qb coach, Peyton was ALREADY considered one of the elites by the time Caldwell came.

[Superman]

Expendable

I think Jim Harbaugh is proving this false. I wonder why you feel this way...

[Warhorse]

And some of the posters are saying its ok to keep Caldwell for one more year and let him fulfill his contract,

then fire him.

It's like no one expects JC to do well next year!

So why keep him around and have to go through this terrible process all over again?

To me that is just dumb.

Well, an example would be remodeling. If your plan is to remodel the family room, the kitchen, and the bathroom, but you dont have anywhere else to live, you might want to do that in pieces. Take away the families ability to watch tv, cook, and potty all at the same time? Everyone will hate you and lose faith in your decision making in the family. I use to be a contractor, and I saw near divorces when the man wanted to do it all at once. Just a thought.

[ruksak]

I think Jim Harbaugh is proving this false. I wonder why you feel this way...

Because if he wasn't winning he'd be sweatin for his job like most coaches.

[Knuckles79]

How do we know the team played for Jim Caldwell ! Saturday a known leader in the locker room spoke out about being out coached ! A nd also to me it seems that maybe the vet guys pulled together and kept this team together! Could the team been playing for thereselves or lets say play for Peyton Manning knowings whats ahead if we did in fact get the number 1 pick ! Just a thought but i am all for a NEW head coach

Nice way to pick and choose what was said. Did you hear Saturday's explanation after everyone blew up about that comment? He said that he wasn't talkng about Caldwell, specifically, but that they had lost as a team. The Colts were out-played, and out-coached; the opponent executed well, played more physical, etc.

Furthermore, if you watch any of the locker room videos, you would see a cast of players who believe in Caldwell and love playing for him.

Why do people keep saying that we need to get back to our winning ways, or that we need to climb out of this hole? We are only one year removed from said winning ways, and only two removed from a Super Bowl. Why do the same people who say that QB is the most important position on the field acknowledge that Manning is the best ever, but then ask why we struggled without him? If Caldwell was a Polian puppet, why does he (Caldwell) get the blame?

Nice way to pick and choose what you read ! Saturday said out coached idid he or did he not! Do you yourself believe he has never been out coached ! Saturdays explanation means nothing to me its easy to say the right thing when you have time to think and flip flop your words! As for as Caldwell being the Polians Puppet well wouldnt that mean he is a follower and not a leader how can you be a good coach if your not even the Leader ! I he was held back from the Polians that was his own fought not to stand up for what he believed i perfer to stand beside a fighter not a coward!

[Superman]

Because if he wasn't winning he'd be sweatin for his job like most coaches.

Are you saying coaches get treated as expendable, or are you saying coaches are expendable? If the team isn't winning, it might have something to do with the coach and his ability to get the most out of his team and make good decisions.

I was saying that when a coach can take over a team that's been below average for several years, with a problematic quarterback situation, and with a shortened offseason, grab the #2 seed in one year, he's not expendable.