The Announcement

[Valpo2004]

46 minutes ago, Barry Sears said:

I believe it's on McDaniels.  He comes here for two interviews, begins picking his assistant coaches, we sign 3 of them.  Then he agrees to the deal and that he will be here for a press conference.

 

None of us were in the room during those interviews or listening on any pone calls, but Chris Ballard had to believe with all that lead up to this about-face, that McD was coming to Indy.

 

We can only speculate, because we don't know the facts of the whole situation.

 

It's just a shame that we wasted 5 weeks and the chance to hire other candidates waiting on this Benedict Arnold.

 

This. . . 

 

If you are wishy washy about the whole thing then you don't have the team starting hiring your guys as assistants.  It's not only the Colts he left hanging out to dry but it's the people that the Colts brought in who all had good reason to believe that McDaniels was going to be their boss.  

 

Now they are going to be stuck with a guy they don't know who will probably eventually want to bring in his own guys.  So they could perform brilliantly and still end up with walking papers at the end of next season.  

[Reboot]

1 minute ago, BlueShoe said:

 

I am not pointing the finger directly at Chris Ballard. I am saying he owns part of this failure. Some of this falls on him and people should accept that. 

 

Is Chris Ballard dirty? Absolutely not. I believe he an honest man who got duped. That said, getting duped in business is a failure. I am sure there were signs, and he knew who he was dealing with. 

 

Even considering McDaniels was a gamble. Ballard bought in. He took the hook and the sinker. 

I don't think Ballard owns any of McDaniel's decision.  He was offered a deal, he accepted, and changed his mind.  Lost in all of this are numerous reports McDaniels didn't want to move his young family to Indianapolis, how much he loved living in the Boston area, and how he was comfortable again in the role of OC.  Add a raise from Kraft, and maybe a year or two more with Brady, and this doesn't become real complicated.  The way McDaniel handled it is what is unprofessional.  Ballard found a candidate, the one he determined would be the best fit, and was turned down.  That's not on Ballard. 

[BlueShoe]

25 minutes ago, DougDew said:

It just seems to me that you'd wait until someone is ACTUALLY THE HC before you announce he is the HC.  I see no benefit in announcing it before the contract is signed....which was supposedly only one day away.

 

There are rumors that Josh signed something, but it may not have been the actual employment contract.  If he signed an employment contract, then refuses to show up and backs out, I can see where the announcement is justified.

 

I agree. 

[Valpo2004]

4 minutes ago, Dirty Mudflaps said:

I don't think Ballard owns any of McDaniel's decision.  He was offered a deal, he accepted, and changed his mind.  Lost in all of this are numerous reports McDaniels didn't want to move his young family to Indianapolis, how much he loved living in the Boston area, and how he was comfortable again in the role of OC.  Add a raise from Kraft, and maybe a year or two more with Brady, and this doesn't become real complicated.  The way McDaniel handled it is what is unprofessional.  Ballard found a candidate, the one he determined would be the best fit, and was turned down.  That's not on Ballard. 

 

If moving your family around is bothersome to you then you should not be in the field of coaching professional football.  

 

I totally understand not wanting to move his family.  But moving your family around is part of being a pro-football coach.  Furthermore he accepted the job, did he not think this over before he verbally took the job?

 

That would be like me running for President of the United States and then after winning saying "You mean I have to move to Washington DC.  Well forget it I don't want to move there."

[BlueShoe]

3 minutes ago, Dirty Mudflaps said:

I don't think Ballard owns any of McDaniel's decision.  He was offered a deal, he accepted, and changed his mind.  Lost in all of this are numerous reports McDaniels didn't want to move his young family to Indianapolis, how much he loved living in the Boston area, and how he was comfortable again in the role of OC.  Add a raise from Kraft, and maybe a year or two more with Brady, and this doesn't become real complicated.  The way McDaniel handled it is what is unprofessional.  Ballard found a candidate, the one he determined would be the best fit, and was turned down.  That's not on Ballard. 

 

McDaniels had “character” concerns going into this marriage. Ballard was strung along for 5 weeks during the wedding planning, and ultimately left at the alter. 

 

Ballard accepted the risk (baggage) and lost. 

[Jason_]

1 hour ago, BlueShoe said:

 

Part of interviewing someone is understanding their intentions. At the very least, Ballard failed to successfully get a good read on the situation. Other teams wanted nothing to do with McDaniels, because of his history.

 

Chris Ballard and our Colts were hoodwinked, and Ballard made all the decisions that led to the Colts falling for it. 

 

there have been plenty of teams the past few years that have reached out to McDaniels for interviews.  he's either turned them down, or taken the interviews and then withdrawn himself from consideration.  I agree with you to an extent but let's save the hyperbole for somewhere else.  There have been plenty of other teams interested in him the past couple of years, including this  year.  Stop making it sound like the Colts and Ballard are the only ones that had any interest in him.

[John Waylon]

So Ballard shouldn’t have actually attempted to get him to sign a contract before this morning?

[Reboot]

2 minutes ago, Valpo2004 said:

 

If moving your family around is bothersome to you then you should not be in the field of coaching professional football.  

 

I totally understand not wanting to move his family.  But moving your family around is part of being a pro-football coach.  Furthermore he accepted the job, did he not think this over before he verbally took the job?

 

That would be like me running for President of the United States and then after winning saying "You mean I have to move to Washington DC.  Well forget it I don't want to move there."

Nearly all of the tweets and supporting articles discuss his uncertainty with the city and decision.  Listen, I get I'm treading on eggshells here, so many locals on this board, but I'm not making it up, the same people who announced the change of heart last night specifically mention McDaniel's uncertainty about the move from the start.  It's Florio's position from the start that this board dismissed offhand. 

 

As to the notion that assistant coaches/coordinators take what's offered, that's simply not what happens.  The NFL has a long history of hand picked locations, waiting a year for better opportunities, etc.  This isn't a situation of being transferred.  It's an offer.  People turn down offers in all walks of life all the time, for many reasons.  Some of those, amongst the leading reasons, is often the city one would have to live in or around. 

[John Waylon]

Just now, John Waylon said:

So Ballard shouldn’t have actually attempted to get him to sign a contract before this morning?

 

I keep seeing people say it’s all on McDaniels, but continually shying away from addressing this crucial point. 

 

You really shouldn’t argue that it’s all on McDaniels if you can’t provide a valid reason why Ballard shouldn’t have attempted to get a contract signed as soon as he verbally agreed. 

[BlueShoe]

4 minutes ago, J@son said:

 

there have been plenty of teams the past few years that have reached out to McDaniels for interviews.  he's either turned them down, or taken the interviews and then withdrawn himself from consideration.  I agree with you to an extent but let's save the hyperbole for somewhere else.  There have been plenty of other teams interested in him the past couple of years, including this  year.  Stop making it sound like the Colts and Ballard are the only ones that had any interest in him.

 

I never said we were the only team interested. It is being (and long has been) discussed on NFL Network and other media outlets that other franchises didn’t want anything to do with McDaniels, because of his past. It’s relevant information. 

[Reboot]

7 minutes ago, John Waylon said:

 

I keep seeing people say it’s all on McDaniels, but continually shying away from addressing this crucial point. 

 

You really shouldn’t argue that it’s all on McDaniels if you can’t provide a valid reason why Ballard shouldn’t have attempted to get a contract signed as soon as he verbally agreed. 

Because the earliest McDaniels could have signed a contract was after the Patriots loss.  There was no other time to get the contract to him, or him to the contract, which was supposed to happen today.  I suppose we can ask why wasn't it done Sunday night, Monday or Tuesday, but we all know the answer to that already.  McDaniels was in full tail spin mode changing his mind already. 

 

And that's one of the real problems here.  Making the worst teams wait the longest to sign coaches/coordinators from the best teams is counter intuitive, and is a hardship.  That rule has to change.  I see no conflict of interest in signing a contract which begins when a team is eliminated from the playoffs.  There has to be a better way of allowing the worst teams to land the best coordinators. 

[Yoshinator]

8 minutes ago, J@son said:

 

there have been plenty of teams the past few years that have reached out to McDaniels for interviews.  he's either turned them down, or taken the interviews and then withdrawn himself from consideration.  I agree with you to an extent but let's save the hyperbole for somewhere else.  There have been plenty of other teams interested in him the past couple of years, including this  year.  Stop making it sound like the Colts and Ballard are the only ones that had any interest in him.

I will say this. If a team like the Titans had hired him after the Super Bowl, I don't think Kraft would have been so quick to offer McDaniels a raise and opportunity to keep him there. I think part of that is because he was coming here, to get us back for deflategate and the perfect revenge. Another team, Kraft may have not meddled with because it wasn't personal.

[BlueShoe]

14 minutes ago, John Waylon said:

So Ballard shouldn’t have actually attempted to get him to sign a contract before this morning?

 

The internet can be a complicated thing.  

 

I agree with you. McDaniels should have signed the deal Monday or we should have moved on to the next candidate. 

 

Could have used a fax, an email, had a lawyer fly to Boston, and so on. Options were abundant. 

[buccolts]

 

1 hour ago, BlueShoe said:

 

This. 

 

We have to accept that Chris Ballard owns some of this failure. It’s not completely his fault, but he owns this too. 

 

1 hour ago, csmopar said:

yeah, he does.  a small part but a part nevertheless

 

Great!

Now, can we move on from the blame game?

My god.

[csmopar]

1 minute ago, buccolts said:

 

 

 

Great!

Now, can we move on from the blame game?

My god.

yep! out of likes for the day but "like"

[BlueShoe]

6 minutes ago, buccolts said:

 

 

 

Great!

Now, can we move on from the blame game?

My god.

 

We all grow by making mistakes. It doesn’t make Ballard a failure because he failed at 1 thing. It makes him human. He will fail at other things too. He seems like the kind of person to learn a great deal from this experience. 

 

He extended the olive branch and tried to play nice with the Patriots. He got burnt. I don’t fault him for trying to repair the Colts/Patriots relationship. I do fault him for choosing McDaniels. It was a bad choice. I am sure Ballard is more than willing to own this mistake. 

[John Waylon]

3 minutes ago, Dirty Mudflaps said:

Because the earliest McDaniels could have signed a contract was after the Patriots loss.  There was no other time to get the contract to him, or him to the contract, which was supposed to happen today.  I suppose we can ask why wasn't it done Sunday night, Monday or Tuesday, but we all know the answer to that already.  McDaniels was in full tail spin mode changing his mind already. 

 

And that's one of the real problems here.  Making the worst teams wait the longest to sign coaches/coordinators from the best teams is counter intuitive, and is a hardship.  That rule has to change.  I see no conflict of interest in signing a contract which begins when a team is eliminated from the playoffs.  There has to be a better way of allowing the worst teams to land the best coordinators. 

 

This is 2018. We don’t have to have a big physical meeting to sign a contract. Contracts are signed via fax all the time. I can file my federal taxes with an electronic signature. 

 

Ballard could have had a contract in McDaniels hands within minutes of him verbally agreeing to take the job. Less than 5. 

 

Ballard knew there was a chance this could happen. He had a shortlist of names to interview if it did. Getting a contract signed would not have been even remotely difficult. 

 

Or maybe they did send him one and he just never signed it. Which goes back to my original thought that yesterday’s announcement was an attempt to coerce him into following through. 

 

Its not not fair to solely blame McDaniels here. 90%? Sure. Absolutely. He’s a real scumbag for what he’s done. 

 

But we didn’t seem to take the steps to prevent it, as easy as they were. 

[Reboot]

Just now, John Waylon said:

 

This is 2018. We don’t have to have a big physical meeting to sign a contract. Contracts are signed via fax all the time. I can file my federal taxes with an electronic signature. 

 

Ballard could have had a contract in McDaniels hands within minutes of him verbally agreeing to take the job. Less than 5. 

 

Ballard knew there was a chance this could happen. He had a shortlist of names to interview if it did. Getting a contract signed would not have been even remotely difficult. 

 

Or maybe they did send him one and he just never signed it. Which goes back to my original thought that yesterday’s announcement was an attempt to coerce him into following through. 

 

Its not not fair to solely blame McDaniels here. 90%? Sure. Absolutely. He’s a real scumbag for what he’s done. 

 

But we didn’t seem to take the steps to prevent it, as easy as they were. 

 

When did he verbally agree?  Sunday night two minutes after they lost a Super Bowl?  That's the earliest he could sign a contract.  So we're talking about Monday and Tuesday.  I agree with your original thought - sensing a change of heart, the Colts played the produce or get off the pot card, announcing the agreement.  Forcing his hand. 

 

If we find, when all this dust settles, that McDaniels made it clear from the start he wasn't sure, needed more time to discuss this with his family, then Ballard can own his share of this mess.  And if that ends up being the case, I'd put all the blame on Ballard.  If a candidate for any position in the organization showed any hesitation they'd be removed from candidate my list forever.  If Ballard was led down the primrose path then this whole discussion is different. 

[mirobi48]

This is all on Ballard, remember he scouted the coaches 

[throwing BBZ]

3 hours ago, BlueShoe said:

 

Irsay said in the 2017 season finale press conference that he would pretty much rubber stamp the guy Chris Ballard chooses. 

 

Dungy was a different situation. He was absolutely Irsay’s guy, but Polian was 100% on board too.

 

It’s not good management to be in the situation we are in. Chris Ballard is the manager, and even though he was duped and led the wrong way, he is partly responsible. He chose Josh McDaniels. It was his decision. 

 

He wasn't duped you ___ _____!   Pathetic! nonsense