HC Search Discussion Thread

[NFLfan]

18 minutes ago, NewColtsFan said:

And LeMonte told McDaniels NOT to back out of the deal.  And when JM did anyway, LeMonte fired him as a client.   Ballard did nothing wrong. 

 

I recall that. IIRC, he told McDaniels that he was committing "professional suicide" if he backed out of his verbal agreement with the Colts to be their next head coach. McDaniels still did well for himself but he lost a lot of respect. 

[ojsglove]

16 minutes ago, NewColtsFan said:

I’m sorry that after 5 years you think Ballard screwed up the McDaniels hire.  He didn’t.   McDaniels did.  
 

Did you know that Ballard and McDaniels shared the same agent?   He’s Bob LeMonte, considered the top agent for coaches and execs.  And LeMonte told McDaniels NOT to back out of the deal.  And when JM did anyway, LeMonte fired him as a client.   Ballard did nothing wrong. 
And his credibility was so damaged, that he was voted GM of the year after the 2018 season, Frank’s first year. 
 

Ballard has twice been voted fairest GM to deal with by agents.   And is repeatedly acknowledged as one of the best judges of talent.  
 

CB is not perfect.  He’s made plenty of mistakes that have been widely discussed right here.   But CB didn’t lose any credibility over the McDaniels situation.  McDaniels did. 

 

Sorry for the long rant. 

I do know all of that.  Ballards record since he has been our GM speaks for itself.  My opinion is Ballard is treading water, The team has regressed since he came on board.

[Superman]

52 minutes ago, ojsglove said:

I am probably the biggest supporter of Jeff being the new HC on the forum,  after reading your post I have to agree with most of it.  In my opinion This team's credibility has been suspect since Ballard screwed up trying to hire Mcdaniels, and settled on hiring Reich.  The team culture started to decline at that moment, and has been in the decline ever since.  I still think Saturday can be a successful HC for us, I think he already has the players endorsement and I think the attitude and the culture of the team would greatly improve if he is named our new HC.

 

The McDaniels situation did not have a negative effect on the Colts reputation. They actually came out looking pretty good in that situation, and won a playoff game the following season. Things were going well for the Colts until the following summer, when the Andrew Luck situation started to go sideways.

[NewColtsFan]

6 minutes ago, ojsglove said:

I do know all of that.  Ballards record since he has been our GM speaks for itself.  My opinion is Ballard is treading water, The team has regressed since he came on board.

That’s fine.   But that’s not what you said that I was responding to.   Your position was that Ballard screwed up the McDaniels  deal and he has lacked credibility ever since.   
 

I’ve simply tried to demonstrate that those views are incorrect.   I’m NOT trying to convince you that Ballard is great and you should like him.   Ballard is on a very hot seat and has only himself to blame.  Whether he can dig his way out of this mess is anyone’s guess.   I hope so, but I’m not as optimistic as I once was. 

[ojsglove]

1 minute ago, Superman said:

 

The McDaniels situation did not have a negative effect on the Colts reputation. They actually came out looking pretty good in that situation, and won a playoff game the following season. Things were going well for the Colts until the following summer, when the Andrew Luck situation started to go sideways.

How much longer are you going to blame the Luck situation on the current situation this team is in??

[ojsglove]

10 minutes ago, NewColtsFan said:

That’s fine.   But that’s not what you said that I was responding to.   Your position was that Ballard screwed up the McDaniels  deal and he has lacked credibility ever since.   
 

I’ve simply tried to demonstrate that those views are incorrect.   I’m NOT trying to convince you that Ballard is great and you should like him.   Ballard is on a very hot seat and has only himself to blame.  Whether he can dig his way out of this mess is anyone’s guess.   I hope so, but I’m not as optimistic as I once was. 

I appreciate your opinion but it is my opinion that the Pat's made a fool out of Ballard and Mcdaniels never had any intention of coming to Indy.

[ojsglove]

I'm calling a personal foul on myself, this thread is about our new HC,  Sorry for the interruption.

[bluephantom87]

6 hours ago, richard pallo said:

Glenn made the final four.  I know a couple of pod casters in Detroit really love the guy and are sweating bullets right now.   They said he really commands the room and is a natural leader.  Similar to what we know about Morris and Saturday.  I can’t remember what Ballard said about what he would be looking for in a HC but I would think leadership skills would be up there.  We will know very soon but I don’t think we should be sleeping on Glenn.  He has impressed no doubt.

 

Ahh the old leader of men again... I wonder how many wins does that amount to with that trio? I see the guys played real hard down the stretch for that leader of men Jeff Saturday to finish a whooping 1-7 (.125 win %) record. If not for Gilmore's game saver in the endzone Jeff would've gone WINLESS. Yikes! How about that awful defense that Glenn has been running in Detroit the past couple of years? It was ranked dead last a season ago and wasn't much better this season. You talk about the TWO podcasters sweating bullets but the fans want him gone. Lol Morris has been a leader of men for two different franchises as hc and has garnered less than stellar results with an overall winning percentage of .356 but some are on here knocking the guy whose offense is in the SB. I don't know if Steichen is a "leader of men" or not but I DO know from what I've seen from the OTHER three is that he doesn't need to do much to be an improvement.

[jonjon]

19 minutes ago, ojsglove said:

How much longer are you going to blame the Luck situation on the current situation this team is in??

That blame has a long leash IMO. With him we may have won another SB by now and probably been an annual contender.

[danlhart87]

5 minutes ago, ojsglove said:

I'm calling a personal foul on myself, this thread is about our new HC,  Sorry for the interruption.

[jonjon]

3 minutes ago, bluephantom87 said:

 

Ahh the old leader of men again... I wonder how many wins does that amount to with that trio? I see the guys played real hard down the stretch for that leader of men Jeff Saturday to finish a whooping 1-7 (.125 win %) record. If not for Gilmore's game saver in the endzone Jeff would've gone WINLESS.

Yes and that's hard to believe, given that stud of an offense he was dealing with. I guess that's why Reich got another HC job despite having similar success.

 

I'm hardly advocating for Saturday as HC but - smh

[NewColtsFan]

7 minutes ago, ojsglove said:

I appreciate your opinion but it is my opinion that the Pat's made a fool out of Ballard and Mcdaniels never had any intention of coming to Indy.

That’s your opinion.   But the known evidence is that McDaniels is the one who made a fool of himself and has suffered for it. 
 

Plus, Ballard turned right around, hired Frank Reich, went 10-6, won a playoff game and was named GM of the year in 2018.    And what you view as a tired excuse the NFL understands.   
 

No one is blaming 2022 on Luck.  The problems of this year are far beyond Lucks  unexpected retirement.  This is Ballard’s mess.  He has to clean it up.   

[Indyfan4life]

42 minutes ago, ojsglove said:

I do know all of that.  Ballards record since he has been our GM speaks for itself.  My opinion is Ballard is treading water, The team has regressed since he came on board.

Is that why he won GM of the year in 2018? Not defending the guy, but saying the team has regressed since he’s been here is a bit of a stretch. 

[Superman]

42 minutes ago, ojsglove said:

How much longer are you going to blame the Luck situation on the current situation this team is in??

 

To be clear, I'm not blaming the Luck situation for the team's current condition.

[t-rex]

2 hours ago, Superman said:

 

I think all of this is unnecessarily harsh. No, he was not a good coach by any measure. But he didn't give his word that he was going to step aside if his eight games didn't go well. He made an off hand comment suggesting he might not even decide to pursue the permanent job. But people are acting like he promised to bow out if he didn't win a certain number of games, and he did not.

 

Fair post. However, I think there were people who left that initial press conference believing Saturday was there to help the Colts. And that if he failed (which he did by every reasonable measure possible) he would step down-but would continue to help the franchise as the all time legendary Colt he is. 

 

He has done none of that.  What he has done is seek to take advantage of a unique relationship with a team owner for personal gain. It's not illegal. It's not wrong. It absolutely doesn't make him a bad person. It just means he's not special. He's just like everyone else.

 

And to some of us, that is even more disappointing than his head coaching skills, which were really, really, really bad.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Yoshinator]

As far as Ballard hiring a HC goes, I do have some reservations with it. He's made two choices so far. One we hired, and one we didn't. One was Frank Reich, and at his highest point, he was an average coach in the NFL. At his worst before he got fired, he was a bottom 5 coach. The other coach is Josh McDaniels. Before we hired him, he had a stint with the Denver Broncos where he had a 11-17 record, and we can say afterwards in hindsight that he was 6-11 in Las Vegas. That is important because it showed even if he was the coach, that he probably wouldn't have grown much from his days in Denver that even 5 years later after rejecting the Colts job, he still went 6-11. He's an overrated Belichick disciple.

 

So why do we trust Ballard with the coaching staff either? Because he won't hire Saturday. That's what we've sunk to out of desperation unfortunately.

 

[t-rex]

8 minutes ago, Jared Cisneros said:

As far as Ballard hiring a HC goes, I do have some reservations with it. He's made two choices so far. One we hired, and one we didn't. One was Frank Reich, and at his highest point, he was an average coach in the NFL. At his worst before he got fired, he was a bottom 5 coach. The other coach is Josh McDaniels. Before we hired him, he had a stint with the Denver Broncos where he had a 11-17 record, and we can say afterwards in hindsight that he was 6-11 in Las Vegas. That is important because it showed even if he was the coach, that he probably wouldn't have grown much from his days in Denver that even 5 years later after rejecting the Colts job, he still went 6-11. He's an overrated Belichick disciple.

 

So why do we trust Ballard with the coaching staff either? Because he won't hire Saturday. That's what we've sunk to out of desperation unfortunately.

 

 

Excellent perspective.

 

Ballard's first hire was McDaniels. Thus far, with two teams he has proven to be a terrible coach.

 

Ballard's second hire was Reich.  He won just 1 playoff game in 5 years. The Colts are the only team in the weak AFC South to not win the division in his tenure.  He missed the playoffs in 3/5 years.

 

That is not a good record. Let's hope the third time's the charm.

[Stephen]

10 minutes ago, t-rex said:

 

Excellent perspective.

 

Ballard's first hire was McDaniels. Thus far, with two teams he has proven to be a terrible coach.

 

Ballard's second hire was Reich.  He won just 1 playoff game in 5 years. The Colts are the only team in the weak AFC South to not win the division in his tenure.  He missed the playoffs in 3/5 years.

 

That is not a good record. Let's hope the third time's the charm.

Now I will blame that on Luck. Reich is probably still the coach if Luck hadnt retired

[t-rex]

24 minutes ago, Stephen said:

Now I will blame that on Luck. Reich is probably still the coach if Luck hadnt retired

 

The NFL is tough. It is unfair. Everyone is set up to fail.

 

Reich had 4 full seasons without Luck. This included one year with his "hand picked" guy at QB.

 

He failed.

 

The Luck retirement was a legitimate excuse in 2019.  Today it is not.

 

[Stephen]

2 hours ago, t-rex said:

 

The NFL is tough. It is unfair. Everyone is set up to fail.

 

Reich had 4 full seasons without Luck. This included one year with his "hand picked" guy at QB.

 

He failed.

 

The Luck retirement was a legitimate excuse in 2019.  Today it is not.

 

Actually it is as we have yet to find a suitable replacement and the next head coach will fail as well if we dont get stability at the qb position

[Hawkeyecolt]

Leonard didn’t say anything that he hadn’t said a few weeks back.  He likes Jeff because he shut Leonard down and told him to get his nerve fixed.  He likes Jeff because he yells and holds players accountable.  He not the only coach who can do that. There are real coaches with experience who can do that. Unfortunately, Jeff didn’t hold himself accountable at his year end press conference.  
 

When Darius was asked if Irsay and Ballard had asked his opinion the answer was no.  This Leonard thing is a big nothing burger.  Have we heard of Colts players campaigning for Saturday?   No.  The Panthers players actually campaigned for Wilkes.  The Raiders’ players actually campaigned for Bisaccia.  That meant nothing in the end.  Leonard liking Jeff means nothing. 
 

Players aren’t going to bury Saturday publicly nor would Ballard.  I guarantee the majority of that team is hoping for someone other than Saturday.  They all saw him standing there looking like a deer caught in the headlights at the end of the Pittsburgh game.  
 

I’m happy to read that Ballard is making the decision.  I feel confident it won’t be Saturday.  I won’t say 100% because Ballard while accepting his share of the blame also fell on the sword for Irsay at the end of season press conference.  

[JColts72]

Hope this ordeal ends soon enough early this week. 

[bluephantom87]

5 hours ago, Jared Cisneros said:

As far as Ballard hiring a HC goes, I do have some reservations with it. He's made two choices so far. One we hired, and one we didn't. One was Frank Reich, and at his highest point, he was an average coach in the NFL. At his worst before he got fired, he was a bottom 5 coach. The other coach is Josh McDaniels. Before we hired him, he had a stint with the Denver Broncos where he had a 11-17 record, and we can say afterwards in hindsight that he was 6-11 in Las Vegas. That is important because it showed even if he was the coach, that he probably wouldn't have grown much from his days in Denver that even 5 years later after rejecting the Colts job, he still went 6-11. He's an overrated Belichick disciple.

 

So why do we trust Ballard with the coaching staff either? Because he won't hire Saturday. That's what we've sunk to out of desperation unfortunately.

 

 

That is the reason the underwhelming old school Ballard (as far as wins and contention) should have been let go along with Reich. There should have been a fresh start with a new more progressive vision from the gm position because basically the Colts are now in a REBUILD / reboot type of mode anyway going into year SEVEN of Ballard's minimum result tenure. His hot seat shouldn't be based on IF he gets the hc hire right or IF he drafts the RIGHT qb. Which by the way has been a logical OPTION since Luck's abrupt retirement YEARS ago. OTHER gms had the VISION in that very SAME span to make moves to draft their desired young qb. Look at the afc alone. Ballard on the other hand has repeatedly CHOSEN to go the aging vet route to pair with his marginally talented roster LACKING at the premium positions. I had hope for change based on his season ending presser where he took responsibility for his approach that has lacked the desired outcomes in a RESULT driven league. Ballard promised to change some things after the season ended with a EARNED 4th pick overall. I'm not impressed with any of his trio of JAG caliber "leader of men" types in Saturday, Morris or Glenn who are being "reported" as three of the remaining four finalists.

 

This will be Ballard's coaching call by ALL accounts including Irsay's. Many are pleased with that news because they are under the assumption that the HISTORICALLY awful "trial run" Saturday WON'T be the hire for Ballard BUT I ask, Why did he even get a formal interview? Why did he get a SECOND interview and MORE importantly WHY is he one of the reported FINALISTS? Scapegoat? Maybe but I believe it falls in line with Ballard's old school mentality of yesteryear with the need for that now overrated "leader of men" narrative. This is not the military. In TODAY'S nfl you need a progressive mindset that can RELATE to the HIGHLY paid athletes. One who is NOT stuck in his ways but can DEVELOP and ADAPT to his players said skillsets. An X's and O's type guru. Some believe you should simply TRUST Ballard's hc decision based on the general narrative that he's a "great" gm which was backed EARLY in his tenure with the 2018 Executive of the Year award. Guess what? Wasn't a fan but Ryan Grigson has one also.

[csmopar]

11 hours ago, Stephen said:

Imagine if at halftime steichen was announced head coach and beniemy oc

We’d get hit with fines

[Restinpeacesweetchloe]

I might be wrong here but I believe Reich was more of a Irsay hire. After McDaniels backed out Irsay asked for Polians help and they landed on Reich.

[csmopar]

8 hours ago, t-rex said:

 

Excellent perspective.

 

Ballard's first hire was McDaniels. Thus far, with two teams he has proven to be a terrible coach.

 

Ballard's second hire was Reich.  He won just 1 playoff game in 5 years. The Colts are the only team in the weak AFC South to not win the division in his tenure.  He missed the playoffs in 3/5 years.

 

That is not a good record. Let's hope the third time's the charm.

To be fair, there was no one really left when McDaniels backed out. 
 

reich was really the only choice available. And he could have done far worse. 
 

but I think that’s why we’ve seen the type of search we’ve seen this year. They want a full book of candidates.

[Restinpeacesweetchloe]

2 minutes ago, Restinpeacesweetchloe said:

I might be wrong here but I believe Reich was more of a Irsay hire. After McDaniels backed out Irsay asked for Polians help and they landed on Reich.

So in a way this will be the first time Ballard actually gets the coach he wants as long as the first choice wants the job.

[richard pallo]

8 hours ago, t-rex said:

 

The NFL is tough. It is unfair. Everyone is set up to fail.

 

Reich had 4 full seasons without Luck. This included one year with his "hand picked" guy at QB.

 

He failed.

 

The Luck retirement was a legitimate excuse in 2019.  Today it is not.

 

Reich left the Colts with an overall winning record and one playoff appearance.  Given all of the issues he dealt with at quarterback that reflects on him pretty well among NFL circles I would say.  He was the 1st coach hired this year too.  Not saying he’s a great coach but as you say the NFL is tough and unfair.  For a 1st time head coach he did pretty well under the circumstances and rebounded extremely fast in securing a second opportunity.  Apparently the league doesn’t consider his time with the Colts a failure.  Just saying.

[Jackie Daytona]

30 minutes ago, bluephantom87 said:

 

That is the reason the underwhelming old school Ballard (as far as wins and contention) should have been let go along with Reich. There should have been a fresh start with a new more progressive vision from the gm position because basically the Colts are now in a REBUILD / reboot type of mode anyway going into year SEVEN of Ballard's minimum result tenure. His hot seat shouldn't be based on IF he gets the hc hire right or IF he drafts the RIGHT qb. Which by the way has been a logical OPTION since Luck's abrupt retirement YEARS ago. OTHER gms had the VISION in that very SAME span to make moves to draft their desired young qb. Look at the afc alone. Ballard on the other hand has repeatedly CHOSEN to go the aging vet route to pair with his marginally talented roster LACKING at the premium positions. I had hope for change based on his season ending presser where he took responsibility for his approach that has lacked the desired outcomes in a RESULT driven league. Ballard promised to change some things after the season ended with a EARNED 4th pick overall. I'm not impressed with any of his trio of JAG caliber "leader of men" types in Saturday, Morris or Glenn who are being "reported" as three of the remaining four finalists.

 

This will be Ballard's coaching call by ALL accounts including Irsay's. Many are pleased with that news because they are under the assumption that the HISTORICALLY awful "trial run" Saturday WON'T be the hire for Ballard BUT I ask, Why did he even get a formal interview? Why did he get a SECOND interview and MORE importantly WHY is he one of the reported FINALISTS? Scapegoat? Maybe but I believe it falls in line with Ballard's old school mentality of yesteryear with the need for that now overrated "leader of men" narrative. This is not the military. In TODAY'S nfl you need a progressive mindset that can RELATE to the HIGHLY paid athletes. One who is NOT stuck in his ways but can DEVELOP and ADAPT to his players said skillsets. An X's and O's type guru. Some believe you should simply TRUST Ballard's hc decision based on the general narrative that he's a "great" gm which was backed EARLY in his tenure with the 2018 Executive of the Year award. Guess what? Wasn't a fan but Ryan Grigson has one also.

Maybe.  What Great QBs did he have a realistic shot at drafting?  Herbert?  Hurts?  Not Lawrence or any top guys outside of the Herbert year.... I know I'm missing some, but it is t like there have been a large group of above avg. To great QBs. Within trading picks for range, that Ballard has just said thanks but no thanks to....

[Restinpeacesweetchloe]

 

[Indyfan4life]

3 minutes ago, Restinpeacesweetchloe said:

 

Yeah, NFL Network just said the same thing basically.

[Restinpeacesweetchloe]

 

[Restinpeacesweetchloe]

From story 

 

As for the Colts, owner Jim Irsay has kept things close to the vest. But the belief is Eagles offensive coordinator Shane Steichen is considered a strong candidate in Indy, as well. Irsay has whittled the candidate list to a select few, with Rams defensive coordinator Raheem Morris, Packers special teams coach Rich Bisaccia and interim coach Jeff Saturday also among those still alive. Sources say Saturday's candidacy is not as strong as it once was.

[Restinpeacesweetchloe]

 

[John Waylon]

So basically the big news today is that we now know what has been assumed here already for days. 
 

[coming on strong]

22 minutes ago, Restinpeacesweetchloe said:

From story 

 

As for the Colts, owner Jim Irsay has kept things close to the vest. But the belief is Eagles offensive coordinator Shane Steichen is considered a strong candidate in Indy, as well. Irsay has whittled the candidate list to a select few, with Rams defensive coordinator Raheem Morris, Packers special teams coach Rich Bisaccia and interim coach Jeff Saturday also among those still alive. Sources say Saturday's candidacy is not as strong as it once was.

my opinion is its shane who is number 1  and its not announced until a deal is signed .    if shane backs out its morris  so the colts are being smart by waiting .

[DZS13]

1 minute ago, coming on strong said:

my opinion is its shane who is number 1  and its not announced until a deal is signed .    if shane backs out its morris  so they colts are being smart by waiting .

Totally agree with this. Steichen is their guy, but won’t announce it until the ink is dry 

[OLD FAN MAN]

12 hours ago, ojsglove said:

I do know all of that.  Ballards record since he has been our GM speaks for itself.  My opinion is Ballard is treading water, The team has regressed since he came on board.

if ballard is such a great judge of football talent why did the colts only win 4 games in 2022? oh i know it was franks fault!!!!!!lol

[Indeee]

I'm not sure if it's been stated but the final four are:

 

Morris

Glenn

Saturday

Steichen

 

Bienemy's agent said this morning that Eric still has an outside shot, but I believe this isn't accurate. 

 

Bienemy

Biassaci

Kafka

Callahan

Martindale all eliminated.

[Moosejawcolt]

11 hours ago, NewColtsFan said:

That’s fine.   But that’s not what you said that I was responding to.   Your position was that Ballard screwed up the McDaniels  deal and he has lacked credibility ever since.   
 

I’ve simply tried to demonstrate that those views are incorrect.   I’m NOT trying to convince you that Ballard is great and you should like him.   Ballard is on a very hot seat and has only himself to blame.  Whether he can dig his way out of this mess is anyone’s guess.   I hope so, but I’m not as optimistic as I once was. 

Who even says that Ballaard had  much credibility  before he  even got the  job and then after? I mean Irsay talks him up as the 2nd coming as did the media. However, none of here truly know what Ballard  is taught  of in league circles.