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The Indianapolis Colts will report to the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology today for the opening of training camp.
While the site will be the same – camp has been held there for 11 years – this will be unique for the longtime Indianapolis players since the coaching staff is different.
There’s an almost entirely restructured coaching staff in the wake of Tony Dungy’s retirement – Jim Caldwell is the head coach, Clyde Christensen is the assistant head coach/receivers, Larry Coyer is the defensive coordinator and Ray Rychleski is coaching special teams – so it certainly won’t be business as usual in Terre Haute.
The overhauled and muddied status of the coaching staff tops The Journal Gazette’s top-10 story lines heading into camp:
Dungy was a masterful coach who won a Super Bowl, went 85-27 with Indianapolis and had six straight seasons with 12 or more victories. Thanks to solid work during training camp, the Colts were prepared and successful early in the season, going 21-4 in September. Caldwell, who has promised to shake things up, will have to make sure he doesn’t shake out the team’s early-season success.
The soap opera of the Colts’ coordinators continues, as Tom Moore and Howard Mudd are expected to be back on the field Monday – Moore as senior offensive coordinator and Mudd as senior offensive line coach. This comes after they resigned in May, citing concerns over the NFL’s pension program. They were later, vaguely, retained as consultants.
There has been great confusion among the players, since they had been led to believe that Christensen would be calling plays. Now, this seems to be a return to the offensive structure of last season. But all the uncertainty could affect the players.
The Colts made waves by drafting Connecticut running back Donald Brown in the first round, since they already had Joseph Addai, one season removed from the Pro Bowl. It was an indictment of Addai’s lack of improvement, and these two will battle for playing time, assuming Brown is signed.
Brown is the last player the Colts need to sign from the draft. The team announced the signings of defensive tackle Fili Moala, a second-round pick, and receiver Austin Collie, a fourth-round pick, on Saturday. Terms were not disclosed.
How unusual is this? No Marvin Harrison in camp, as the team released the surefire Hall of Fame receiver in the offseason. This puts the pressure squarely on the shoulders, er, the hands of Wayne, one of the best in the business. But someone else has to step up. If it’s not Anthony Gonzalez, the Colts have got problems.
It was either forgiving or a bit of hypocrisy when the Colts re-signed defensive tackle Ed Johnson less than a year after he was released because he was arrested on marijuana possession.
Johnson has had second, third and fourth chances in his college and pro football careers – mired by off-field problems – and he must behave himself.
Which Bob Sanders will we see this season? The one who was utterly dominant and won defensive player-of-the-year honors in 2007? Or the one who missed 10 games because of ankle and knee injuries last season? Being injury prone is nothing new for Sanders, but the Colts really could use his tackling – every game.
The Colts’ linebacking corps was mediocre last season – Indianapolis ranked 24th against the run – and the team neither drafted nor signed a marquee free agent at this position. If someone doesn’t step up, it’ll be Gary Brackett, Clint Session and Freddy Keiaho again.
The Colts have historically gone with only two quarterbacks. As Peyton Manning ages, maybe they’re rethinking that. They spent a sixth-round pick on Purdue’s Curtis Painter, who must impress to get a roster spot.
Hunter Smith is gone after 10 seasons as punter. Cue the battle between seventh-round pick Pat McAfee, a kicker/punter from West Virginia and rookie Tim Masthay from Kentucky.
Last season, despite myriad injuries and inexperience, the offensive line performed well. Youngsters Jamey Richard, Mike Pollak, Tony Ugoh and Steve Justice must not regress.
