Subscribe
Jobs
Cars
Real Estate
Apts
Classifieds
Shop
I hope Jim Caldwell is behind closed doors somewhere cracking jokes, laughing about how he outsmarted Bill Belichick or putting together a scrapbook of press clippings.
Something. Anything.
It just doesn’t seem like the guy is having any fun, and that’s a shame. What the Colts have done under his watch is amazing. They’re 13-0, look as if they have a legitimate shot at becoming the first team in history to go 19-0, and they’re doing it with a lineup full of inexperienced players.
Only five other coaches in NFL history have been in this position since the NFL went to a 14-game schedule in 1961 – Belichick, Tony Dungy, Dan Reeves, Don Shula and Sean Payton, who’s doing it this season with New Orleans.
None of those coaches were rookies, though.
In fact, the best start by a rookie coach until Caldwell? The great Potsy Clark’s 8-0 run in 1931 with the Portsmouth Spartans.
Caldwell couldn’t care less about his place in NFL history, though. He doesn’t seem to be relishing it one iota.
“It’s really not about me, to be honest with you. This is a players’ game,” Caldwell said. “We have to give some guidance and direction but those guys that take the field for us make a huge difference. And the other thing is, I’m really just kind of building upon what Tony (Dungy) had established here. I’ve been here for seven years. It was fairly easy for me to have a good understanding of what worked well, and the things that I thought we needed to adjust and change we changed. And thank goodness things have worked out well for us.”
It’s wonderful that Caldwell is placing the credit for the Colts’ success, heading into today’s road game against the Jacksonville Jaguars (7-6), on his players. He’s cognizant that there’s an NFL-record 22-game regular-season winning streak going on, and that things were running smoothly before he took over.
Caldwell doesn’t want to be perceived as the catalyst for the Colts’ greatness. I get that. But Caldwell just doesn’t give any insight into how he feels about this, and that’s unfortunate. Fans want to know their players and coaches are having fun, and Caldwell doesn’t seem to be enjoying this. Whenever he’s asked what all this success means to him personally, he ignores the question without so much as a smile.
Coaches don’t like revealing strategy, thought processes or personal tastes. But Dungy was so colorful, relaying stories of days of yore and paralleling it with his own team, every time he spoke it was like getting a lesson.
Caldwell has gone the other way, mastering the art of the Belichick news conference, where much talking is done but nothing is said. But I hope that out of the public eye he is relishing some of his amazing coaching.
The decision to hire defensive coordinator Larry Coyer was genius. The faith in rookie cornerbacks Jerraud Powers and Jacob Lacey has been rewarded. Caldwell has made household names out of Pierre Garcon and Clint Session.
If Caldwell has done this in his first four months, what could he do in the next four years?
“Players have responded to his style,” quarterback Peyton Manning said. “They’ve bought into his philosophy and players are playing hard for him, which ultimately I feel like is the main thing. That’s what’s happened so far.”
Yet no one will tell us what Caldwell’s style is, or what he’s really like. I hope we get to find out if this incredible run continues.
