A bomb was dropped on #ColtsNation Tuesday, when the organization announced that head coach Jim Caldwell had been relieved of his duties…aka fired. Although Caldwell’s job was anything but secure after enduring a 2-14 season, the firing still came as somewhat of a surprise, for the move conflicted with several recent reports that Caldwell would be retained. In response to the news, Colts players turned to Twitter to express their feelings regarding their head coach’s release. In this week’s edition of #HorseBytes, I’ll share with you what some members of the Blue and White had to say.
Similar to last week, when Ryan Grigson was hired as the Colts’ new GM, owner Jim Irsay took to Twitter to warn his followers of some impending Colts news.
I had some suspicion that the news would relate to Caldwell, for Irsay had announced at the end of last week that Grigson would be evaluating Caldwell in the near future. Although several Colts media sources had reported that Grigson and Irsay had collectively decided to keep Caldwell around for another season, that just didn’t make sense to me. For one, keeping Caldwell didn’t fit in with the “rebuilding” route that the Colts seemed to be taking. Additionally, I assumed that Grigson would want to bring in his own head coach: someone with whom he had an established relationship and connection. Irsay’s tweet reaffirmed my hunch. Caldwell’s firing was announced soon thereafter, and Colts players spoke out right away.
Robert Mathis probably said it best:
Caldwell did have some success during his tenure. He set an NFL record as a rookie head coach by winning his first 14 games. He led the Colts to the Super Bowl that season as well. Even this year, he kept the Colts fighting after they began the season 0-13 by willing them to win two games in a row, including a dramatic Thursday Night Football win over the division-winning Texans. He obviously had the respect of the locker room, but 2-14 is an awful record, no matter how you look at it. Irsay made a statement by firing Caldwell, letting it be known that losing isn’t something he’s going to accept or tolerate.
Pierre Garçon even tweeted from Haiti, where he is visiting his family and homeland.
Need I say more?
Other Colts had some kind parting words for Caldwell.
I’ll conclude #HorseBytes this week with an interesting tidbit of information from ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter.
So maybe Caldwell was doomed from the start. As Jim Irsay would say, maybe this is just fate spinning its wheels…
So who will be the Colts’ new head coach be? A better question is: How will this all affect Peyton Manning? There’s still a good amount of excitement in store for Coltsland this offseason, but you can be sure that social media will be sounding off on it and that #HorseBytes will be sharing it all with you.
Until next week, #ColtsNation!