Dilip Vishwanat - Getty Images
4 months ago: EARTH CITY, MO- JANUARY 17: New head coach Jeff Fisher of the St. Louis Rams addresses the media during a press conference at the Russell Training Center on January 17, 2012 in Earth City, Missouri. (Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images)
Remember several weeks ago when the Indianapolis Star's Bob Kravitz went on PFT Live with Mike Florio and said:
I can promise you that [the Colts] have already reached out to Jeff Fisher.
Then, a short time after PFT blew Kravit'zs words up all over the Internet, he went on Twitter and tried to claim:
To make it clear, I didn't tell @ProFootballTalk that Colts already reached out to Fisher. Said I wouldn't be surprised if they did.
At the time, I thought that Kravitz's silly attempt to make his remarks 'clear' sounded like backtracking after he blabbed potentially confidential info regarding Fisher to PFT. Two days after Kravitz's comments on PFT and Twitter, he tried to back off the Fisher-to-Colts story entirely, saying that Fisher wasn't "real high on the Colts priority list."
Kravitz's trip to PFT Live and his inept Twitter clarification afterward were all done before Jeff Fisher agreed to coach the St. Louis Rams. It was also prior to Jim Caldwell getting fired by the Indianapolis Colts.
Well, today, we learned this from St. Louis Post-Dispatch writer Jim Thomas:
League sources: Colts reached out to Jeff Fisher prior to firing Jim Caldwell and before Fisher accepted Rams job. But Fisher not interested
— Jim Thomas (@jthom1) January 17, 2012
I'm sure it's entirely possible that Bob was just speculating that the Colts were reaching out to Jeff Fisher at a time when they actually were reaching out to him. But, I doubt it. Not after he tried to make everyone pretend he didn't say what he clearly and definitively said.
I'm not bringing all this up just to pile things on Ole Bob. I just think the next time he lectures people like Jake Query about journalistic integrity that he make sure he doesn't do so standing in a glass house.
In any case, the news that the Colts were talking to head coaching candidates while Caldwell was still employed as the head coach is yet another example of the franchise wiping Caldwell across their naked bums like toilet paper. Personally, I'm glad Caldwell is no longer the head coach, and I would have been happy to see someone like Jeff Fisher replace him. But, for Jim Irsay to treat Caldwell the way he has in recent weeks is vomit-inducing.
Caldwell wasn't perfect, but he deserved to be treated with respect. Jim Irsay and the front office didn't do that.
0 recs | 60 comments
So, I think the main question is...
Why are all these potential candidates turning the job down? Money? Perception of the franchise? Something else?
I assumed the Colts would be a high profile destination for people considering the new direction, potential QB, etc…
What gives?
dnpayne - January 18, 2012
It says reached out to Fisher - not that he was offered the job...
maybe he didn’t want to coach in the same division as the team he coached for years. I think it’s a little early to start the “nobody wants to coach here” meme.
Yougotme - January 18, 2012
I was referring to this...
“League sources: Colts reached out to Jeff Fisher prior to firing Jim Caldwell and before Fisher accepted Rams job. But Fisher not interested”
Why wouldn’t he be interested?
dnpayne - January 18, 2012
Like I said...
maybe he didn’t want to coach in the same division as the Titans. Maybe he feels there is less “re-building” to do in St. Louis. Who knows – but to take a leap of “Why are all these potential candidates turning the job down?”
By all – does that mean one? Who else do we know of that’s been approached about the job beyond Fisher?
Yougotme - January 18, 2012
There have been many reports
over the last few weeks saying candidates have turned down interviews, and now the turn down by fischer and spags? That seems like a lot to me.
dnpayne - January 18, 2012
Really?
Who?
Spags wasn’t interviewed for the HC job.
Yougotme - January 18, 2012
Let me clarify...
I meant for all jobs (DC, GM, HC, etc…) not just the HC pos. Sorry.
dnpayne - January 18, 2012
I've heard it might have something
to do with control over certain parts of the overall operation. Irsay, I think, has made it clear he will have ultimate control. Maybe Fisher got more ‘say’ in St. Louis than Irsay was willing to give.
Ayrshire - January 18, 2012
Bingo
He was 80-20 on going to Miami, but they insisted on keeping their GM, according to John Clayton. That’s why HR is in St. Louis. They are letting him have more say in personnel decisions. I doubt Irsay would be open to giving up any of the control he recently regained.
PeytonTheManning - January 18, 2012
It says reached out to Fisher - not that he was offered the job...
Do I seriously have to spell this out for you? Really?
When you ‘reach out’ to a coaching candidate, YOU ARE TRYING TO HIRE THEM.
You aren’t inviting them over for donuts and coffee.
Mmmmmmmmmmm. Donuts. We were having a discussion on donuts in the comments yesterday, weren’t we? What’s the name of that donut place in Indy everyone love?
Brad Wells - January 18, 2012
What do you think
about all the refusals to interview over the past few weeks. It seems there were a couple refusals for the GM position, the DC position and now the HC position?
All the unknowns in Colts land turning folks off? Seems like it.
dnpayne - January 18, 2012
Yeah blueberry cake Is the shit
but so are so many other donuts..mmmm
dezznutz1001 - January 18, 2012
Roselyn?
Ayrshire - January 18, 2012
Longs donuts
ConroeColt - January 18, 2012 via mobile
10th Street?
Ayrshire - January 18, 2012
Yes sir!!!
ConroeColt - January 18, 2012 via mobile
Since I'm sure you're in HR or in a position to hire and fire people...
You know that you are constantly talking with potential candidates. Sometimes you make an offer and sometimes you don’t.
You really think that the Colts offer a job to every person “they reach out to”?
Unhinged.
Yougotme - January 18, 2012
And BBS...
Given the way you spell, I’m not sure it’d be much help if you did “spell this out” for me. But I do appreciate the offer.
Yougotme - January 18, 2012
So to be clear, Caldwell should be treated with respect by Irsay, but you can disrespect him by putting up a classless photoshop job celebrating the man losing his job.
Got it.
burc - January 18, 2012
You beat me to it.
Indcolt18 - January 18, 2012 via mobile
Every article on this site
Seems to be one part football, one part pissing contest with other media types here in Indy. Whether it is knocking Kravitz or complaining about something Nate Dunlevy said a year ago, every article seems to have an obligatory dig at some other writer. Reading about football is much more fun when the article is about football and not a continuation of a long-running dick measuring contest.
clnbailey - January 18, 2012
not sure why
but reading “long-running dick measuring contest” makes me laugh. I am on a similar humor level as JMV.
JHetfield99 - January 18, 2012
I Agree.................
……….with all those pointing out the childish, hypocratic behavior of the bloggers on this site. I think people need to start practicing what they preach and maybe grow up a little.
newyorkcoltsfan - January 18, 2012
Tell you what
I’d like you to back up that statement: ‘every article seems to have an obligatory dig at some other writer.’
Go back to aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaall the article I’ve written over the past, let’s say, month. From Dec. 18-today. Separate the articles where I took a dig at a writer from articles I didn’t, and then give us all a percentage.
Since I know for a fact it was not ALL, or even a majority, you’ll pardon me if I say, you don’t know WTF you’re talking about in this regard.
Brad Wells - January 18, 2012
Just on the main page
without getting into any archived material, there are 3 articles that call out other writers. The Jeff Fisher story and the report that Caldwell will be retained both called out Kravitz. The Spagnuolo story digs at Glazer and Schefter. Thats 3 of 4.
clnbailey - January 18, 2012
3 of 4 is 75%
since bbs asked for a percentage.
i love math
muncie_in_this - January 18, 2012
You really need to get over yourself, dude
Colts fan since 84, but fairly new to this site and about to be done with this site due to your napoleon complex, hypocrisy, and the declining quality of information here.
jweber326 - January 18, 2012
It's not a democracy here...
Posters won’t be happy until they learn that. We either choose to accept it or have no choice but to go elsewhere.
Sad but true!
(206)NightRidah - January 18, 2012 via mobile
just a question
What are the other colts blogs? Im looking to give some new ones a shot.
BiggRedd - January 18, 2012
ColtsAuthority.com
It’s a solid one. It’s a merger of a few other blogs. They just started up a month ago, so there are many more people on this blog for now.
PeytonTheManning - January 18, 2012
still a baby blog
Hope it grows, I like the general idea they have there and if it were to increase in traffic it would easily surpass this one.
soforizo - January 18, 2012
Colts Authority is pretty good...
I like to read both. This is a SB nation blog though and IMO the gold standard. I dont like some of the tones expressed but complaining isn’t going to do anything. They don’t really seem to care so it’s not worth the effort.
Overall the good outweighs the bad…coverage on the Polian purge was epic.
(206)NightRidah - January 18, 2012 via mobile
Colt Authority + SBNation format= winning.
James Broschat - January 19, 2012
Why was it disrespectful?
Wasn’t it made clear that Caldwell’s job was under evaluation? for me from this point on he’s more like an interim HC than anything else… He could have been reasigned, or let go (which ultimately happenned) or he could have been kept… either way once it was made clear to everyone that his job was under evaluation (and certainly Caldwell was aware of his situation) i don’t see why it is disrespectful for the Colts to exploit and try out every option…
Mvbastos - January 18, 2012
I can tell you why....
The Patriots have a winning record without Brady, the Steelers have a winning record without Ben, The Packers can win without Rodgers, (because they have build GREAT teams) and we went 2-14 without Manning. What everyone is seeing is that we are going into rebuilding mode and the only promising thing we had is 36 year old with 3 neck surgeries and essentially being shown the door more than likely. Dallas Clark is over-rated, Wayne is getting older, our running backs blow, Garcon is probably going to be our #1 (scary), Freeney and Mathis are getting older, we pay Brackett $7 mil a year and he’s not 1/2 as good as angerer. Polian has ran the franchise in the ground and rebuilding isn’t 1 or 2 years away more than likely 5 years. Anyone that actually knows football, can see that taking this coaching job and then not producing after a couple years because of lack of talent might get fired and look really bad.
chadm832 - January 18, 2012
Are you insane?
The Patriots winning record without Brady was a joke….their division was one of the worst in football for years. Not to mention that team was LOADED. You probably could have played QB and got them to .500 or better…
The Steelers have never won ANYTHING without Ben other than a few games here or there….they’ve never gone a whole season without him. Same for the Packers.
In fact, the last time a team lost a franchise QB and did anything was the 99 Rams…and they won the SB.
DevilsReject - January 18, 2012
The Steelers...
Won a SuperBowl with Big Ben playing like Curtis Painter.
kmbryant09 - January 18, 2012
i'm saying....
The steelers have a winning record without ben. They started 4-1 without him last year. He’s missed games in the past and they have a winning record without him. is what my post said, i didn’t say they won a sb without him moron. i don’t care what the patriots division looked like they went 11-5 with a qb that hadn’t started a game since high school. we went 2-14
chadm832 - January 18, 2012
They also
are built on defense. The Steelers have been, and always will be, built on defense. They won 4 SB’s with Terry freaking Bradshaw. They went to the SB with Kordell Stewart at QB.
The same thing is the same thing….. DEFENSE.
WHY do you think we kept losing to the Patriots in the early 2000’s? It was because of defense…
DevilsReject - January 18, 2012
Enough with the Doom and Gloom
With a viable QB the Colts would have gone 7-9 not 2-14. Do you realize that Orlovsky is a 3-4 stringer and Painter shouldn’t be in the league. A mediocre QB like Sanchez Flacco even David Garrard would be competitive not playoff worthy but competitive. Granted, The roster needs several upgrades but there is talent on the offensive side of the ball…
The Patrioits would not go 11-5 with Curtis Painter! Is Indy a playoff team? With a healthy Manning probably…with Luck? No. But they will be 5-11 6-10 range. They have young promising line a solid LB corp and decent WRs…what needs upgrading is the DTs and DBs hopefully Drake starts next year and they can get a Barron or Minnifield in the draft.
If Luck is good and they draft well with higher picks for 2 years by Lucks third year they will be a 10-11 win team…
Teams that go 3-13 every year have a revolving door at QB. With Luck that is unlikely for Indy. I expect him to be a pro bowl caliber QB
(206)NightRidah - January 18, 2012 via mobile
Eh...
Let me think about this for a minute…..
Ravens playoff win over Texans
Joe Flacco 14 of 27 for 176 51.9% 6.5yards per comp 5 sacks 2TDs 97.1 passer rating
Colts regular season win over Texans
Dan Orlovsky 23 of 41 for 244 56.1% 6.0yards per comp 3 sacks 1TD 81.8 passer rating
The Colts have more problems and more issues than the Ravens, and yet Orlovsky played better against the same team. Less time in the offense, less time starting, but equally impressive.
To put it bluntly, give Orlovsky a decent team and he would be a 2nd tier starter….and given a shot, I think he could be a good QB on a team like the Jets or the Broncos or even the 49ers… the problem has been he went to teams like the Lions (craphole) the Texans (minor craphole) and then to the Vikings behind Favre..
DevilsReject - January 18, 2012
i rec'd ya
but its funny, both “craphole” teams made the play-offs this year
dezznutz1001 - January 18, 2012
Yeah they did
but the Texans went for the first time in their almost 10 year history and the Lions were going on like 12 years….
DevilsReject - January 18, 2012
Orlovsky sucks...
Just because he is better than CP7 doesn’t make him respectable.
(206)NightRidah - January 18, 2012 via mobile
If you think beating
A 3rd string rookie at home is impressive good for you…
(206)NightRidah - January 18, 2012 via mobile
Countless
Quarterbacks have been tossed to the wayside not because of talent but because of the piss poor teams they landed with. Joey Harrington put up better numbers as a QUARTERBACK than Mike Vick, but all anyone can talk about is how Vick is soooo talented… and he can run the ball.
Vick landed on a halfway decent team while guys like Harrington, Orlovsky, Carr all landed on teams so bad even your local college team could have beaten them…
I’m not saying Orlovsky is the next Kurt Warner, but the guys is a decent middle of the pack win you some games QB. Given a decent team, I believe he can do just that. Some guys just need a fresh start.
DevilsReject - January 18, 2012
He is awful...
Only difference with him and Painter is that he has more pocket presence…
They won those games because the D played better…
(206)NightRidah - January 18, 2012 via mobile
The Pats will not win the Super Bowl
because they built this latest version of their team just like the Colts. The other 3 teams have great defenses and that is what wins Super Bowls. Irsay learned his lesson about that and is correcting it for the future.
GrizzColt - January 18, 2012
The Pats wont win
because their defense has more holes than swiss cheese. But your opinion is spot on about the Colts/Pats example
DevilsReject - January 18, 2012
Nope...
Per Irsay’s twitter
coltsfan723 - January 18, 2012
I love this...
Irsay is personally shooting down every rumor being spread.
VERNON HOWELL - January 18, 2012 via Android app
this is rich
and then this
http://www.stampedeblue.com/2012/1/17/2715121/image-fanshot
muncie_in_this - January 18, 2012
Apples & Oranges
One is making fun of a guy as the HC….the other is blatantly going behind your HC back while he is still employed trying to hire someone else.
HUGE DIFFERENCE
DevilsReject - January 18, 2012
tacky or less tacky
its all the same to me
muncie_in_this - January 18, 2012
that was supposed to be a response but yeah. whatever
muncie_in_this - January 18, 2012
Hypocrisy here is incredible
Treat Caldwell with respect? I haven’t seen an ounce of respect for him in any of your posts in 2011, BBS. Lecturing Kravitz on “lecturing about journalistic integrity” is a bit more than the pot calling the kettle black.
And surveying the landscape for replacements while making your decision on who will be in the HC position is less disrespect than the lampooning of him that has gone on here.
clnbailey has it right. This blog should be about Football and the Colts, not one author’s disdain for the media (which is kind of the same think he kept using against Pollian, now that I think of it—again with the hypocrisy.)
DubsSon - January 18, 2012
Journalistic integrity
You had to look those words up in a dictionary, didn’t you?
Mike Uhrich - January 18, 2012
Kravitz is a journalist.
BBS is a blogger.
HUGE DIFFERENCE.
Peter Storgaard - January 18, 2012
So what's your point exactly?
…that BBS lacks integrity? Or that it wouldn’t matter if he lacks it? I very much doubt he would like to think of himself as otherwise; but it really isn’t a question about integrity anyways. Kravitz would be doing the same thing to BBS if the roles were turned around; they both have similar styles, the difference being that Kravitz has a much larger podium to speak from. You can love them, hate them or a little of both.
soforizo - January 18, 2012
None of you know crap
can’t believe anything you read here. I’ll just wait to hear it on Sirius NFL channel. Takes away the guessing and all the drama. Got enough drama in my life without the drama queens on this site.
DaveColts - January 18, 2012
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