Why the Colts Should Turn to a Familiar Face at Head Coach

For their next head coach, the Indianapolis Colts should turn to someone who's been there for them before.

To make it in the NFL as a head coach it’s great to know quarterbacks, offense, and the job itself.

Well, former Indianapolis Colts head coach/quarterbacks coach Jim Caldwell knows a thing or two about all three of those subjects.

He has a wealth of football knowledge, experience, leadership ability, and many forget, success. With this on the slate for the article, let’s jump into why Caldwell is a strong option for the position and why the Colts should act on this before another team does.

With current interim head coach Jeff Saturday’s monumental struggles in his short experience, it’s becoming clear he is not the coaching answer, especially if he finishes with a murky 1-7 record. With this being understood, there has been speculation of either current University of Michigan mastermind Jim Harbaugh or retired former New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton taking the reigns for the Colts.

It should be said this would be a very long, difficult, and massively expensive route to go for the Colts. The far simpler and more “bang for the buck” option is Caldwell, who has his hands in the coaching history of Indianapolis. With all of his years in the NFL, he has put together quite the résumé; let’s take a look.

Starting his career in 2001 with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as the quarterbacks coach, Caldwell would later move on and quickly find success by joining the Peyton Manning-led Colts in 2002. Caldwell was both the assistant and quarterbacks coach until 2008, taking a ring in Super Bowl XLI in 2006. After the 2008 season concluded, then-head coach Tony Dungy would call it a career. This would put Caldwell into the main role, where he would go to the Super Bowl right away with Manning, but ultimately lose to Payton and quarterback Drew Brees.

The next couple of years would be tough, especially the 2011 season where multiple quarterbacks labored to a 2-14 record in the absence of Manning. This would lead to Caldwell's firing, but he would go right to the Baltimore Ravens and take over the interim play-calling duties and quarterbacks again, helping quarterback Joe Flacco destroy everyone in the postseason (11 TDs to 0 INTs) and ultimately, defeat the Harbaugh-led San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl XLVII. Are you seeing a pattern here?

After being part of yet another championship team, Caldwell would take over as head coach for the Detroit Lions from 2014-17, where he would lead the Lions to two playoff appearances in 2014 and 2016. The team had only been to the postseason once in the 15 years prior to that. After his time in Detroit, Caldwell went to the Miami Dolphins to be, again, the quarterbacks and assistant head coach.

As a head coach, Caldwell has put together a respectable 62-50 record with 4 playoff appearances and an AFC championship and has won Super Bowls as an interim offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.

Is Caldwell the bright and shiny option? Not even close. Payton and Harbaugh are the kings of the coaching race in the NFL right now, regardless of what is to come. However, nobody is discussing how good Caldwell would be for a Colts team that is likely to draft a young quarterback who needs an experienced head coach that not only knows the NFL but has seen and done it all.

When it comes to experience and success, Caldwell checks every single box for the job.

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