Having a 2-14 record in any season is hard to endure. It’s difficult for the fans, the team and, most of all, the owner. And once the owner gets mad, changes aren’t far behind. Change is happening all over the place in Indianapolis. It started with owner Jim Irsay’s removal of GM Bill Polian and his son Chris, and it continued Tuesday with the firing of coach Jim Caldwell.
Now the Colts start over with new GM Ryan Grigson, a 39-year-old former Eagles executive, in control. Grigson is faced with some huge problems. The number one issue is not what to do with Peyton Manning. The real question is what type of team Grigson is going to build. Does he want to have a big team? A small, fast team? A team that does not care about size or speed and just cares about finding good football players? Grigson must set the direction, and it begins with having a grading system for draft prospects that highlights the players Grigson envisions for the team.
What the Colts need is someone with a unique understanding of football who has been a success on every level. They must not make a decision based on what is best for the team right now. They must make a decision that is good for today, but even better for tomorrow. With that in mind, if I were in Grigson’s shoes, I would spend time with University of Oregon coach Chip Kelly and try to convince him to become the next head coach of the Colts. Kelly is smart, innovative and has an appetite for learning.
Some might say college coaches don’t know pro football and to a degree this is true. But intelligent people learn quickly and Kelly is super smart. Do you think Jimmy Johnson was ready for pro football when he came into the NFL in 1989? No, but by 1991, he was ready. Johnson was smart, energetic, creative, convicted in his thoughts and could lay down a foundation for new owner Jerry Jones. This is what the Colts need right now.
