Lucky sidekicks manage to do well in life by knowing that it just doesn’t cut out to chase anyone. Can you imagine Robin, for example, leaving Batman at random to let Batman command his fleet? Holy shit, the bad guys are having a field day with the boy wonder man! When Tony Dungy retired from the Indianapolis Colts in 2009, I’m sure I saw Jim Caldwell as a sidekick who bit. a big role in getting a vacant coaching job, and he pretty much lived up to that billing. He was able to ride the wave of a talented young team until Peyton Manning retired in 2011, then Caldwell’s weaknesses as a leader were exposed for all to see. He was relieved of his duties by the owner of Jim Irsay’s house cleaning in early 2012, and again landed under the office; this season as the quarterbacks coach for the Baltimore Ravens. On December 10, Caldwell took another rung of the ladder back to the top spot when he returned with the name Ravens. coordinator for the remainder of the 2012 season.
Monday’s move comes after two straight losses have dropped the Ravens to 9-4 on the season and the face of the defense has deteriorated. Baltimore D, of course, has been a model of obnoxiousness and effectiveness over the last decade or more, and has been slow for many years, and has been able to cover up its crimes without success. With the defense slipping largely due to injury and age, the offense has become bigger than ever, and Cam Cameron’s unit just isn’t answering the bell. With no top-ten offensive ratings to his credit over five years with Baltimore, Cameron was an easy fall guy for the problems that have plagued the Ravens recently. If you can’t light up the scoreboard with QB Joe Flacco in your pocket, handing over Ray Rice and Torrey Smith. /a>, so coaching must be suspect, right?
If so, Caldwell may be the perfect choice to succeed Cameron, as many Hoosiers have always considered him a suspect choice to succeed Dungy. The general consensus was that Dungy hand-picked Caldwell and got him the job, but Caldwell wasn’t necessarily the right job. Even while the Cubs were still winning, many people in Indy (including me) were wondering if the horses weren’t better served with torches on the sidelines. It certainly wasn’t Caldwell, and it’s surprising how much OC accomplished as well. After all, Manning can change the complexion of a game, a season or an entire franchise, as we’ve seen this year.
It didn’t matter, though, because Caldwell got another chance to show off his punchline from head coach John Harbaugh. You can tell that Caldwell would love this opportunity to take on the full coordinator gig or maybe even another shot at the top. But I’m fine with it this time because the Colts are already set.
Adam Hughes was raised and still lives in rural Indiana. He has been a Colts fan ever since the team arrived in Indianapolis on a snowy morning in 1984. The Blue and White finally replaced the Chicago Bears as the #1 team and the Super Bowl41 dream came true.< /i>
