Jim Caldwell third high-profile official fired by Indianapolis Colts since 2011 NFL season ended
Indianapolis Colts’ owner, Jim Irsay, stated on Tuesday, January 17, 2012, that his team continued to be in a transitional phase and defended the decision of firing the team’s officials, including the latest sacking of their coach, Jim Caldwell, as being
a part of the process.
Caldwell was released from his contract by the Colts on Tuesday and became the third high-profile official to lose his job since the 2-14 ending of the Colts' 2011 National Football League (NFL) regular season.
Irsay, in his post-Caldwell-sacking comments, believed that his side needed rebuilding in certain areas and called the release of the vice chairman, Bill Polian, his son, Chris Polian, the Indianapolis general manager and now the termination of Caldwell’s
contract, a part of the business.
"This is obviously a big transitional time for us, and I know we're excited moving forward and it's hard when you say goodbyes to some people", Irsay said. "But it's part of the business".
It was expected that the Colts' management will go straight into reshuffling after their poor performance on the field during the regular season as they finished with only two wins on the NFL table.
Indianapolis played 16 games in total and lost 14 of them for one of the most disappointing years in the franchise's history.
To start with the cleansing drive, outspoken Bill Polian, along with his son Chris, were the first one to go.
Polian, apparently, has seen the decision in the making well before, as according to his comments, his failure to find and groom a replacement of their injured quarterback, Peyton Manning, cost him his job.
Manning was out of the Colts' roster due to a neck surgery throughout the season. It the first time that he did not make starts for the team in any season.
It coincides with their failure to find a win in their first 13 games, the lowest point of the team in his career history.
Some of the commentators around the league noted that it was the Colts total dependence on one man that cost them the season. Polian himself had come up with a similar admission in his post-firing comments.
The crisis provided enough grounds to the team’s owner to start the shake-up of the team straight after the season.
He started the process from the team’s management and fired two-high profile officials, the Polians, the very first day of his campaign of pulling his team together to gain its lost standings.
The owner said it was not easy for him to part ways with his coach as it was essential and part of the rebuilding process.
Tweeting via social networking website, Twitter, Irsay termed the process very hard but necessary.
"Tough day saying goodbye 2 my friend n my coach...there's less than 75 living men that can say they walked out on Super Bowl Sunday as an NFL HC", Irsay wrote.
The new management of the team is reported to have already launched a search for a new head coach.
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