Russ Purnell gone

by jumunjis on Jan 14, 2009 4:22 PM EST Comment 47 comments

In a move many have dreamed of for a while, Jim Caldwell has let Special Teams Coach Russ Purnell go:

http://www.indystar.com/article/20090114/SPORTS03/90114042

Wonder how much of this had to do with Caldwell noticing the efforts of Darrell Reid acting more like the special teams coach this season?

Should be interesting to see if any more changes are made as this seemed to be the most logical one of the group.

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of Stampede Blue's writers or editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan though, which is as important as the views of Stampede Blue's writers or editors.

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Any thoughts on who best to replace him?

by LovinBlue on Jan 14, 2009 4:27 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

I've got the perfect replacement

Now granted, my candidate might not have any coaching experience and he only has a few years experience of even playing special teams in the NFL, but I think this just might work…

…drumroll please…

DARRELL REID!!!!!

What do you guys think of the player-coach format? Bill Russell won some NBA championships doing it and this would be essentially the same thing, umm sort of.

by psvirsky on Jan 14, 2009 5:11 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Is that feasible?

(not having ever participated in organized football, I have no clue as to whether this is even feasible, so excuse the naivete)

by LovinBlue on Jan 14, 2009 5:25 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Peyton's essentially an offensive coordinator

Visit FanIQ.com for sports news, bloggings, polls, and more!

by MrNFL on Jan 14, 2009 7:25 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I think

You stole my Harbaugh drum roll you rat bastard. I’ll get you!

by monstersbox on Jan 14, 2009 9:01 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Answering my own question

What about Brad Seely?

by LovinBlue on Jan 14, 2009 5:34 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Never mind - Seely's gone to the Browns

http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/football/other_nfl/view.bg?articleid=1145456&srvc=sports&position=recent

Wow the Patriots’ staff is being seriously raided this year.

by LovinBlue on Jan 15, 2009 11:13 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Maybe the Chargers

are our new rivals…interesting. They have been doing to us what the Pats did. I can’t wait to get this monkey off our backs!

"I throw, you catch. It's NOT that hard!"
Peyton Manning, SNL, 2007

by peytonsthebest on Jan 15, 2009 11:18 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I still view the Pats as the evil empire

but the Chargers (whom I’ve never cared about either way) are fast approaching nemesis status

by LovinBlue on Jan 15, 2009 11:20 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Without Brady, the Pats don't really bother me...weird.

But maybe I feel this way because I live in Southern Cal…where there are lots of Chargers’ Bandwagoners…who I have to listen to again this year.

"I throw, you catch. It's NOT that hard!"
Peyton Manning, SNL, 2007

by peytonsthebest on Jan 15, 2009 12:32 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Without Brady, the Pats bother me even more

They were still an incredibly competitive team, including with significant injuries. How the heck did they get to 11-5? Damn I hate BB!!!!

by LovinBlue on Jan 15, 2009 12:53 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

It probably

Has more to do with us being the victor over them the past couple seasons going back to the SB. Yeah, last year we lost, but we were the first team to test them and every other team that came close (Philly, Ravens, Giants the first time and Giants in the end) obviously took alot of what the Colts did and employed alot of their strategy. Not to mention, we beat them in the AFC Championship game to get to the SB and I wouldn’t of had it any other way. The Chargers won’t be nearly as annoying if we go to the AFC Championship game, play them, and beat them. They just hold the pyschological edge the Patriots had over us. Even if we’re better, we’re not sure if we can win. And that’s the frustrating and evil empire part.

Besides, I hate every team that knocks us out. I still hate the Steelers for 2005. If that’d been the Ravens, I’d be rooting for the Steelers and I’d hate the Ravens.

by monstersbox on Jan 15, 2009 12:47 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Caldwell is my hero

Shonn Greene for Heisman
Doak Walker award winner
144 yards per game
6.2 yards per carry
08 TDs per game > 06 GPA

by shake n bake on Jan 14, 2009 4:32 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Welp, Caldwell is officially cool in my book.

This line will remain in my signature until the Colts draft Rashad Jennings in 2009.

by KingRichard on Jan 14, 2009 4:33 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Hallalujah!!

Caldwell rocks.

"I throw, you catch. It's NOT that hard!"
Peyton Manning, SNL, 2007

by peytonsthebest on Jan 14, 2009 4:35 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Great start, Caldwell!

by Colts Homer on Jan 14, 2009 4:40 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

FINALLY! :)

by yellowsnow on Jan 14, 2009 4:47 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Great start

Not fault to Caldwell, but this move comes about 5 years late.

by Aerostar193 on Jan 14, 2009 4:49 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Thank you, football god!

by KMR24 on Jan 14, 2009 5:04 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Damn

what a positive start to Caldwell’s tenure. Fantastic move Caldwell. Fantastic.

by metal_militia on Jan 14, 2009 5:04 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

And Caldwell comes in with change we can believe in!

Yes we can!

by coltsfanawalt on Jan 14, 2009 6:38 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

nice move

i like this “signature” that caldwell is putting on the team…at least so far.

by tenyardfight on Jan 14, 2009 7:21 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Wow Cladwell

Has some balls!

I’m really impressed that he hasn’t just gone with the status quo.

by furrycolt on Jan 14, 2009 7:25 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Works for me

this is certainly a change we can all agree on… and he didn’t really ‘fire’ him. His contract simply won’t be renewed… (a more polite way to get rid of someone..)

An expert is someone who knows more and more about less and less until they know everything about nothing...

by bluegirl on Jan 14, 2009 7:26 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Ding dong

SB Nation's Indianapolis Colts blogger at Stampede Blue. Please make an account and post a diary, add some comments, and make some noise. Accounts are free, and only require an email address.

by BigBlueShoe on Jan 14, 2009 7:26 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

photo above

Hey, who dropped a box on my wife?

Thanks.

Bobman

by Bobman on Jan 15, 2009 2:43 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Something I just noticed

Purnell wasn’t fired, his contract is coming up in the next month and they aren’t extending him.

Shonn Greene for Heisman
Doak Walker award winner
144 yards per game
6.2 yards per carry
08 TDs per game > 06 GPA

by shake n bake on Jan 14, 2009 7:27 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Makes me wonder if Dungy

would have done the same thing. This is the passive way to get rid of him…

"I throw, you catch. It's NOT that hard!"
Peyton Manning, SNL, 2007

by peytonsthebest on Jan 14, 2009 7:31 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

hire joe avezanno

"I may not be a class act, but I'm an American."
-- Ron Artest on wanting to play for the Olympic team

by zkmavz on Jan 14, 2009 7:58 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

this is just the start

This makes me happy, but as I mentioned somewhere else, let’s be patient with the special teams in the new coach’s first year. He may not be given a lot to work with in this economic climate with the cap issues coming up.

by willyduer on Jan 15, 2009 12:11 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

In some ways I’m happy. I’ve wanted this forever. But one thing I have to ask is: Why now? Why not 2 years ago. Also, I’m a bit scared. With Russ around, we always had someone to blame. What happens next year when they still blow. Then who do we blame. Soon the Colts ST situation will turn into the Broncos defense situation. And before you know it, Peyton Manning will be fired, because there will be no one left to blame.

I always liked the guy with the cane from the NYJ. I wonder if he’s free now that Mangina is fired. Westhoff? Paul Westhoff? Westhall? hasselhoff? I dunno. He seems to have the right mix of balls and brains. I still think before the return game improves they are gonna have to draft a bonafide return man – i’m not sold on TJ.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmGdAPjcgaM&eurl=http://www.only17points.com/&feature=player_embedded

by Nideak on Jan 15, 2009 1:42 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

return man

I’d love one. Multiply-injured Brad Pyatt was the last one I liked and that was, what 2003?

He can’t, strictly speaking, be a one-trick pony, which is the rub. Our WR competency threshold is pretty high (Hell, Moorehead hung around for 3-4 years and STILL bit the big one as a WR), and our DB’s tend to drop like flies all year, so the guy would have to have SOME other contribution (unless he’s a ST killer/ball magnet who can play both sides of the return game like Kasim Osgood in SD). But I’d be willing to invest a 3rd round pick (maybe).

Or we clone Darrell Reid and put him on a diet.

Bobman

by Bobman on Jan 15, 2009 2:49 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Yeah

I was thinking of a Josh Cribbs type that was a returner and a gunner. I think that person would be worth a spot on the 45 even if he never (and I would prefer, if he was actually good at it, that he didnt) got on the field for anything else.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmGdAPjcgaM&eurl=http://www.only17points.com/&feature=player_embedded

by Nideak on Jan 15, 2009 11:36 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Cribbs is a very good player

And one of the myriad of reasons why Romeo Crennel was an awful head coach. He only touched the ball 7-8 times a game, including kickoffs and punts.

Obviously once Quinn and Anderson were both out, he took some snaps at QB, but before that, he should have been a bigger part of their offense.

by mgrex03 on Jan 15, 2009 1:52 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

yeah

he’s very dynamic with the ball in his hands, but hypothetically, if you could get someone with Cribbs ST ability but no ability to play offense/defense, would you be okay with using a 3rd round draft pick on him and having him only has a ST stud?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmGdAPjcgaM&eurl=http://www.only17points.com/&feature=player_embedded

by Nideak on Jan 15, 2009 1:53 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I would be for it

If the ST only player can improve field position by 10 yards on both sides of the ball.

If it causes the offense to only need 4 first downs for points, I’m all for it. On the flip side, if it gives the defense a free first down to play with, it gives more opportunity for the other team to screw up.

Does this person exist in the 3rd round? I don’t know. If he does, I’m all for it. We saw how important field position can be.

by mgrex03 on Jan 15, 2009 2:21 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

FO had Indy's return units at a combined 19.2 points below average

Just an average return man would be worth a point a game to Indy. The difference between Indy and the top return team (Bills) was 44.5 points. Nearly a fieldgoal a game.

Shonn Greene for Heisman
Doak Walker award winner
144 yards per game
6.2 yards per carry
08 TDs per game > 06 GPA

by shake n bake on Jan 15, 2009 2:26 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I can't get to FO at work

But what was Buffalo last year?

McKelvin went 11th overall. I don’t know them well enough to know if they added any other ST players, but I think McKelvin played a big part of this. He had 7 40+ yard kickoff returns.

by mgrex03 on Jan 15, 2009 2:38 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

5th

very good on punt return, mediocre on kickoff returns.

This year McKelvin did most of the kickoffs, Roscoe Parish (who was the main PR last year) did most of the punts.

Shonn Greene for Heisman
Doak Walker award winner
144 yards per game
6.2 yards per carry
08 TDs per game > 06 GPA

by shake n bake on Jan 15, 2009 3:07 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

in years past

I’ve never cared about the STs. The defense is what it is, but the offense was always explosive. I think that with the offense transitioning from explosive to ball control, there needs to be some attention paid to specific STers.

To answer your question: I have no clue if he exists in the 3rd or even the 2nd round. Its hard enough to evaluate college talent at WR, RB, and DB, let alone how their ST abilities will translate to a much faster pro game.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmGdAPjcgaM&eurl=http://www.only17points.com/&feature=player_embedded

by Nideak on Jan 15, 2009 2:27 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I agree

I used to hold the opinion that there is no sense spending money on a guy who could start drives at the 30 rather than the 20, as it didn’t matter. The money was better spent somewhere else.

Now that we have so many key guys locked up, it makes sense to maybe spend a little money getting a guy or two to gain an advantage on ST. And one of those guys could be a very good coach, which does not hurt the cap one bit.

by mgrex03 on Jan 15, 2009 2:41 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

PERCY

HARVIN.

But seriously, Garcon was a great return guy. He showed everything you’d want in one. He had the homerun burst and could split tackles and saw lanes great. The video on this site shows highlights of him returning before we got him. Maybe that’s why Caldwell decided Russ had to go. Garcon didn’t hurt his knee until the last game and returned during the season and was obviously our best guy. I think he fumbled once, but come on, we’re putting people in that fumble multiples times a game and make us look like chumps against Detroit. Why would someone decide that the guy that should be our obvious return man, should only come in rarely when we’re the worst return team in the league?

So yeah, our return game sucks and has almost cost us games and definitely hasn’t helped us win any. But the guy we need we already have. Unless we get someone like Harvin that returns and contributes in other ways.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvzTkNIVEj0&feature=PlayList&p=F59AB43A8E811E4E&playnext=1&index=17

By the way, the announcer’s wrong, it aws a 62 yard return. It might’ve been a 41 yard punt. Yeah, that’s right everyone, guy showed great stuff on the field this year, we basically took him for this, and he sits throughout the game.

by monstersbox on Jan 15, 2009 11:23 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

"He showed everything you’d want in one"

except the ability not to run diagonally at the sideline every return.

Shonn Greene for Heisman
Doak Walker award winner
144 yards per game
6.2 yards per carry
08 TDs per game > 06 GPA

by shake n bake on Jan 15, 2009 12:14 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Maybe a new ST coach can correct that behavior

YEAH!!!

by LovinBlue on Jan 15, 2009 12:46 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Good point

Pretty sure that’s something that can be coached out of or explained. “Hey, don’t do that dumb stuff Pierre?” “What do you mean coach?” “Don’t run towards the sidelines man. If you see a hole, go for it. You want to keep your job right? Well don’t run out of bounds like a sissy.” “Got it coach, won’t happen again.” “Cool.”

by monstersbox on Jan 15, 2009 12:49 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

it was like he picked a spot, on one sideline at the 25 yard line

and ran right at it.

Shonn Greene for Heisman
Doak Walker award winner
144 yards per game
6.2 yards per carry
08 TDs per game > 06 GPA

by shake n bake on Jan 15, 2009 12:55 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Rookie

When you give a guy 23 total returns (1 punt) that’s a rookie, you’re not really giving him ample opportunity to grow. He showed potential, and yeah, tell me how many rookies (aside from this year) who regularly come in and perform at the best of their abilities at the NFL level? And in those 22 KR, he averaged 1 yard over the team’s average. That to me shows potential and the ability that, with time, and if he had been returning kicks the entire season, would have ended up the year substantially better than the beginning and had already been better than what we had back there to begin with. So yes, I think he showed everything you would want in one. His cutting and speed were there, he showed potential with field vision, and I’d rather have him than Ratliff. Dogging a rookie for something all rookies go through is a little harsh. Peyton Manning went 3-13 his rookie season.

by monstersbox on Jan 15, 2009 12:27 PM EST reply actions 0 recs