Interesting diary by biosBSOD, citing an "unnamed source" (see how easy it is), suggests Bill Cowher wants to coach the Colts after Tony Dungy retires either next year or the year after that. There are two angles to take here in regards to this:
- From a personality standpoint, Cowher would indeed fit Indy. The players would love him (as seemingly all players do, save Roethlisberger) as would the fans. Cowher is a likable, stand-up guy who would fit in well with Indy's community. I also think that Cowher is indeed eying this job. He's always liked Peyton, the city of Indianapolis, and the Colts organization. However, unless Cowher is willing to check his ego at the door and conform himself to Indy's way of doing things, it simply will not work. Cowher, like Dungy, used to work for Marty Schottenheimer. However, unlike Dungy, Cowher is a big fan of the 3-4 alignment, and such a defense ain't coming to Indy anytime soon. The Colts have already built a dominant defense in the Cover 2 mold, with players like Freeney, Brackett, Mathis, and Keiaho leading the way. These guys simply could not thrive in a 3-4 blitz scheme, a scheme that is highly over-rated in-my-not-so-humble-opinion.
- Folks, any talk about another coach other than Jim Caldwell possibly replacing Dungy is either ignorant musing or "wishful" thinking. Jim Caldwell is the next head coach of this team. They just had a friggin' press conference where Irsay and Polian confirmed that Caldwell is the guy. Caldwell himself was in line to coach either Washington or Atlanta, but withdrew his name because he was promised the HC job after Dungy steps down. Both Polian and Irsay would look like complete fools (and untrustworthy bastards) if they reneged their promise to Caldwell and hired someone like Cowher. And while I like Cowher, I'm not so sure he's a better NFL coach than someone like Caldwell. Like Cowher in 1992 and Mike Tomlin in 2007, Jim Caldwell is a very highly regarded coach. Lots of teams wanted him, but we get to keep him.
Newsflash: Successful college coaches SUCK at the pro-level because pro-football has more to do with actual coaching than college ball does. College ball is all about recruiting, recruiting, recruiting. A blind, retarded chimp could have gotten the 2005 USC Trojans to the BCS game, but only a complete moron like Pete Carroll could lose it to Mack Brown, Vince Young, and the Longhorns. Nick Saban, Carroll, Steve Spurrier, and Bobby Petrino are four very successful college coaches. All were complete boobs at the NFL level because the pros make you have to work for a living.
If anything, Caldwell's record at Wake Forest actually makes me feel better about his pro chances. Wake wasn't even on the map until Caldwell took it over. His work there got him noticed by Bill Polian (who was running things at Carolina back then) and Tony Dungy (who was in Tampa). Caldwell got a gig with the Bucs, and from there he was tutored by Dungy (who just so happens to have the best coaching tree this side of the late, great Bill Walsh).
So please, for those of you speculating otherwise, accept the fact that Jim Caldwell will indeed coach this Colts team after Tony Dungy leaves.