Gene Huey Was 'Shocked' He Was 'Fired'

Yes folks, Gene Huey was fired. I'm not going to argue semantics and I'm not going to play the silly game the Colts often use when they announce stories like these to the media.

The Colts stated they 'will not retain the services of Running Backs Coach Gene Huey.' Huey's contract was apparently up at the end of 2010, and they chose not to renew it.

Thus, to the Colts, 'will not retain the services' is not the same as 'firing a 19-year coaching veteran of your franchise for no damned reason whatsoever.'' He simply 'wasn't retained,' as if he were the empty Starbucks coffee cup I chose 'not to retain' this morning after I finished gulping down my morning cup o' joe.

Sorry, but changing the words does not change the action, especially when the details show just how petty and cold this termination truly was.

When Huey was informed that he was no longer a Colts coach last Friday, the news came as a shock to him. Ashely Adamson, sportscaster for WISH-TV Channel 8 in Indianapolis, responded to this Tweet from Indy Star reporter Phil Wilson:

Wilson: Don't understand why the #Colts parted with RBs coach Gene Huey.

Adamson: Neither did he. Said he was shocked when he got fired Friday.

This information from Adamson suggests that Huey might have been told, at some point during or right after the season, that his contract would be renewed. Then, on Friday, he gets kicked to the curb without warning.

As Adamson accurately called it in her Tweet, Gene Huey got fired, folks. The Colts can call it whatever they want, but when someone is 'shocked' that they are no longer employed anymore, that tends to suggest that the termination was something they did not see coming.

Again, Gene deserved better than this from a team he helped build into a powerhouse. Huey coached 304 games as an assistant in Indianapolis, the longest of any assistant in franchise history. Bill Polian and Jim Irsay should be ashamed of themselves.