It's Done! Frank is gone!

[Hoopsdoc]

Originally Posted by Oldcolt

I happen to agree about this not being good news. You talk as if there was a ‘good news’ choice. Plus 95% of ‘good news’ choices don’t work out anyway, so if this doesn’t I don’t see how that is so much different. You don’t think it can realistically work out? Not trying to be an asshole but who cares? You know as much about the future as me, meaning nothing. Of course it probably won’t work out, Parcells didn’t do shit for the Jets and I bet you and everyone else thought that was a slam dunk winner. All I am saying is nobody knows, me you sports writers or GM types. Let’s see how it plays out. Irsay has found his team mired in a shit show, climbing out won’t be easy and won’t look pretty. At least it is interesting, something poor Frank no longer was.

The logical choice was to finish the season with Frank and go from there, which Jim basically said would have happened if Saturday said no.

And of course no one knows with 100 percent certainty what will happen, but if Jeff Saturday ends up being successful, whether it’s this season or in the future, he’ll be one of the greatest coaches of all time.

He’s in an impossible situation with a deeply flawed team facing a tough schedule and he’s never done any of this before.

[ChaosTheory]

Originally Posted by IndyNorm

I mean thinking he could get by with a complete garbage player who shouldn't even be in the league at the most important position on the OL. Clearly shows he either doesn't prioritize the OL, or he doesn't really value the LT position for some reason.

And actually if you look at the overall lack of investment he's put into bringing in new OL since the '18 draft he's clearly de-prioritized the group.

Getting it wrong and not prioritizing it are two different things. You mentioned it, but I'll emphasize... taking Nelson at 6 overall and Smith at 37 overall when we already had two first-rounders (Castonzo, Kelly) cannot happen with a GM that doesn't prioritize the OL.

I think everybody acknowledges that Matt Pryor was a bad decision. Even if he was always planned to be temporary, which is evidenced by the rotation with Raimann from the first game. And I'll be the broken record that says we don't know if he tried to bring in a more established guy or who that might have been.

However, nobody saw the OL unit performing like this. Anybody that says they did is lying. Even guys like me and you who were talking back in April about Glow and Reed leaving... we were concerned, but not because we thought career back-up Chris Reed leaving will suddenly make Quenton Nelson have his worst season and we'll give up more sacks in 9 games than we did in 17 games with ball-holding Wentz and we'll be 30th in rushing after producing the rushing champ last year. It's one of the weirdest things we've seen in football.

[IndyNorm]

Getting it wrong and not prioritizing it are two different things. You mentioned it, but I'll emphasize... taking Nelson at 6 overall and Smith at 37 overall when we already had two first-rounders (Castonzo, Kelly) cannot happen with a GM that doesn't prioritize the OL.

Agree Ballard certainly prioritized OL early in his tenure here, but since 2018 he's essentially rested on his laurels. And his attempts to replace AC at by far most important position on the OL (a 1 year show me contract to a guy coming off an Achilles and a 3rd rounder on a long term project) sure make it look like he's change his priorities towards the OL or doesn't value the LT position as much as he should.

I think everybody acknowledges that Matt Pryor was a bad decision. Even if he was always planned to be temporary, which is evidenced by the rotation with Raimann from the first game. And I'll be the broken record that says we don't know if he tried to bring in a more established guy or who that might have been.

That's somewhat fair. It's possible that Ballard did try to do more at LT and it didn't work out. With how quickly we re-signed Pryor and that there weren't any reports of Ballard meeting w/ any other LT prospects other than Fisher, sure makes it seem like he really didn't try to do more. He certainly could have done more after '20.

However, nobody saw the OL unit performing like this. Anybody that says they did is lying. Even guys like me and you who were talking back in April about Glow and Reed leaving... we were concerned, but not because we thought career back-up Chris Reed leaving will suddenly make Quenton Nelson have his worst season and we'll give up more sacks in 9 games than we did in 17 games with ball-holding Wentz and we'll be 30th in rushing after producing the rushing champ last year. It's one of the weirdest things we've seen in football.

Totally fair. A lot of us (including myself) thought Pryor at LT might go bad, but no one thought it would go anywhere near this bad. But it fucking did though and Ballard should feel the heat for this since it's ultimately his responsibility to put the roster together.

[Colts And Orioles]

o


And look, I'm not picking on anyone and/or singling out Chopped Wood in regard to their comments with my above post ...... I'm simply pointing out that the wind blows in very different directions when a team is winning compared to when they are losing ...... winning covers up all sorts of dirty laundry, while losing brings out the lynch-mob in almost every fan-base in sports.

o

[Oldcolt]

We agree Hoopsdoc. I just don’t think any coach would be given much of a chance here. If Saturday can get people to start to believe in themselves I would consider that a win. This is a lost season. I am glad Irsay sees that, although he won’t say it

[Chromeburn]

Originally Posted by Hoopsdoc

The logical choice was to finish the season with Frank and go from there, which Jim basically said would have happened if Saturday said no.

And of course no one knows with 100 percent certainty what will happen, but if Jeff Saturday ends up being successful, whether it’s this season or in the future, he’ll be one of the greatest coaches of all time.

He’s in an impossible situation with a deeply flawed team facing a tough schedule and he’s never done any of this before.

If they wanted to win they would have kept Brady and Frank and would be starting Ryan. Irsay just said screw it. They must like a QB or two in the draft. At the very least we can get a franchise LT.

[Oldcolt]

If you think keeping Ryan and Reich would have been a winning move well shit, I guess we just disagree I must have been watching a different Colt team these last few months.

[Chromeburn]

Originally Posted by Oldcolt

If you think keeping Ryan and Reich would have been a winning move well shit, I guess we just disagree I must have been watching a different Colt team these last few months.

If you want to win, you keep things in place and try to eliminate the problems you have. You don't create new problems on top of the old. They threw a monkey wrench into the engine to make sure things don't run. Hell the reason we even have wins is that Ryan was getting us there. Not like the run game was helping.

[Oldcolt]

We were not winning shit with Reich/Ryan and this offensive line.

[Hoopsdoc]

The Colts will regret firing Frank.

Good coaches adjust their strategy to the roster they’re given. For Reich, this strength was evident in the carousel of quarterbacks he rode. From 2018 to 2021, the Colts’ leading passer changed in each season: Andrew Luck to Jacoby Brissett to Philip Rivers to Carson Wentz. The few teams that endured this level of quarterbacking instability suffered far worse offensive performances than Reich’s Colts. The Commanders had three different leading passers in the same four years, and were a bottom-five offense by DVOA in three of those four years. The Broncos had five different leading passers in five seasons, from 2017 to 2021, and never made the playoffs, never had a winning record, and produced three seasons of bottom-eight offenses. The Panthers have also primarily featured six different QBs in the last five years if you include this season, for which we can safely say they will once again have a below-average offense—as they have in the last three years.

Reich sustained transitions at quarterback so well it made the team-building strategy almost seem viable. The Colts went from Brissett’s poor downfield focus to Philip Rivers’s lightning-quick running back dump-offs to Carson Wentz’s RPO reliance and cement feet without a hiccup. They didn’t reload the entire offensive roster each season—they just plugged in a new centerpiece and ran a new system. Other coaches can’t do that. Reich can."

https://www.theringer.com/nfl/2022/1...-jeff-saturday