Most successful sidekicks manage to find success in life by realizing that they’re just not cut out to be the main man. Can you imagine Robin, for instance, leaving Batman behind for a chance to command his own Bat fleet? Holy guano, the bad guys would have a field day with the boy wonder in charge! When Tony Dungy retired from the Indianapolis Colts in 2009, I definitely viewed Jim Caldwell as a sidekick who was biting off a big task in accepting the vacant head coaching job, and he pretty much lived up to that billing. He was able to ride the wave of a talented Colts team until quarterback Peyton Manning went down hard in 2011, and then Caldwell’s weaknesses as a leader were exposed for all to see. He was relieved of his duties during owner Jim Irsay’s house-cleaning early in 2012 and landed back in an underling role, this time as quarterbacks coach for the Baltimore Ravens. On December 10, Caldwell took another step back up the ladder toward the top spot when he was named Ravens offensive coordinator for the remainder of the 2012 season.
The Monday move came after two straight losses dropped the Ravens to 9-4 on the season and in the face of a deteriorating defense. The Baltimore D, of course, has been a model of nastiness and efficiency over the last decade or more, and it was able to hide many years of plodding, unproductive offenses. With the defense sliding due largely to injury and age, a strong offense became more important than ever, and Cam Cameron’s unit just isn’t quite answering the bell. With no top-ten offensive ratings to his credit over five years with Baltimore, Cameron was an easy fall-guy for the problems that have plagued the Ravens lately. If you can’t light up the scoreboard with quarterback Joe Flacco in the pocket, handing off to Ray Rice and chucking to Torrey Smith, then the coaching must be suspect, right?
If that’s the case, Caldwell may be the perfect choice to succeed Cameron, because many Hoosiers always considered him a suspect choice to succeed Dungy. The general feeling was that Dungy hand-picked Caldwell and groomed him for the job, but that Caldwell wasn’t necessarily the right guy for the job. Even while the Colts were still winning, lots of folks in Indy (including me) wondered if the Horseshoes might not be better served with a firebrand on the sidelines. That was certainly not Caldwell, and it’s fair to wonder how much of his success as an OC was his doing, too. After all, Manning can change the complexion of a game, a season or a whole franchise, as we’re seeing this year.
No matter, though, because Caldwell gets another chance to show his mettle a heartbeat away from head coach John Harbaugh. You can be sure that Caldwell would love to parlay this opportunity into a full-time coordinator gig or, perhaps, even another shot at the top. And I’m OK with that this time, because the Colts are already set.
Adam Hughes was raised, and still lives, in rural Indiana. He has been a Colts fans since the team arrived in Indianapolis on a snowy morning in 1984. The Blue and White eventually replaced the Chicago Bears as his #1 team, and Super Bowl XLI was a dream come true.
