Stampede Blue
I’ll start by saying that it is probably healthier to just forget about last season and move on to how to win next year, but like many of you, I have to view the start of next season in a way that reminds me a lot of last season. The decision to remain status quo with our leadership, makes it difficult to see next year being different. I do not recall other organizations allowing such a long learning curve for the GM and Head Coach.
I, like most of you, went into Sunday evening thinking that the possibility existed of seeing the Colts make some changes in the GM and/or head coach. The sentiment was creeping in that they would be retained, but I didn’t hear any reasoning that I bought into (so that’s on me), and given the Colts have been good at keeping their business in house, I felt the odds might still be about 50-50. My personal choice was that they let both the GM and HC go. I felt that their “must win” opportunity was this past year and it had eluded them.
I’m more out on Steichen, based mainly on him appearing to be more involved in X’s and O’s, than getting 53 guys working together to win games. I simply do not think he can run the offense and the team at the same time. I’m out on Ballard because I wouldn’t want him finding my next coach, or any coach for that matter. I blame them both for the “Rivers Experiment”. Not because I believe it failed, but because they did not understand that team building needs to be a constant phenomenon that is not abandoned when the going gets tough.
Steichen should have been a focusing on getting Leonard ready, the minute AR was injured. RL should have been taking first team reps as soon as Jones was injured and the HC should have been selling the team at each stop that Riley would be the man when needed and that they would rally around him, when and if he was called upon. Ballard should have had a QB that he had at least some level of confidence could be a backup on game day. If you had no thought that Rypien could fill that role, find someone else.
Riley Leonard had a pretty nice day for a season finale. I’m only counting the first half, since he saw the 2nd string in the 2nd half. He did score 17 in that half, against a team that only gives up 16 a game. This might make some fans say that you’ve seen enough out of him to make him the starter or backup for next season. I’d like a little more info and I feel we got robbed of this by bringing in Rivers. A four game sample size might have exposed whether he was the guy making downfield connections, or the guy who threw a bad INT and fumbled. On the...
