Colts Gab

NFL Fanhouse had a good piece about the Colts offense and the new umpire situation that will be in place for the 2010 season. President Bill Polian says he doesn’t think the new system will have any impact on the Colts offense in 2010 or beyond.

The new on-field positioning of NFL umpires isn’t concerning Indianapolis Colts President Bill Polian as much as many would believe. Polian, one of the league’s more prominent voices and a member of the NFL’s Competition Committee, said while there were issues involving the umpire’s change in position in the Colts’ nationally televised game this past Thursay, he said he’s not overly concerned about the situation and he doesn’t believe it will hurt the Colts’ offensively. “If I thought that would be a bi-product of it, obviously I would not have voted for it,” Polian said Saturday. The situation caused issues for the Colts Thursday. Twice early during a 59-24 loss to Green Bay the Colts were penalized for snapping the ball too quickly — i.e., before the umpire had cleared the running back. It was no coincidence that the situation became a high-profile issue during the third preseason game, Polian said. “We recognized as a committee that the third preseason game was going to be a good test, because in virtually all cases your top-line players were playing and playing a long time,” Polian said. “In our case, we told the league office and the officiating department that we would do all we could to push the tempo and try to create situations where we could find out what kind of picture we were going to see. That’s what occurred. We’ll go back and talk about the postmortem. I’m sure there are some tweaks that they will make and we’ll move forward.”

Fox Sports.com’s Adrian Hasenmeyer has his pre-camp outlook up. You can see the entire camp breakdown by clicking HERE. He has the Colts at 2 on the list:

2. Colts (14-2) – PRE-CAMP OUTLOOK: Indy has followed Bill Polian’s post-Super Bowl pledge to beef up the O-line, but will Peyton Manning actually run the ball or just audible to a pass on every down like it seems every year? Concerns aside, the Colts are still the class of the AFC – even if Reggie Wayne holds out until mid-late August.

The Indy Star talks today about Bill Polian’s comments about the rookie system that currently exists in the NFL:

A major, leaguewide problem exists, according to Colts president Bill Polian. A system that requires teams to throw hundreds of millions of dollars at unproven players selected in the first round, he insisted, “is crazy.” “In a game where people have to earn things on the field on merit, we should not pay the wrong people,” Polian said.

A report is out there stating that WR Marvin Harrison wants to be released from the Colts. Today’s Indy Star says that the team has not made up their minds for sure that they want to get rid of Harrison, and that they aer still talking about what to do about his large cap number:

Colts president Bill Polian said the team still is discussing whether it will bring back wide receiver Marvin Harrison for a 14th season. The team’s all-time leading receiver would count $13.4 million against the 2009 salary cap, and Indy is dealing with significant cap issues. The team might terminate Harrison’s contract if he does not agree to a pay cut, which would be unlikely on Harrison’s part. “Hopefully we can find a way to work through that, and we’re trying,” Polian said.

Colts made the transition of power official on Tuesday, formally introducing Jim Caldwell as the club’s new head coach. Caldwell was named Tony Dungy’s eventual successor last January and took over the reins on Tuesday, a day after Dungy announced his retirement.

“From this day forward I’ll thrive in the quality environment Jim Irsay, Bill Polian and Tony Dungy have created,” Caldwell stated. “I want to thank each one of them for the confidence they have placed in me and what a privilege it is to direct one of the great organizations in the National Football League.”

Caldwell had been a member of Dungy’s staff for each of the past eight years, starting in 2001 with Tampa Bay and for each of the last seven years with the Colts. He served as quarterbacks coach for the first three seasons with Indianapolis before earning the title of assistant head coach before the 2005 campaign.

“I want to thank Tony for what he has done for me over the years,” Caldwell added. “He set a great example for all of us in this profession.”

Caldwell’s lone head-coaching experience came on the collegiate level with Wake Forest from 1993-2000, guiding the Demon Deacons to a record of 26-63 with one winning season and one bowl appearance. He was also a college assistant at Iowa, Southern Illinois, Northwestern, Colorado, Louisville and Penn State.

From: NFL.com

Colts president Bill Polian told the NFL Network on Tuesday that LB Gary Brackett will not play Thursday night against the Jaguars. Brackett, who has missed two games since cracking a bone in his lower right leg, was one of four players who missed practice, joining WR Marvin Harrison(knee), DE Dwight Freeney (foot) and backup RB Chad Simpson(ankle). The Colts released a lengthy injury report on Monday — listing 15 players who did not practice — but everyone else took part in the full practice session on Tuesday.

I think we Indianapolis Colts fans know all about team president Bill Polian.  A 5-time NFL Executive of the Year who sent 4 Buffalo Bills teams to the Super Bowl and one Indianapolis Colts team to a Super Bowl – won by the Colts.  Polian, who is also a member of the NFL’s Competition Committee, sat down to an interview with Yahoo Sports! reporter Jason Cole and discussed a wide range of topics, including some NFL rule changes and how the NCAA game is impacting the NFL.  Below are some excerpts:

Cole: You’re 65 now and just signed a contract extension through the 2011 season. How much longer do you expect to do this?

Polian: I don’t know. I’m at the point where as long as I feel good and there are no family issues – which occur at this time of your life – you know health and other concerns, I don’t see it ending anytime soon.

Cole: So you don’t have a master plan that you’re going to fulfill this contract, then go off like Chuck Noll and become a wine connoisseur?

Polian: No, no … no.

Cole: When you look at the trends about how people play – you saw how the Patriots played last season with so much three- and four receiver sets – then you saw how the Giants won the Super Bowl with a superior pass rush, where is the game going?

Polian: I think that, to use a Paul Brown term, the internal varies are still the same. You still must run the ball. You still must win the turnover battle. You still must play sound defense, meaning you don’t give up big plays. You make the other team earn what they get. You must pass the ball effectively, not spectacularly, but effectively. I don’t think any of that has changed over time. I think what’s changed is how you go about doing that. Whether it’s (the 1972 Dolphins with Larry) Csonka and (Jim) Kiick running with (Bob) Griese throwing possession passes or Tom Brady and Peyton Manning with three or four wide receivers. The way to win games hasn’t changed one iota in 30 years, in my opinion. How people do it evolves continually, which is what keeps it exciting and interesting.

For the rest of this interview with Bill Polian, please click here.

Colts team president, Bill Polian, announced that WR Marvin Harrison could miss the start of training camps this year. Last season, Harrison missed 11 games due to a left knee injury, but this isn’t the cause to why he might miss time in 2008. The hush-hush-on-injuries-Colts and Polian said that Harrison is currently recovering from arthroscopic surgery on his right knee. If true, then Harrison, 36, should be back in time for the 2008 Regular Season, and most likely training camp. If false, then Colts fans should be questioning the truth behind Harrison’s recovery. The Colts are beginning training camps in July, and Harrison’s, like anyone’s, arthroscopic knee surgery should take about a month, not four months to heal. Is there a possibility Harrison had microscopic knee surgery which takes at least four months to heal?

Tight end Dallas Clark will be back with the Colts in 2008, as team GM Bill Polian says that the Colts will go so far as putting the franchise tag on him if they have to. Clark can opt out of his deal after this season and become an unrestricted free agent. He is set to make less than $1 mil next season, a great deal for the Colts for Clark, who has 58 catches this season for 616 yards and 11 touchdowns. He is the main safety valve for Peyton Manning and the offense, and you can bet that Manning would not be happy if Clark went elsewhere. Look for the Colts to try and get a new deal done with Clark, but if they can’t, he will have the franchise tag on him heading into next season.