Tag: Sam Ehlinger

Better sooner than later for the inevitable Colts rebuild

Indy looks like a team that’s ready to tank, but someone forgot to give the owner the memo

In recent memory, it’s hard to find a team that had a crazier week than the Indianapolis Colts. It started Sunday, when they were pushed around in a 26-3 loss to the New England Patriots. The effect from the lifeless performance, which dropped the Colts to 3-5-1 for the regular season, resulted in the firing of head coach Frank Reich, and the hiring of Jeff Saturday, a former player for Indy who has no prior coaching experience at the NFL level. Throw in a off-balanced attempt by team owner Jim Irsay to explain the happenings, and one can understand why the Colts are in a state of flux. Some things happen fast in life (and sports), and through nine games, Indy has gone from a team supposedly ready to compete for a Super Bowl, to potentially entering full tank mode. The reasons are aplenty, but here are the main ones why the Colts are stuck in dysfunction.

Football is the ultimate team sport, but I’ve been told a time or two the league is quarterback-driven. So if a team has a franchise QB (or someone perceived as such), that’s the player to build around. With that said, it would be logical to think the Colts tale spin began with the sudden retirement of Andrew Luck in the 2019 preseason. Playing at Stanford before being drafted by Indy in 2012, Luck was looked at as a transitional talent, and when healthy, he showed why people were so high on him. Coming into 2019, the Colts had high hopes on building from the season before, when they made it to the AFC Divisional Playoff before losing to the Kansas City Chiefs. Since Luck left the sport, it’s been a revolving door of starting QBs, with Philip Rivers, Carson Wentz and Matt Ryan all getting a chance to solidify the position. The results have been mixed at best, and it appears the door will continue revolving in the coming months.

Notice I used the word “solidify” when it comes to Indy’s quarterback situation. The reason is the thinking from the Colts brass (and a good amount of analysts) was the team had a roster who was ready to win now, and with good QB play, they were as dangerous as anyone. The truth is this roster is not close to competing for any titles. There are some good parts, such as running back Jonathan Taylor, linebacker Shaquille Leonard and offensive lineman Quenton Nelson (among others). Other than that, there are still question marks that aren’t answered. The wide receivers are missing in action more often than not, and the defense is inconsistent at best. While Reich and other coaches were the ones to lose their jobs, general manager Chris Ballard hasn’t been the best in building this team. In other words, the expectations were probably too high for a roster that screams average. Therefore, don’t be surprised if Ballard is on the chopping block in the coming months (we all know Irsay is not going to fire himself).

Speaking of Reich, while I’m not rooting for anyone to lose their job, it was overdue for him to leave. Reich was hired as the head coach in 2018 because he was the hot commodity, being the offensive coordinator for the Philadelphia Eagles when they won the Super Bowl in 2017. With that clout, he was thought to be a so-called quarterback whisperer, and even with Luck’s retirement, whoever was playing that position should have been in good hands. Offensive performance came with mixed results, and the club as a whole didn’t appear ready to play at times. This wasn’t more evident than the end of last season, when Indy needed a win to get into postseason play. Instead, they were beaten like a drum by the lowly Jacksonville Jaguars and missed the playoffs altogether. Everyone piled on the low-hanging fruit that was Wentz, but the whole team wasn’t ready to play. That’s an indictment on the head coach, and after that debacle, Reich probably should’ve be done. Be as it may, he was brought back, and as harsh as this might sound, it’s probably a miracle the Colts have three wins.

So here is Indy, having benched Ryan for Sam Ehlinger, and bringing in a former player fresh off of firing hot takes on ESPN to coach the team. Maybe Saturday comes in and and shows promise, but something tells me the Colts have more issues than just the coach. The club has tried reloading (if you want to call it that) for years, and it’s probably going to take tearing down and starting over for ultimate goals to be reached. During the press conference introducing Saturday as the new coach, Irsay touted his half-a-century experience in building football teams. Doing that and doing it well are different things, and what they’ve been doing hasn’t worked. The inevitable rebuild is knocking on the door, and if Irsay wants to be honest with himself, kicking the can down the road only works for so long.

After three seasons, the eyes of Texas are still crying

The Texas Longhorns concluded their season with a 38-10 victory over 11th-ranked Utah in the Alamo Bowl. There’s no doubt finishing the season strong should be celebrated, but for the Longhorns, all it does is salvage an otherwise disappointing season that was supposed to be the announcement of a program being back to prominence. I mean no disrespect to the Alamo Bowl when I say my next statement, but the standards are a lot higher than playing in this game. After all, that is why Tom Herman was brought in as the head coach before the 2017 season, to lead Texas to heights not seen since winning the national title in 2005. In the three seasons Herman has been in charge, results have been up and down, but one thing is for sure. The Longhorns are still far away from that return to the glory days, and because of it, the eyes of Texas shed many tears.

Let’s start with year one of the Herman era. The man who was previously the head man at Houston took over for Charlie Strong, who was fired by the university after three seasons. Because of the success he had in Houston, Herman was looked at as someone who could instantly get the best out of the talent that was in place. Expectations were high, but fans and media alike would be sorely disappointed. Texas began the year losing at home to an unranked Maryland team that put 51 points up on their defense, and finished with a 7-6 record. That seventh victory came in the Texas Bowl against Missouri. Like the Alamo Bowl, the Texas Bowl is a good bowl, but not exactly where a program with all of the resources the Longhorns have should be. By the way, Texas lost to arch-rival Oklahoma in the Red River Showdown (I’ll always call it the Shootout), which is always a no-no. I get it, it’s one year into a five-year contract, but this was not exactly the start people were looking for.

Year two surely would be an improvement over the first, right? The beginning painted the picture of it being more of the same, as the Longhorns lost to Maryland (again). To Herman’s credit, he coached the players up and got things turned around. They actually beat Oklahoma in the shootout and got to the inaugural Big 12 Championship Game, where they lost to OU in a rematch. Texas actually finished the year playing in a bowl game more to the liking of the masses, the Sugar Bowl, and defeated Georgia 28-21 in New Orleans. The Longhorns compiled ten wins and played in a major bowl, or what is known as a New Year’s Six game in today’s times. At any rate, there was significant signs of improvement from the first season in Herman’s tenure, and with the majority of the players returning to school, the future looked bright in terms of seeing a potential return to glory.

So here it is, the beginning of the season, and the hype behind Texas football is as high as it has been since Colt McCoy was the quarterback a more than a decade ago. Speaking of quarterbacks, the present-day signal-caller, Sam Ehlinger, was on the cover of Sports Illustrated’s college football preview edition, with the caption saying “The Longhorns Are Back.” To me, back means they are competing for national titles regularly, and the year would end with a birth to the College Football Playoff. Not so much, as the program regressed in a year that seemed so promising. Texas compiled a 5-4 record in conference play, and weren’t even the best football team in the state (Baylor, Texas A&M, take your pick). Included in the losses was another one to Oklahoma. Needless to say, the Longhorns are a long way from being “back,” and there’s no telling when that day will come. What we do know is Herman, at least to this point, has not produced the results that was sure to come with his arrival in Austin.

Next year will be the fourth in the Herman era, and this should be the make-or-break season. It’s understood we live in a world where instant gratification is sought after, but in college football, year four is all about the coach who’s been in place. There should be no more residue from the previous regime, and fresh recruiting classes are of their picking. The system is in place, and the time for excuses is long gone. Combine this with the fact Herman let go of many assistant coaches before the Alamo Bowl, and it equals no room for error or misunderstanding. Next season, if you ask me, anything less than in the Rose or Sugar Bowls, the two games that will host the national semifinals, is a failure. The eyes of Texas are squarely on Herman and the Longhorns, and they can only watch replays of the 2006 Rose Bowl on the Longhorn Network so many times. If things don’t get better, the same eyes could be watching another head coach get his walking papers.