That’s one reason owner Jim Irsay signed Bill Polian’s son Chris to be the long-term general manager the other day while Bill was still in place as franchise architect. Irsay didn’t want the younger Polian to leave the Colts without a logical successor when Bill Polian steps away from the team in two or three or four years. “We’ll continue to build the team with the same kind of philosophy and core values,” Chris Polian told me. “With fast players who play 60 minutes and who play smart. At the same time, we’ll look for new ideas to make sure we don’t get stale. We have a great situation here. We’ve always talked about the Rooneys and the Maras as the role models for how an organizations should be built.”
I asked Caldwell if the Colts would handle the last two or three games of the year differently than they did under Dungy. You’re familiar with the national debate about going for the undefeated season. The Patriots went for it in 2007 and got to 16-0, only to lose in the Super Bowl. The Colts have thumbed their noses at it, preferring to be in the best possible physical condition entering the playoffs. That’s how Dungy and Bill Polian believed the season should be — once you’ve earned home-field advantage, rest your players and be in good position for the second season. Caldwell sounded no different Sunday afternoon when we spoke.
“It’ll be somewhat similar to what we’ve done,” he said. “Going undefeated was always a secondary goal. I don’t think we’ll put too much emphasis on that.”
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