Jim Caldwell Deserves Credit if Colts Win Super Bowl

Jim Caldwell will deserve more credit than Peyton Manning if the Indianapolis Colts win the Super Bowl.

We all know that no matter the outcome of Sunday, Manning will be front-and-center during the post-game discussion. A Colts victory will more than likely cement Manning's legacy as this generation's best quarterback—and in the eyes of many—the best to ever play the position.

But how will history remember Caldwell?

As a head coach who guided his team to a Super Bowl thriumph? Or a coach who was given a ready-made champion?

There are some who believe the rookie head coach was just a figure head taking a backseat to his star quarterback and even the man he replaced just 13 months ago, Tony Dungy.

For most of the season, Caldwell was viewed as the head coaching version of former NFL signal-caller, Trent Dilfer, who played the role of game manager on the road to a Baltimore Ravens world championship in 2000.

Caldwell's path to Miami is just as unlikely as the NFC-champion New Orleans Saints.

As the head coach of Wake Forest, Caldwell only had one winning season during his eight-year collegiate stint, compiling a 26–63 career record. He then joined Dungy as a quarterbacks coach in Tampa Bay in 2001 before following his mentor to Indianapolis in that same role to tutor Manning.

Along the way, Caldwell interviewed for the vacant Ravens' job after Brian Billick was fired at the end of the 2007 season. Nearly a week later, he was named Dungy's replacement as Colts head coach when he retired.

The just-don't-screw-it-up plan went off without a hitch through the Colts first 14 wins.

That was until Caldwell drew controversy for removing starters during the Colts 29-15 Week 16 loss to the New York Jets, ending Indianapolis' bid at a perfect season.

Even through all the second-guessing, Monday-morning quarterbacking, and even the disapproving body language that oozed from his players as they watched history slip away from the sidelines, Caldwell stood behind his decision.

"It's probably my greatest strength and my greatest weakness: I can focus in. I can narrow my scope," Caldwell told the Indianapolis Star. "Once you make a decision, you have to live with it. You certainly weigh all the options before. You take a look at all the things that could occur. But once that decision is done, you keep moving." 

Caldwell throwing his weight around in that moment might have brought the Colts closer together and refocused the team heading into the postseason. It opened eyes around the league.

Before that game, we did not know much about Caldwell. He does not have the scowl of his contemporaries like Bill Belichick, the bravado of Rex Ryan, or is revered like Jeff Fisher.

Now we know Caldwell is the unequivocal leader of the franchise. That is why he should get credit if the Colts hoist the Lombardi Trophy. Being an NFL head coach is more than creating game plans and giving pre-game and halftime speeches.

It is about gaining the respect of those 53 men in the locker room by not always making the popular decison. Placing the goals of the teams first. Staying the course even when injures ravaged the defense, as was the case for Caldwell.

Because of that approach, the Colts are on the cusp of winning their second Super Bowl in four years.

And it can all be credited to man who probably won't get the credit.