IS CALDWELL REALLY CALLING THE SHOTS IN INDY

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Shutdown Corner

Thu Sep 29 11:25am EDT

Released corner: Jim Caldwell doesn’t make decisions in Indy

By MJD

The Indianapolis Colts have released cornerback Justin Tryon(notes), which was probably the humane thing to do since they weren't playing him. The release caps a weird few weeks for Tryon in Indy.
About a week ago, Phil Wilson of the Indy Star asked Colts defensive coordinator Larry Coyer why Tryon wasn't playing. Coyer's answer was odd and evasive, basically pointing a finger at head coach Jim Caldwell.

"You know what, any of that stuff you have to ask Jim (Caldwell), to be honest with you," Coyer said. "I like [Tryon] a lot. He's competitive. But where that is, it's with our head coach."

Pretty much everyone agrees that Tryon was better than Jacob Lacey(notes), the man who got the snaps in Tryon's absence. I read the quote from Coyer as meaning, "I like Tryon, and I'd like to play him, but for some reason, Jim Caldwell doesn't want me to, so I can't." According to Tryon, though, it wasn't up to Caldwell, either. Here's what he tweeted.

@JTTRYON20: I thank the Colts die hard fans for the love they're showing me! I'M A STARTER yes.. Caldwell wanted to start me but it wasn't up to him!
@JTTRYON20: Now done with that!! I'm def ready for the next chapter in this wonderful story!! IM BLESSED!! lay off of Caldwell he's a great coach! Peace

And for whatever it's worth, Colts owner Jim Irsay quickly hopped on Twitter to challenge what Tryon said about Caldwell.

@JimIrsay: Bill Polian is 1 day,going 2 The Hall of Fame,he knows what he's doing,and Coach Caldwell makes final call on who plays n who doesn't,period

Who's telling the truth, I don't know. I do think it's odd that in the same tweet where he says that Caldwell makes the decisions, Irsay also feels it necessary to point out that Colts vice chairman Bill Polian, if he wanted to, would be qualified to make such a decision. Tryon has an agenda, too. Not that I think he's lying, but of course his point of view would be that he's a really good player and that it was something in the organization holding him back.
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Since the day Caldwell took the head coaching job, there's always been the perception he's not a man of great sway in the Colts organization. Irsay's a strong character. Polian's a strong character. Peyton Manning's(notes) a strong character. Tony Dungy said on Sunday that Manning would be calling a lot of the plays in their Sunday night game against Pittsburgh.
Meanwhile, Caldwell goes about his business while saying almost nothing. Right or wrong, the perception's been that he's the Colts head coach just because the Colts had to hire someone to be the head coach.
Tryon's tweets give some credence to the belief that Caldwell's just a sideline decoration.