The Colts waived cornerback Justin Tryon Wednesday, and the defensive back opened some eyes with comments he made later that evening. The Arizona State product, who started six games for the Colts last season, suggested on Twitter that head coach Jim Caldwell wanted to start him but was unable to.
“I thank the Colts die hard fans for the love they’re showing me!” Tryon wrote. “I’M A STARTER yes.. [Jim] Caldwell wanted to start me but it wasn’t up to him!”
It’s an odd tweet because Jim Caldwell is the team’s head coach, and you figure the head coach would have the power to decide who starts and who gets benched. Many people feel that this is indicative of Caldwell’s position within the organization; they think he is more of a figurehead than an authoritative figure.
Team owner Jim Irsay wasted little time trying to set the record straight.
“Bill Polian is one day going to the Hall of Fame — he knows what he’s doing. And Coach Caldwell makes final call on who plays and who doesn’t, period,” he wrote on Twitter.
Polian is the team’s vice chairman, and the man who makes many of the personnel decisions. The inference is that the fans should trust his decision to release a player. Caldwell, meanwhile, responded to the notion that he lacks the authority to determine the team’s starting lineup.
“Well, probably without being boastful or seeming as if that I’m reacting to that particular statement, but I can just tell you that if I wanted him to start, he would have started,” Caldwell said. “If I wanted him to be here, he’d still be here, plain and simple. I’m not going to carry on a back-and-forth, you know, because the young man did a good job for us while he was here and I hope he’s able to land with someone else.”
It sounds like someone here isn’t being truthful. I wouldn’t be surprised if Bill Polian is making many of the personnel decisions, and it wouldn’t be surprising to learn that he has input on who plays and who doesn’t. So what really went on? My guess is that Caldwell was making himself out to be the good cop against Polian’s bad cop when Tryon was released. The only problem is that Tryon took it literally and went public with the information. That’s just my guess, because I do have to imagine a player would be starting if that’s what the head coach wanted.
