Indianapolis – After replacing Tony Dungy as the head coach of the Indianapolis Colts, Jim Caldwell had some big shoes to fill. And like Dungy, Caldwell has accomplished things never done before in the history of the NFL.
Dungy named Caldwell as his successor after becoming the first African American head coach to win a Super Bowl. Caldwell, 54, became one of four black rookie head coaches in the NFL this year and has already broken records.
Caldwell was as an assistant to Dungy in Tampa Bay, Fla., before the two moved to Indianapolis to take over the coaching reigns of the Colts. In that time, the Colts appeared in the playoffs for seven straight seasons and won at least 12 games in six straight seasons. Dungy retired in January 2009.
Forget being the first African American, Jim Caldwell became the first rookie coach ever to win his first 13 games. “I’m not competing with Tony Dungy, I just want to build on the success that we’ve had and move forward,” said Caldwell.
And that’s exactly what he has done, in historic fashion. Under Caldwell the Colts broke the NFL record for most consecutive wins in NFL history with 22 straight victories; a streak that started with Dungy. The Colts also became the No. 1 team of the decade with the most wins with 114 overall.
“He’s not going to try and do it like I did it,” said Dungy. “He’s worked for some people and he’s put his stamp on this team and they’re going to win.”
With future Hall of Fame quarterback Peyton Manning as the field general with a relatively new corps of receivers in the mix, the Colts wrapped up the conference title with a full month left on the regular season schedule. That guarantees the Colts home field advantage throughout the playoffs.
What Caldwell will need to do is guard against complacency with his team. Although the Colts have won more games than any team in the past 10 years, they only have one Super Bowl title to show for it. –lenn durant
Note: Check out the rolling out photo gallery for Jim Caldwell and the Indianapolis Colts NFL record-setting win.
