PRESS CONFERENCE COLTS - HEAD COACH JIM CALDWELL - ingles

Super Bowl XLIV – Monday, February 1, 2010

QUOTES FROM INDIANAPOLIS COLTS PRESS CONFERENCE

HEAD COACH JIM CALDWELL

(On DE Dwight Freeney’s status) “He is healing. I think probably the best way to describe it is a third degree sprain. It is a lower ankle sprain. He is day to day.”

(On if Freeney has been in South Florida getting treatment) “He has, he came down I think on Friday.”

(On if Freeney is in a boot) “I am not sure about all the details. That’s about all I have to tell you at this time.”

(On how the game would be impacted in Freeney cannot play) “He’s a great player, obviously a very talented guy. Much like anything else that we’ve done, I mean there’ve been some guys from time to time that we’ve had to play without. If he can’t go, it’s kind of an old mantra that we’ve said time and time again; the next man is up.”

(On if he has confidence Freeney will heal quickly because of his previous injury recovery time) “Certainly he’s a quick healer.”

(On what it means to him as a coach to make it to the Super Bowl in his first year as head coach) “Well, I know it’s a very very unusual situation that occurred with our season and that kind of thing, particularly in my first year. The fact of the matter is I didn’t have to do it alone. We have a great staff of guys in the coaching staff, certainly an outstanding franchise administration organization, the owner, Bill Polian does a tremendous job in terms of personnel, he and Tom Telesco and Chris Polian, and the rest of the crew and we have great players that certainly makes a difference.”

(On if the team is approaching the game as if Freeney will not be playing) “Well, he hasn’t been practicing, so if he’s not practicing then obviously we’re preparing as if he’s not going to play and then if we happen to get an opportunity to get him in there, we’ll obviously do so.”

(On if Freeney is unable to play if DE Raheem Brock will step in) “We’ll do some kind of rotation, but obviously Raheem will be a big part of that.”

(On if he feels that the Rooney Rule was bypassed when he was hired by the Colts) “Do I think it bypassed the Rooney Rule? I don’t think so in this particular case. I am assuming that you’re referring to a number of different situations that have occurred across the League that someone has emphasized that point. But I think it is based on certainly getting minorities an opportunity to interview for the position. In my situation I had an opportunity to interview in a particular fairly lengthy amount of time as well. So no, I don’t think it bypassed the rule. I think the intent of it is to give certainly minorities an opportunity.”

(On if he feels the Rooney Rule is still viable and necessary) “I do. I think when you look at the difference between the League just in terms of the number of minorities in head coaching positions in 2002 and then today, I think you’d agree it’s certainly been helpful and effective.”

(On his faith and relationship with former coach Tony Dungy) “That would take me about a half hour to go through the whole thing, how about I pick out a little bit. Certainly there are a lot of similarities. He paved the way for me. Obviously because of the fact that we do kind of have the same coaching style, we’re not guys that scream and yell. I may tend to raise my voice a little louder, but it’s more to encourage, more so than anything else and for instruction. His demeanor and the way he handled the situations during the course of the game has made it possible for guys like me to coach and for people not to consider our style of coaching as a negative because he won with it and won consistently. We certainly are thankful to him for that. How much do I talk to him? Often, but often times it’s not about football. We talk about faith, from spiritual matters, family; as a matter of fact, he and I had a long conversation today about Eric and his recruiting trip. He’s looking at different institutions that he’s interested in. Eric is a senior in high school, so we had a long conversation about his choices.”

(On if he thinks the Colts running game has been underrated) “One thing that I want to make certain so that you get a sense of me; I am pretty authentic, I am pretty straight forward. If you look at our numbers, our numbers have not been good. We have been either 31st or 32nd throughout the entire year, so for me to tell you that’s a figment of someone’s imagination, that’s not the case. It’s an area we know needs improving, we work on constantly and an area of emphasis, but I do think there are certain times in certain ball games, like the last one that we played, where we have been effective. So it’s not consistently ineffective, we just haven’t been consistently effective.”

(On the potential retirement of OL Coach Howard Mudd) “I think that obviously it’s pretty significant anytime that you have the opportunity to draw conclusion to your career in terms of coaching on the biggest stage there is in team-oriented sports. Howard has been a guy that has given a lot to our profession. He is exceptional at what he does. He’s also got great passion for what he does and that certainly spills over into our team and in our linemen and many other areas. I take him for his word. He says that this is it for him and we certainly take that to be the case. Howard is usually straightforward. He doesn’t cut any corners with you. He’s going to tell you like it is.”

(On if the experience of a South Florida Super Bowl is a benefit to the Colts) “Well, you know it certainly does give you a little less trepidation because it’s not new to them in terms of surroundings, but that is only not new to a portion of our team. There are only 25 of our guys who have had that experience. Some of them, I think, it will rub off on some of the younger guys because they will be able to give them some direction and things of that nature. But it doesn’t give you any real advantages. There are no guarantees involved. Simply because you have been some place on occasion or you play at home or play away, whatever it might be, it doesn’t give you any guarantees. I think that’s certainly been quite evident. I talk to our guys about it, the fact that we went on the road numerous times in foreign territory under tough conditions, be it whether or field conditions or whatever it might be, and you would say the home team has an advantage but we were able to come away with a win. This is no different. It’s a neutral site. Simply because we have a portion of our team that has been here doesn’t give us any real advantages.”

(On how WR Pierre Garcon has handled the attention and in particular the problems in Haiti) “It’s been very difficult for him obviously. And particularly when the earthquake first occurred, he did not know the well being of his family. All of those things were up in the air. He could not communicate with them because obviously all of the cell phone towers were out and etcetera. There was a long period of time there where there was a lot of uncertainty in his life and although his immediate family is not located there, he has several cousins, uncles, so on and so forth that he was concerned about. But they were able to make contact with some. I am not certain that all have been contacted as of yet. But he’s done a tremendous job I think of handling it. It’s very, very tough, he is an extremely focused young man, but never the less, I think he has kind of used this to spur him on a little bit and maybe to bring a little bit more attention to Haiti to help in some fundraising efforts.”

(On if the game plan will be affected by rain) “We will not change much due to the weather obviously. We certainly will get prepared for it just in case we have to deal with some of the same issues we dealt with last time. It looks like it may rain a little bit during the course of the week so we will have an opportunity to practice in it, but our game plan won’t change much in that regard.”

(On the role TE Dallas Clark blocking) “I think that is one thing…he is known for catching the ball, he is known for certainly being able to run after the catch. He has made a number of big plays for us in the passing game. Often times people would think that is the only thing that he does, but the fact of the matter is he is a very capable blocker. He has a unique ability the move his feet and get leverage on his opponent and get himself in great position to get his job done. He’s not a guy that’s going to blow you off the ball consistently or anything of that nature. That’s not how he’s made up physically, but he is a technique conscience individual with great fundamentals and that’s what helps him.”

(On if TE Dallas Clark blocking in the Jets game helped the running game) “Within the game itself, obviously we were able to run the ball and run it effectively. And a lot of it had to do with the fact that he was able to handle his opponents with his blocking assignments.”

(On his thoughts of being an African American Head Coach in the Super Bowl) “I think because of the fact that is becoming less of a story shows you that obviously there is some progress being made. But I really do believe there are still a lot of things I think in terms of different thresholds and milestones to be crossed in that particular area. Particularly when you look at the administration across the League and obviously other positions across the League just in terms of personnel so on and so forth that there are also areas that the Rooney Rule is sort of focusing in on. But overall I just think that Tony (Dungy) and Mike Tomlin and Lovie Smith are great coaches that just so happen to be very proud of their heritage as well.”

(On if there was a focused effort to upgrade special teams) “Well that was one area we thought that was extremely important for us to improve upon so we focused in on trying to make certain that we did a number of things better in that area. Coverage teams, we had to make certain they were better. Obviously we had a change in terms of our punting position, so we had to put some emphasis in that area as well. (P) Pat McAfee has done a tremendous job and overall I think there is new energy, new life and the guys have certainly adapted well and have been able to be quite effective.”

(On what impresses him about DE Raheem Brock) “One of the things I think that those that have been watching our team play throughout the years, he’s not anyone that’s brand new. It’s not like he’s been unearthed as some unusual talent. The guy has made a lot of great plays throughout the years. Obviously against the Ravens, most recently, he had a couple big plays obviously last year against Houston, turned the games around with big hit and caused fumbles. He’s a guy that is very smart, he’s been around and he understands our defensive scheme extremely well. He’s highly motivated and that kind of experience, obviously that helps us in case Dwight cannot go. “

(On if the team has déjà vu being here) “I heard a couple guys getting off the plane, a couple of coaches saying déjà vu, just in terms of rain. During the course of the week when we were here last time it didn’t rain at all, but on game day it sort of changed a bit. I just think that whatever the conditions are we’re certainly looking forward to the challenge.”

(On if he has revisited to rest starters the last two games of the season) “No sir I have not revisited it. That’s the short answer. I think we’ve kind of moved beyond that. Our guys have handled it very well. Really our goal and aim was to make sure we were in the best possible position in that first ball game against Baltimore to play and play well with some enthusiasm and some freshness. I think we got that accomplished.”