Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - COLTS SQUAD SHOW: Super Bowl PATH | How the Colts Return to the Top and NFL Coaching Carousel Impact

Episode Date: February 4, 2026

It's Super Bowl week and the guys discuss how the Colts get back to playing in or at least being in the conversation when it comes to the ultimate stage. Also, the Squad picks their favorite Pro Bowle...r, talk about how the ten new head coaching hires impact the Colts, and dive into the latest Pro Football Hall of Fame news. Find and follow Locked On Colts on your favorite podcast platforms: 🎧 https://lockedonpodcasts.com/podcasts/locked-on-colts/ 📺YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLdpxJspi1hMh5HL7ExpWOQ Give the squad a follow on X/Twitter @Schultz975, @JakeArthurNFL, @ZachHicks2, @allenpinkett, @LockedOnColts, and @ColtsOn_SI, as well on TikTok and Instagram! Locked On NFL League-Wide: Every Team, Fantasy, Draft & More 🎧 https://lockedonpodcasts.com/podcasts/lockedoncoltsSupport Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!TurboTaxFor a limited time, you can have your taxes done by a local TurboTax expert for just $150 — all in, if a TurboTax expert didn’t file for you last year. Just file by February 28. Visit http://TurboTax.com/local to book your appointment today.FanDuelIf you’re a new customer, bet just $5 and get $200 in Bonus Bets if you win. Make it count — because after the Super Bowl, the season is over. Last call for football on FanDuel, an Official Sportsbook Partner of Super Bowl Sixty.PrizePicksDownload the PrizePicks app today and use codeLOCKEDONNFL to get $50 in lineups after you play your first $5 lineup.Click Here: https://prizepicks.onelink.me/LME0/LOCKEDONNFLGametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONfor $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime.RobinhoodTrade Every Play with Robinhood. Now available across the U.S. Download the Robinhood app now to begin.Futures and cleared swaps trading involves significant risk and is not appropriate for everyone. Event contracts are offered by Robinhood Derivatives, LLC., a registered futures commission merchant and swap firmIndeedListeners of this show get a $75 Sponsored Job Credit to help give your job the premium placement it deserves at http://Indeed.com/lockedonnfl.GustoTry Gusto today at http://gusto.com/lockedonNFL and get three months free when you run your first payroll.QuoMake this the year where no opportunity — and no customer — slips away. Try Quo for free plus get 20% off your first 6 months when you go to http://Quo.com/lockedonnfl.BetterhelpThis episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. BetterHelp makes it easy to get matched online with a qualified therapist.  Sign up and get 10% off at http://BetterHelp.com/LOCKEDON. DripDropRight now, DripDrop is offering podcast listeners 20% off your first order. Go to http://dripdrop.com and use promo code lockedonnfl.FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Transcript
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Starting point is 00:00:00 Welcome to the Colts Squad Show. I'm your host, Derek Schultz, and I'm interrupting a Pro Bowl Games watch party to be here tonight. I'm Zach Hicks, and yeah, I'm following the Colts Twitter account tweeting out that Tyler Warren has scored multiple times in this Pro Bowl game. And I'm Alan Pinkett, former Euler. We're going to talk about coaches tonight. Looks like they use the Rooney Rule. Oh, bite the wrong thing. Sorry, but. The Colts Nation, Rise Up. It's the Colts Squad. Everything Indianapolis, Colts every week covering all the big hits and game changing plays from the Circle City the way only the locked on podcast network can. It's time to squad up. The Colt Squadjo starts now. Yeah, I told you it's
Starting point is 00:00:50 flagged football. It's got me all distracted. I'm hitting the wrong buttons and I'm messing up the start of the squad show. Welcome to the Colts Squad show. Today's episode brought you by Fanduel. It's the last call for football on Fanduel. If you're a new customer, bet just $5 and get $200 in bonus bets if you win. I'm Derek Schultz. long-time indie sports talker and columnist for the Indianapolis Business Journal. I am joined by the Notre Dame legend, long-time NFL running back as well in Alan Pinkett and our Locked-on Colts film guru. Zach Hicks is here. Jake Arthur, the other part of your daily listen every day on Locked-on Colts is on
Starting point is 00:01:22 dad duty tonight. So we will continue at 75% strong. It's Super Bowl week. Newsflash, the Colts aren't playing in the game. But how do they get back there? We're going to talk about that in the first segment of the show as we lead off today. And who are your Colts pro bowlers? Now, I fully understand that two of them were picked, Jonathan Taylor and Quentin Nelson.
Starting point is 00:01:43 And then we've had a laundry list of alternates, as all teams do as well. But we're going to go around the room and just kind of pick one standout individual performer that we really appreciated this year. And not even necessarily from like a statistical standpoint or from a, hey, they were the best player on the team standpoint. Just, you know, a standout way. Like if we were giving our pro bowl vote, who we would give it to. third segment of the show will react to the NFL head coaching carousel finally coming to a halt. Ten openings,
Starting point is 00:02:10 10 new guys coming in. And some in the retread category, some in the first time category, kind of a somewhat of an even mix. And so we're going to go through and judge all 10 of those and how they impact the Colts as well and try to make it relevant to you Indianapolis fans. And then we'll go through our news and notes segments,
Starting point is 00:02:27 including some Hall of Fame news to get to sort of like we touched on on the last show with Bill Belich. getting the snub. But Zach, when you look at these teams or any of the contenders, when we talk about, you know, what do the Colts have to do to get back here? So we're actually spending this week talking about the Colts like we did in the 2006 and the 2009 seasons. Is there something, you know, generically, you know, they need a franchise quarterback.
Starting point is 00:02:56 They need elite at edge. Sure, like, we know those core things. But is there something that you see with Seattle or New England, or something trend-wise that you see schematically that the Colts maybe need to do a better job of doing to get to that level? Yeah, absolutely. Number one, if we're just, I mean, going into the nitty-gritty here, staying healthy. It's the number one.
Starting point is 00:03:16 It's the number one correlating thing when it comes to success. Not having your quarterback tear their Achilles, not having half your defense ravaged by injuries. It goes a long way towards winning in this league. But all jokes aside, you know, the way that the Colts want to operate. this thing with Daniel Jones as their starting quarterback is not much different than the way that Seattle is getting their way into the Super Bowl right now. You know, you have a quarterback who can operate very efficiently off of play action, who can make some plays out of the pocket when he
Starting point is 00:03:47 needs to and be that smart processor when you give him all the information. You surround him with some good weapons and a really good running game. Now Seattle accomplishes it through that two-headed monster and a good offensive line. The Colts do it through the Bocel running back and Jonathan Taylor in their offensive line, and then they want to win with this aggressive, take the football away, just beat the opponent down on defense on that side of the ball. And, you know, when I look at the blueprint that I guess Seattle is kind of putting forth right now, you know, I don't think the culture that far off from that. I mean, we even saw in that game the two teams played in Seattle with the Colts onto the retirement quarterback that they were able to go toe to toe with the team
Starting point is 00:04:27 that is favored in this Super Bowl. But ultimately, I think it comes down. to hitting on your draft picks. Look at Seattle's recent run of not only their first round picks, but day two, day three picks. I mean, guys that they are adding into this core that have all been hitting. I mean, every edge rusher that they draft has been a productive player for them. Every corner they draft is a guy who's out there on Sundays and making plays. They built that defense through the draft.
Starting point is 00:04:55 And then when they did make a trade for that linebacker, Ernest Jones, it was kind of like the final piece rather than like a trade. that needed to do everything for them. So they built a top two defense in football, mostly through hitting on a lot of draft picks, and then they added the quarterback that could just run the whole thing on the offense side of the ball. So again, if Indy wants to be a team like Seattle, for instance,
Starting point is 00:05:16 which I don't think is too far away. It's similar. They run similar offenses. Defenses kind of approach the game from a similar mindset of diversity to skies and taking the football away. You know, you got to hit on a draft picks and you got to stay healthy. And at the end of the day, it's just important to just keep building that defense,
Starting point is 00:05:37 you know, keep putting resources in the defense. You have the offensive mind and Shane Steichen. They just need to add the defense alongside a young, fast defense like Seattle has. We saw with Indy last year, I think they had the scheming down on that side of the ball, but they were kind of old. They were kind of slow. They were kind of injured. If you can get younger, faster hit on your draft picks,
Starting point is 00:05:56 it goes a long way towards replicating what Seattle's been able to do in a very tough NFC all season long. Well, I would agree with you, Zach, about staying healthy. You know, injuries are part of the game, and every team goes through their share of injuries. But, I mean, this was a walking mass unit this year for the Colts. And I guess the only way you can really try to defend against injury is having quality depth. Well, in the NFL, it makes it hard to have quality depth because you've got to pay your
Starting point is 00:06:36 starters so much money. And with the cap, what you're looking for is the best $150,000 player you can find. I'm sure it's minimums more than that now. But it's the chasm between your starter and your backup is so large that the NFL is one of those, you've got to have your starters play. as many games, play as many downs as possible, whereas college is all about depth. I mean, if you've got seven running backs, they're going to run all seven running backs at you. You know, so I think the Colts are very close. You can't lose your quarterback. That's, you know, the number one thing. I try to think of how can they improve on offense. You know, I was thinking, And will they need that person that can take the top off defense?
Starting point is 00:07:32 Well, I mean, that's really Alec Pierce. In a system where it's a controlled ball system based on timing, Alec Pierce is still that guy that will screw the defense up because as soon as they get used to those dinks and dunks, he will go over the top. So they have that guy. They've got the running back. I think they finally have the tight end.
Starting point is 00:07:57 that will make that offense dynamic. So I think the pieces are there. You just can't have your quarterback get hurt. And I think Daniel Jones is only going to get better based on how he comes back from this Achilles injury. But in terms of, you know, Philip Rivers was good because he got the ball out quick, made good decisions. Daniel Jones, I think, can do that even with a bad Achilles.
Starting point is 00:08:31 Yeah. Go ahead. Yeah, sorry, I may interrupt, but, like, you know, I've talked to someone who's seen Daniel Jones' recovery up front and personal and seen a lot of it. And, you know, a lot of good reports on just how he's attacking the recovery process and how things are looking and stuff like that. And I want to believe in Daniel Jones coming back from this injury. But at the end of the day with Jones, the big fear is this is not his first injury.
Starting point is 00:08:55 This is a lot of injuries in his career. He's rarely finished seasons. He's rarely played complete seasons in the NFL from shoulder injuries to ACL, I believe. He has that kind of injury, some neck injuries in there as well. It's a lot that has been on him at this point. And at some point you can say, like, let's just get lucky one of these seasons where he doesn't get hurt. But how many more seasons of data points do we need on that is where it just kind of happens? You know, he wasn't used as a runner this season.
Starting point is 00:09:24 And we still saw that. a fractured leg in the torn Achilles. So, you know, to kind of go back to what you started this with, Derek, you know, go get a franchise quarterback, go get a star quarterback. Well, that's hard to find. You know, it's very hard to find. Daniel Jones was a good quarterback for them last year. And I understand resigning him because I think people are forgetting how good he played.
Starting point is 00:09:44 You know, in the four games, they played against top 10 defenses when he was out there, like the four complete games. He had a passer rating over 103 of them, only two turnovers in those four games. and the Colts were went two and two in those games. And he played exceptionally well. So Jones played some good football. It wasn't just beating up on the bottom feeders. But it comes down to can he stay healthy?
Starting point is 00:10:05 Can this defense build through the draft because they need younger, faster and contributors out there on Sundays? That's really what they need with this plan of attack. You know, they're kind of trying to attack this the way that San Fran has attacked it. How, you know, Seattle, Detroit with with Dan Campbell, where it's like we have a smart quarterback, get the ball out and run our system, let's build up the team around them.
Starting point is 00:10:29 I feel like the Colts team is just a little bit below those teams in terms of roster building and depth and hitting in the draft. So they need the quarterback to stay healthy first, but then to catch up to those teams with this model that they are taking, they need to just hit more on their draft picks. Need more home run draft picks rather than just singles. And I can't even say double. Singles is kind of what they're hitting a lot recently.
Starting point is 00:10:49 They need like a home run draft pick where we're looking back saying, wow, these 10 guys they took, six of them are playing significant snaps and three of them look like really good young players. They need that kind of draft if they want to be in this conversation with Seattle, San Fran, Detroit in that championship and Super Bowl conversation. And, you know, they don't have, I know they don't have first round picks the next two years, but that second, third, fourth round can end up being a franchise player. You could find guys.
Starting point is 00:11:20 Yeah. Yeah. You can. And I think about the Colts defense, what would I do differently and health over on that side too. You know, I think losing to Forrest Buckner, who I think is the heart and soul of that defense, didn't help him that much. Decent depth on the defensive line. I also think about, you know, that dynamic edge rusher. but La Jalatu is right there. And he'll be going into his third year, which I really expect him to take off with this being his third year,
Starting point is 00:11:54 you know, because you kind of become a pro. And you understand the business in your third year. And you can't get injured in the defensive backfield, you know, to have not one, but two quality corners go down. and then you got to put free agents back there. Nobody can win like that. So I know there were a couple guys that got hurt early in the year that that we thought would be good in the defensive backfield.
Starting point is 00:12:27 You know, so, you know, maybe they come back from injury. But the coach are close. They're very close. But the injury bug really hit them hard. Yeah, and I think, you know, kind of what Zach said about singles, you know, not only in the draft, just like, this roster in general, I think one of the prevailing issues of the Chris Bowerd era is that they have a lot of guys who are singles or doubles type talents and game breakers and not home run hitters and not to make everything a baseball analogy because I feel like that's becoming my thing on the show is to turn everything into a baseball analogy. But, you know, the cults and some people are going to disagree. You know, the anti-Boward people that, you know, think this roster sucks and all that. Like, I don't think this roster sucks. I don't think it has sucked for these last. seven, eight years. I think what's been holding them back is the fact that, a, their best players
Starting point is 00:13:18 have been at non-impact positions largely. But now we're starting to see that change a little bit, especially with the emergence of Alex Pierce. But the guys that they have that are at the top of their roster just aren't like the game-breaking talents that some of these other teams have. I mean, look at Seattle's defense alone, like those guys like Witherspoon and Jones, et cetera, like they change games. And the Colts, you know, Zaire Franklin doesn't change a game like that, you know. And he's been a good player, but he's not like that level of player. And I, and I think that that's something that that's kind of held them back as well from, you know, being more of this middle tier team where the roster is good. It's just not enough great players to push it up into that upper tier.
Starting point is 00:13:54 Yeah, I think the roster is fine, honestly. And it's not, again, he hasn't been drafting poorly. I just think the last three drafts in particular, we haven't seen, like, there have been some fine players. Latu's a fine player. Tyler Warren looks to be a good player for this team. You look at the offensive line, getting guys like Bordellini and Solvis and Travis in here. Good stuff. Really good stuff. But they just need that difference maker draft. The last time they really had it was like you look back at like 2022 when they took their three other fours four picks were like home run picks. Basically got Pierce. You got Cross and you got Barronhardt Ryman all on day two of that draft. You got your franchise left tackle,
Starting point is 00:14:30 your number one wide receiver. And even if Cross walks, like he was a good safety on his rookie contract for you. That was a home run type of draft. They need a draft with that kind of impact, preferably a little bit earlier impact because Cross and Pierce took a bit to get to where they are. You know, if you can get a couple of these guys that produced a little bit in year one and year two, that'd be fantastic. But they need that level of drafter or heaven forbid back to 2018 level of home run where they're drafting multiple all pros. I don't even want to aim for that high, but just like legit starting difference maker type players too often in recent years. You know, you have guys like Juju Brent, A.D. Mitchell, J.T. 2 and a low owl. it's tough.
Starting point is 00:15:10 It's tough to continually build your team when you have young players like that that are just not hitting on their rookie contracts for you. Yeah, no doubt about it. We come back on the Colts Squad Show. Maybe it's Jonathan Taylor, maybe it's Quinn Nelson, but maybe it's not.
Starting point is 00:15:25 We're going to pick our personal Colts Pro Bowlers when the Colts Squad Show returns next. This portion of the Colts Squad Show brought you by Gusto. Let's be real. No one starts a business for the joy of calculating tax withholdings or managing payroll spreadsheets. That's where Gusto comes in to take the stress out of payroll, benefits, and HR so you can focus on running your business and supporting your team.
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Starting point is 00:17:22 Last call for football and Fandul, an official sportsbook partner of Super Bowl 60. Visit Fandul.com to get started. And we're back on the Locked-Cultz squad show alongside former NFL or Alan Pinkett, Zach Hicks of the Locked-on Colts Daily Duo, your first listen every day. I'm Derek Schultz. Really appreciate you joining us. And we've got some people in the room right now watching us on live stream. Maybe you're catching us after this.
Starting point is 00:17:48 But for our live viewers, we really appreciate their loyalty to the locked on podcast network and the locked on Colts squad show because, you know, obviously there's a huge flag football game going on right now. And you guys are diverting attention away from that. So we can't thank you enough for being here. But in all seriousness, guys, some Colts are participating in whatever this force is that they're doing right now, including Jonathan Taylor and Quentin Nelson, who were the actual pro bowl picks.
Starting point is 00:18:12 And then there were some alternates, Tyler Warren, Daniel Jones was actually on that alternate list, Camp Bynum, Ashton Doolin, and I'm missing one. Michael Pittman Jr. as well was on that alternate list. But I thought it would be fun to just kind of, and we handed out postseason awards, and maybe this will align a couple of weeks ago. We did that in the wake of the season and said, okay, you know, who's your Colts MVP or who's your standout player and things like that. But I thought it would be fun to just kind of give each of us, like kind of like the old Bachelor show where you hand them a rose. at the end or Bachelorette. I don't know, maybe that's weird, but that's what I had in my head
Starting point is 00:18:47 when I was formulating this segment this morning, and we each pick our own pro bowler. Alan, did you want to start? I figured I would leave the floor to you, so you have the pick of the litter here for the Colts. Well, I mean, who can argue with Quentin Nelson and Jonathan Taylor? I mean, they have to be, I mean, they are legit all pros. And I tried to, you know, do a little research and come up with who I think would be my go-to pro bowl pick.
Starting point is 00:19:21 But the caveat is I based it on the first 10 games, and I have to go with Tyler Warren. You know, he did hit that rookie wall. And I'm familiar with that where he just get tired. And he just looked like he was laboring around the end of the year. and I know he had good chemistry with Daniel Jones, not so much with Rivers or, you know, our other quarterback. But those first 10 games, I think he added a dimension to this offense that made them unstoppable because there was no one guy you could key on.
Starting point is 00:20:05 And if you chose to double somebody, then you really weren't in trouble. So I think he has a bright future. And I think that, you know, he's going to learn from this rookie year and be more of a force for all 17 games next year. So he's the one I'm most excited about on this team. Yeah, no, for sure. And I will kind of give Warren a little bit of credit because he definitely coming out of the by, that Kansas City game, Houston and Jacksonville game.
Starting point is 00:20:41 I did think that he looked like he was laboring a little bit. As someone says in the comments, it could have been a bit of an injury. I know there was that sickness in there. And then obviously he played a lot of football his final year in college, carrying that into the regular season. So I think a lot of that built up. But I did think he did a pretty good job of getting over that wall in the second Jacksonville game, in the San Fran game, a little bit in the Seattle.
Starting point is 00:21:03 game as well. But like I think he did a good job of getting over that and finishing the season pretty strong. So I'm very optimistic about him going forward. Very good player. I'm glad he got that alternate bump up to the actual pro bowler, even though again, it's, it's kind of meaningless at this point, but it's nice to have it on your resume, you know, the, the pro bowl. I'm going to put a guy who he doesn't get the pro bowl alternate because I don't think people know how to vote for this position. But Barronhardt Ryman, I thought, was awesome all season long. I think he's think this was the best season of his career. And, you know, people always talk about where, like, when a guy gets paid, sometimes you see the play fluctuate a little bit. I think some of that
Starting point is 00:21:41 has to do with more of being under a microscope when it comes to, you know, Berenhart Ryman's no longer on a rookie contract. He's now getting paid $20 plus million per year. We're going to notice every single time a player beats him because he's getting paid $20 plus million a year. But it's exceptionally hard to play left tackle in this league. There were some moments where it's like, okay, you want to see him be a little bit better. the force fumble against Pittsburgh on the back side. He definitely got beat there. But overall, I thought this was a very, very good season for Bairn Hart Riemann. And him and Quentin Nelson, I think, were the best left tackle, left guard, run blocking duo in the league. And then
Starting point is 00:22:17 as a pass blocker, I thought he had a really good season as well. For my money, he's an easy pro bowler. I don't think he's an all pro level guy right now, but easy pro bowl, at least should have been a pro bowl alternate, but they basically just pick offensive tackles from from playoff teams to put there because nobody knows how to evaluate the position. But Berenhard Riemann, very, very good player. Still under 30 years old, locked up long term. I really, really love what I saw on film from him. And he just keeps getting better and better. A guy who was a tight end going into college, didn't play, I don't think he played any high school football. We played high school football late. Transition to left tackle, still kind of learned the game on
Starting point is 00:22:54 his rookie contract. And now I think he's a bona fide top 10 left tackle in football. And I'm glad that the payment that the Colts are giving to them each and every year now is going to reinforce how good of a football player is. So that was my big thing. Like when I didn't see him even get Pro Bowl Alternate, I was like, come on, man. Like, look, I love Michael Pittman Jr. So much, but 800-yard receiver getting a Pro Bowl alternate over a franchise caliber left tackle, Ashton Doolin who played like eight games this year getting a pro-ball alter. I love Ashton Doolin. I will never say a bad thing about Doolin. But like, he missed a lot of time this year as a special teamer.
Starting point is 00:23:31 Like, why are we giving him pro-ball? But, like, Berenhardt-Ryman is a legit pro-bowl level left tackle. And, you know, for all we want to say about Chris Ballard, finding that in round three is one of his best achievements as the Colts general manager, giving that to the Colts. Even if he's fired after the year, like, that's his greatest gift he gave this team in the last five to six seasons. You want to, you want to stretch pro-bowler? It's kind of a stretch.
Starting point is 00:23:57 Yeah. It could be literally anybody. I mean, this is not an official process here. How about Blake Gruffey? Okay. Okay, so here's the thing. You have to count the full season. Yeah, I know.
Starting point is 00:24:15 He missed the most kicks in football this year. But with the Colts, he was kicking at an all-pro level, those last couple games. I mean, he kicked a 60-yarder in Seattle to go ahead in the game. I think it's the longest kick in Colts franchise history, I believe is what it was, or at least the longest game time kick, or like go-ahead kick in franchise history. His performance with the Colts is what I zeroed in. I know he was a 78% kicker, but what he did with the Colts, he became reliable. And it's one of those you crossed the 50.
Starting point is 00:24:50 You know, you got points. Yeah. If you could put Groupie and Schrader together and make one kicker, the Colts had an all-pro kicker. this season. I think combined they missed one kick those two players all year between extra points and field goals. And even Badgley only missed the one field goal and I think three extra points. So that they only had I think like four misses, five misses, whatever it was the whole year as a trio. But Groupie and Schrader together were an all pro kicker for the Colts. Yeah, it's those nerd aim guys, Alan. You just got to get, you know, Jim Sanson and Craig Hendrick and, you know,
Starting point is 00:25:24 all the old school guys in here and have them kick as well. I picked two, and I was trying to intentionally pick non-Pro Bowl or Pro Bowl. If Cam Bynum wasn't picked as an alternate, he would be one of mine. I just, not only was he a good player this year, Cam Bynum injected some fun into that defense. And, you know, the Colts, let's face it, you know, for the last seven, eight years, there hasn't been a lot of fun when it comes to that. And I think Cam Bynum brought some of that to the table,
Starting point is 00:25:53 but not to keep banging the Alec Pierce drum, but like, you know, the fact that Pittman Jr. got the alternate. Maybe it's just a volume thing, I don't know, but no Colts fan would say that Pittman Jr. had a better season than Alex Pierce did this year. And I just feel like the secret is starting to come out about him, at least from people that really know, but maybe not to the point where he has the name recognition
Starting point is 00:26:19 where something like being a pro ball alternate is, oh yeah, duh, of course Alex Pierce. Like, how can we not include him? Maybe he's not to that level yet. But, I mean, you talk about like what we talked about in the first segment, the Colts need more game-changing players. And Alec Pierce has shown himself to have the ability to be a game-changing player. That's very valuable because the Colts just don't have a lot of those guys. And another one, and I kind of went back and forth on this because he missed a really good chunk of the season.
Starting point is 00:26:43 But there was just one memory that really stuck with me throughout this season. And it was one of the best Colts wins of the year when they went out to L.A. And they really just, they hammered the charges. That was a game that felt closer than it actually was because I think we were just panicking where Herbert just had the ball like the entire second half and was trying to rally them back. And there was some frustration there because the past rush wasn't getting home. But I just thought DeForest Buckner, you know, kind of just pushed everybody out of the way and just said, you know what, screw it. You guys aren't doing it. I'm going to take over this game.
Starting point is 00:27:14 And he did. And while he didn't bring that to the table like he normally does in a healthy season and we're seeing a guy that is, you know, kind of going on this. side of his career now. That's just life. That's when you get past 30. That's how it goes. But I still appreciate what Buckner brings to the table as a leader. And he's just one of those guys that I feel like when the chips are down, you can rely on him to come through.
Starting point is 00:27:38 And there aren't a lot of there. There are more talented and younger players on the Colts that I'm not ready to say that about as definitively as I am about DeForest Buckner. So that's what I went with there. I just thought I wanted to explain my rationale because some people would be like, what, like 10 games? And, you know, wasn't their run defense really bad? when he was in it. Yeah, it was a weird year for DeForest Buckner, right? But like some of that
Starting point is 00:27:58 intangible stuff, I still think is very important for this team. Yeah, I mean, I think in Indianapolis Cold history is easily the best defensive tackle in this franchise history. If you really, I mean, what, his closest competitions, Booker McFarland probably, right? Like, yeah, maybe if you go back to the Baltimore Colts back in like the 60s or somebody, I don't know. I wasn't a thought. Syragusa? Yeah, I wasn't a thought back then. So I don't know. But Monta Rager, I mean, you know, there were some good players that played defensive tackle, but not like that. Buckner's made all pros.
Starting point is 00:28:30 He's made pro-bowls, very, very good player. The injuries definitely hold him back from making a pro bowl this year. And Pierce, it's so hard to make a pro bowl as a receiver. I mean, you're dealing with Jamar Chase, Justin Jefferson, Pooka, Dukua, Jackson Smith, and Jigba. And those are, and Nico Collins, like, oh, my gosh, the receiving talent in the NFL is crazy. but Pierce right now is on 32 teams like big list for free agency right now there's 32 teams that are going to be in the market form I think
Starting point is 00:28:58 if the Colts were to let him hit it's a very very good player but I definitely want to back up your Cameron Bynum love there I thought it was crazy he wasn't in the first time because like the number one thing that matters with Pro Bowl is the stats and the stats were really good with Bynum a good chunk of tackles he had like five or six turnovers this year
Starting point is 00:29:18 forced at safety as well I think it was, what, four interceptions and a forced fumble. That's what I got at the top of my head. So, had a really good season. I thought he was going to be a Pro Bowl. If they would have made the playoffs, he probably would have been a Pro Bowler, but, you know, how it is with that kind of stuff. But Bynum was great this season.
Starting point is 00:29:36 Only other player I would add is Nick Cross. Yeah. I thought he had a pretty good year. And I like the fact that he wears number 20. Yeah. I knew you liked that one, Alan, for sure. We come back on the show. Nearly one third of the NFL has a new head coach.
Starting point is 00:29:54 We'll talk about some of those names and how they may impact the Colts, especially the ones that appear on the 2026 schedule when the Colts Squad Show returns next. This portion of the Colts Squad Show brought you by TurboTax. Tax season doesn't have to take over your life. This year, TurboTax is making it easier than ever to just hand things off and move on with your day. With TurboTax full service, you can have your taxes done for you by a trusted local expert, start to finish without the stress or guesswork. Things are especially complicated for me as I have an LLC for my freelance business.
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Starting point is 00:31:24 Back on the Locked-on Colts Squad show halfway through. Thanks so much for joining us. Alan Pinkett is here. Zach Hicks is here. I'm Derek Schultz. Jake Arthur will return to a future show. Of course, he's part of your first Lurston every day, along with Zach on Locked on Colts.
Starting point is 00:31:37 So luckily, the Colts, well, I don't know if I should say luckily. There are some people in the listening audience that felt like they should have moved on from Shane Stock. And I think we were all in agreement that we were in favor of keeping him. But outside the Colts, there was a lot of changeover with NFL coaches this year, nearly one-third, 10 open jobs, 10 vacancies filled in the NFL. And I think that's pretty noteworthy. That is not normal to have 10 coaches fired in an offseason.
Starting point is 00:32:04 And as I mentioned, you know, a couple of these guys are retread guys that everybody is familiar with, right, Mike McCarthy, John Harbaugh. I mean, those guys have been around for years and years and years. And then, you know, a recent group, you know, Stefanski goes from the Browns to Atlanta. Robert Salas, not that far removed from his, you know, disastrous tenure, but that's not all his fault with the jet. and now he comes over to the division with the Titans. So there's a guy that we need to talk about just in general
Starting point is 00:32:28 because obviously the Colts are going to play them twice. But even John Harbaugh, Zach, you know, the Giants are on the schedule next year. It's the NFC East in 2026. And, you know, it's a team that has just been really kind of trying to find its way for the better part of the last 15 years. And I think, you know, just kind of from the outside looking in, the Giants have needed that sort of adult in the room figure.
Starting point is 00:32:49 And at the very least, I know that sounds like almost sophomoric, I think John Harbaugh brings them that sort of stability and credibility back to a franchise that really desperately needs both of those things. Yeah, you know, Harbaal is the big name. He's consistently won in this league. Like, it makes a lot of sense. I'm a little concerned when it comes to, you know, Harbaugh, throughout his tenure with the Ravens. And look, they've always been a playoff contending team.
Starting point is 00:33:17 So we're talking like the floor being playoff contender when it comes to Harball and what he's been able to build throughout his career. But the difference between the fringe playoff hardball teams and the very good hardball teams has been their coordinators, has been how well they nail those coordinator hires. And I don't love their coordinator hires. You know, Matt Nagy is offensive coordinator. Anytime that the chiefs say a thank you and farewell note to you when only your contract
Starting point is 00:33:46 expired, I think that's weird, you know, like they didn't want him back at all as offensive coordinator and he gets a promotion out of that by going to get call plays with the Giants. I do like Dernard Wilson a lot as their defensive coordinator. I don't think he's like one of the like a 1A higher there. But like, you know, I think D.R. Wilson's a good D.C. But I don't know. I'm a little concerned that they, I don't feel like they nailed the offensive coordinator higher. And I think Harbaal has generally been very good when he has the right coordinators in place.
Starting point is 00:34:17 I think he's going to bring a good culture, though. And like you said, Derek, get that adult back in the room. speaking of another team that kind of need that adult in the room like Sala with the Titans, I feel like it was a big time hire like that. I guess McCarthy's technically a hire like that, but they already had the adult in the room with Mike Tomlin, so they just kind of kept it the same way that they were going. But it is a really interesting dynamic with around the league where it's like, and we've seen this for a while now, it's either retread or the youngest person possible.
Starting point is 00:34:46 Eventually they're going to start being my age when they're getting hired. I mean, the dude that they's hired in Arizona, he's like, what, mid-30s or something, right? 38, I think. 37. Okay, okay. So he's not as young as I thought, but like he looks like he's wrong. I might be wrong. No, you might be right.
Starting point is 00:35:01 He looks like he's my age. He looks younger than I do out there. Like they could keep going younger and younger with these offensive guys. So it's like either a guy who has been there and done that or complete unknown because we need the next Sean McVeigh. Like that's the big difference that we're getting. So it's hard to kind of get that. second chance unless you consistently won before because they're going to go to these super young guys that haven't had their chance yet well i got a lot to talk about in this particular category
Starting point is 00:35:30 uh because uh you know looking at uh the head coaches it usually seems like the trend is to go get that young hot guy and i think that was the case with lefleur with the cardinals uh and a cubiac with the raiders And I think, yeah, Jesse Mentor was the other one. I think those are the hot commodities. And that kind of made sense to me. But there's a few that didn't make sense to me. You know, like the dolphins, Jeff Affle? I mean, yeah, I know he was a good D.C. with the Packers.
Starting point is 00:36:10 But I think going to Miami, you know, I think of the overall impression you want to to make as a head coach, do I think of Miami as this stalwart of defense? He's going to bring defense to Miami? Nobody wants to see defense in Miami. They want to show. So that one was kind of to weird to me. I will say John Harbaugh is one of those guys for the Giants since the culture going to end up playing what, the AFC North and the NFC East. East. Yeah. So they're going to get a lot of these new coaches that are out there. The Robert Sala thing, I'm indifferent about that. I don't think.
Starting point is 00:37:01 I think that what they're saying is, okay, well, we had Rable, and he was defense, and, you know, did pretty good. So let's go back to defense. So that's my opinion on that. I think with Harbaugh, there's just players respect him. And because he has that respect, he can run a pretty nice program. And for years, I've always wondered, was it just the Ravens had a great organization because of how it was run from the top?
Starting point is 00:37:38 Or did they have a great organization because of the head coach that they had? You know, I mean, he, I think he creates a winning culture. And trust me, to get one of the players to respect you as coach is huge. Because like I say, most of the players don't call the coach coach and call them by his first name. Yeah. You know, because usually they're making more money than the coach. But I think Harbaugh has gained that respect. And another thing I'll say is in this age where the trend is to go young and smart,
Starting point is 00:38:19 look at the damn Browns. Oh, yeah. They pick a 60-year-old coach. And I'm not going to say he's old, you know, because I'm 62. And I feel young. But, you know, of course the Browns would go against the trend. Yeah, he's a good play caller. and maybe he'll bring some imagination to an offense.
Starting point is 00:38:45 And I think has some pretty good players. And maybe he'll like Shador Sanders because Tafansky evidently did not like Shador Sanders. So Munkin is one of those that is surprising to me just because, you know, they went a different direction. And the other one that surprises me is Joe Brady with the bills. I sort of feel like Josh Allen maybe handpicked him. It almost feels like they went to Josh.
Starting point is 00:39:18 It's like, Josh, who do you want to be your coach? Because I disagree with Sean McDermott being fired. Because I thought he was a quality coach. But I understand in this business, you know, it's a results-driven league. And he never got him to the Super Bowl. But I don't think they did better getting Brady now. Only time will tell. And all these hires affect the cults because there's going to be a learning curve with a new coach,
Starting point is 00:39:54 except for, I guess, Rable, who went ahead and did everything. Yeah. So the cults have an advantage because they've got, you know, a system in place where the giants are going to be learning a new. system. The Titans are going to be learning a new system. The Browns, that's where a lot of players go to die. A lot of coaches go to die. So the Colts are going to be able to take advantage of some of these new hires because they'll be implementing their system where Colts already have already made, you know, machine in place to go take advantage of that. Yes, the 8 and 9 machine, baby.
Starting point is 00:40:38 we're going to be rolling up that down. But yeah, I get what you're saying, Alan. I mean, as of right now, the Colts have only lost two coaches, which is their D-Line coach and their game strategies coach this all season. So they're not replacing much. And it doesn't look like Jim Bob Cooter or Alex Taney are going to get other jobs. So they should be getting a lot of their guys back. No excuses this next season.
Starting point is 00:40:58 The urgency has never been higher. Real quick, though, before, because we've definitely got to talk Tennessee just a little bit more, I think, to close out this segment. I wanted to go back to your point real quick, Alan, on Baltimore being just this great organization. The staff they put together with Jesse Mentor has just been fantastic. Oh, my God. Getting Anthony Weaver back there, who I thought was one of the better defense
Starting point is 00:41:23 coordinators in football, getting him there in a non-play calling role just because he loved Baltimore so much and he wanted to go back. Stealing the Colt Strategy guy, Charlie Gelman, to work a similar role back there because he worked with the Ravens in the past. So he's going back to that organization. Declan Doyle getting Ben Johnson's protege to call your offense. I just think that Baltimore Ravens. Mike Mickens, that you have Notre Dame.
Starting point is 00:41:49 Right. They just do it right there with Baltimore. So I think they're going to be in a good place. But Derek, I kind of wonder what your thoughts were on Sala when it comes to. You're the New York guy, right? Like, you know, I'm sure all your buddies are not huge fans of him. but I'm kind of back and forth on the hire with Tennessee. Like, I'll let you go first and then I'll kind of get my thought.
Starting point is 00:42:11 Yeah, my feeling was is that since the last hire went so poorly, they felt like they wanted, let's at least get somebody in here that has run the show before. So there's a higher baseline maybe. I grew up more on the giant side of things than the Jets side of things. But, you know, I think my Jets fan friends were just kind of throwing their hands up to the air and everything because it's not solid, it's not Rogers, it's not the ownership, it's everything, right? You know, the entire house is burning down. It's not just, you know, that one room has the roof caving in.
Starting point is 00:42:42 And I feel for solid because that was, that was just a tough situation. I mean, that year in the offseason, they were talking about the Jets, like they were some sort of a Super Bowl contender. And then you have the Rogers injury happen and then you're just kind of, you know, we don't know. We don't know what that, I guess that could have been, even though I thought I was taking that a little bit with a grain of salt. but I think Tennessee is probably looking around at even what the stability that Shane Siken has shown, where at least like, you know, Stuyken has established a floor, right? Where I think we would all agree. At worst, he's a middle of the road NFL head coach.
Starting point is 00:43:19 And then you look at the other two in the division and you're feeling pretty good about what they've shown so far. And I think they just wanted to bring some stability back by having a guy that's not learning on the job as much as they would had they just hired some hot shot coordinator or something like that and never been a head coach. Yeah, I like Robert Sala as a coach. I think he is one of the last vestibules of that old Seattle cover three system, right? He's like one of the last ones. He's the only one who can still get the squeeze out of it. You know, we've seen Gus Bradley, who they hired Gus Bradley as their defensive coordinator. Shout out to Gus. We'll always love Gus here in
Starting point is 00:43:53 Indy. Even if he wasn't great with us, I'm a big fan of Gus Bradley. But, you know, they hired him on his Steven's a coordinator, got Brian Dabble over to call offense. I'm not the biggest fan of Brian Dabble. I think he's a fine offense coordinator. I think the name's bigger than the coach because Josh Allen is just going to be good with anybody. But I think he's a fine offensive coordinator. Like, don't get me wrong.
Starting point is 00:44:12 But Sala, again, the reason why he's the last one of the Seattle cover three system is because it's really stagnant. It's very bend don't break. It's very limit points over anything else. And if you have the right players and the right coaching or, Dable, sorry, thank you jokes. Brian Dable is their offense coordinator. But if you have the right coaching, you can get the most out of that system.
Starting point is 00:44:35 But I just don't know. Like, I think he's really good to establish a floor with Tennessee. Like, they're going to have a competitive defense that can limit points, and you're probably not going to bottom out the way they just did this past season. But when you have the number and overall pick quarterback and you have another super high pick, I want to swing for the fences. I want to go forward, man. Yeah, it wasn't a splash.
Starting point is 00:44:57 Right. I want to go get the next Sean McVey. And if I fail on that, that's fine, you know, because most top pick quarterbacks don't succeed anyway. I think you're going to get a good floor with him. I think Daibold is going to give you a decent floor on offense as well, but unless you just hit home run after home run in the draft,
Starting point is 00:45:14 I don't know how far this is going to go. He could be good enough to be competitive and maybe getting in the playoffs with them. But I don't know. I think they might be, I mean, best case for them, I think they get into a situation with Sean McDermott and Buffalo where it's like you kind of hit that ceiling. And that's if Cam Ward turns into Josh Allen. You know, I don't know if he's going to turn into that. If he doesn't, I think it's going to, you know, it could just kind of be like his Jets tenure a little bit where it's like, yeah, you can keep getting to like seven, eight.
Starting point is 00:45:46 And I think Ward's better than Zach Wilson and all them were. So I think they can get to like eight nine wins. I just, I don't know. It's not the modern meta on defense. You're kind of sticking with the outdated system. Sala coaches it so well, so he's great at squeezing as much as he can out of it. But you get the outdated system. Dable's fine.
Starting point is 00:46:05 It's just not, again, he's not the offense coordinator that's really clicking right now, that Ben Johnson and Shanahan's style of offense, dables a little bit more spread it out, a little bit more, you know, of what was working like five, six years ago. So I think he can be fine. I just, it's not a higher that struck fear in my heart, I guess. And maybe the part of that's because it's Tennessee. But I also just think I would have aimed higher.
Starting point is 00:46:31 Even if it crashed and burned around me, I would have aimed higher when I have a young quarterback who showed some really good things as a rookie. Yeah, I think, yeah, in a situation like that where you got the first picking the draft with a quarterback, you need to get somebody in there who's going to be like a Ben Johnson who's going to work directly with that person because your team is only going to go as your quarterback goes. So you got to, you know, I think one of the systems that has, you know, a system that has worked in the NFL is you build around that quarterback if you think that guy is going to be the guy. And I don't see Sala as being that guy.
Starting point is 00:47:14 I think he's solid. I think he'll bring some stability. But it's not a splash. It's not a move to say we're going to make this quarterback in all pro. This is them saying we're going to try to improve the team a little bit. And I got to cheer for them a little bit because that's my history lies with them. But I'm just, it wasn't, you know, a dynamic move to get Robert solid. And that's fine, Alan, just leave that quarter zip in the closet during the Colts squad show.
Starting point is 00:47:49 That's all we would ask. We don't want to see that. sword logo thing on this show. We're going to do news and notes, including another Patriot, Shadenfreude snub in Canton. We'll talk about it next as we wrap up the Cold Squad show. This portion of the Colt Squad show brought you by BetterHelp.
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Starting point is 00:49:11 thanks so much for joining us alongside everybody's favorite film guru, Zach Hicks of Locked on Colts, former NFL or a nerd name legend Alan Pinkett. I'm Derek Schultz. This is usually on our Tuesday show when we get into the news and notes. And I mentioned Shadenfreude. That means for those of you to hold. home that are not aware of that term, that means taking pleasure in somebody else's misery. We get to see Bill Belichick left out of Canton and also Robert Kraft gets left out of
Starting point is 00:49:35 Canton as well. What's interesting to me about this, Zach, and I think they are going to change this process for the senior pool moving forward because there's been so much outcry about it. But that means that someone, if my understanding is correct, either you get 40 of the 50 votes to get in or just the highest vote getter gets in. So someone from the pool of Roger Craig, Ken Anderson and Elsie Greenwood is getting in, right? I'm not mistaken. Okay, I wanted to make sure that I had that math right.
Starting point is 00:50:03 That actually kind of intrigues me. And I'll say this. And I don't want to diss on the players, you know, Roger Craig, Ken Anderson, like, that's, that's Alan's era of NFL players, right? I don't want to diss on those guys or anything like that. But it does bother me to think that we're spending so much time talking about like Reggie Wayne and Tori Holt and guys that really were like elite level wide receivers. And so we can make a charity case, you know, no offense to Ken Anderson, but like 40 years later, we've got it. I don't love the fact that the 25th best quarterback in NFL history might get into the Hall of Fame and the 10th or 11th best receivers might not get in. I don't know.
Starting point is 00:50:41 It just the way that we're evaluating positions, I think we need to change that. I completely agree. We're going to do the charity case when Eli Manning gets in in a couple of years as well. Yeah, we're going to put in a league average quarterback just because it's, last name and he, you know, had a defense that allowed 14 points per game in a couple playoff runs. But all joking aside, yeah, it's been a messy process for a long time. And you have some positions that get completely backlogged in other positions like quarterback where you're filtering out a little too much and you're getting too many of them in there.
Starting point is 00:51:14 But receiver is a complete mess right now in terms of getting these guys in. Like honestly, you could have two or three straight seasons of receivers only going in the Hall of Fame because they're that backlog at the position. But yeah, when it comes to the senior candidates, you know, and even Kraft and Belichick, you know, Belichick getting snubbed is outrageous. Honestly, it should be first ballot. If you don't have him as the best coach of all time, he's second best coach of all time.
Starting point is 00:51:39 Him and Bill Walsh are, you know, the two, like, most influential quarterback coaches in NFL history, at least in the last 50 years, I think, in terms of how their scheme has transcended what they've, done, how winning they were when they were out there as, you know, Belichick even as an assistant, also the head coach. All I'll say about Robert Kraft, though, have the day you deserve, buddy. You don't deserve it. Get out of here. I'm good. I'll be full hater on Robert Kraft. I don't care about an owner getting in the Hall of Fame. Oh, what did you do? You were sitting
Starting point is 00:52:13 on your yacht the whole time. I'm sure you're having great time. But yeah, Belichick 100% should have been in. And I agree with you, Derek. Like it is, if we're being all things fair, Check not getting in and putting in Ken Anderson or Roger Craig. It's like, come on. But I will say this, as someone grew up with VHS tapes and watching Roger Craig, how is Roger Craig is senior? How is Roger Craig is senior? Are you kidding me?
Starting point is 00:52:38 He had 2,000 total yards back in the 80s, 1,000 receiving and 1,000 rushing. I don't care what else you do. We're going to put Frank Gore in the Hall of Fame before him probably in the next couple. Come on. Come on. We didn't they put Devin Hester in like first ballot? as well, what do we do it? Like, Roger Craig, it should be in the Hall of Fame. So, you know what, if Belichick has to cry for a year about it, if Kraft has to cry for a year, so we can get
Starting point is 00:53:04 Roger Craig in the Hall of Fame, fine, perfectly fine. I'm fine with them sweating for a year if Roger Craig can finally get in the hall, because it is crazy that he felt a senior finalist. Like, that's crazy to me. Well, I sort of compare the Belichick not getting a lot. into one statement I make a lot of times, which is, or I guess it's a question and answer thing. What do you call a person who finishes last and his or her class in medical school? Doctor. Doctor. All right.
Starting point is 00:53:41 So what do you call somebody who gets in the Hall of Fame their first year or their 15th year? A Hall of Famer. Right. So whenever he's going to be. a Hall of Famer. But, you know, sometimes you do get slapped in the face and reality hits you. And I think he's probably the greatest coach ever. But and don't have a lot of love for owners getting in the Hall of Fame.
Starting point is 00:54:16 You know, I'm willing to give them credit for establishing an organization. that is solid. And, you know, because the teams that win consistently, it's because they're run good from the top. You know, so he's been able to do that. And so I'll give them the props. But as far as him getting an owner getting into the Hall of Fame, I could, you know, I could care less.
Starting point is 00:54:47 But Bill Belichick will get in the Hall of Fame. And I think Eli Manning is going to eventually. get into because he because he won two Super Bowls. Right. You know, he's he's going to get in. So that's my thoughts on that. Yeah, no, for sure. And I will say this about Robert Kraft.
Starting point is 00:55:08 The last thing I'll say about Craig is. Because I don't like talking about him. They made T.O. wait a couple of years. And he's, what, a top five receiver in the history of the sport easily? Top five might be downplaying him a little bit. They made him wait because of his antics. An owner can wait because of his antics. as well. Like, come on. His antics were way worse than T.O.'s antics as well. Like, come on. Like, come on here.
Starting point is 00:55:29 That's why we bury this in the 50-something minute of the episode. But I think the more interesting thing was Peter King, who just no longer, I don't think he has a Hall of Fame vote anymore. No, Peter King. He's a legacy media guy. He went on a podcast recently and talked about how Reggie Wayne and Tori Holt were not Hall of Fame players in their careers. And, you know, Alan and I, who were not Colts fans during that era, it's harder for us to comment on that. I think, obviously, we both think that Reggie Wayne should be in the Hall of Fame. But Derek, as a Colts fan in that era that watched Reggie Wayne his entire career,
Starting point is 00:56:03 it's absurd. It's absolutely absurd to not think Reggie. I mean, I think Tori Holtz not a Hall of Famer is crazy as well. But Reggie Wayne, not a Hall of Famer, get out. I'm fine with them not being first ballot, but Reggie Wayne's a Hall of Fame receiver. Like, from start to finish, late stage of his career, still fantastic. Hall of Fame receiver all day every day. Yeah, what bother me about Peter King's statement,
Starting point is 00:56:25 who obviously is a far more prominent media figure than I can ever dream of being. What bother me about it was him discrediting them because they played with Kurt Warner and with Peyton Manning. And the thing about it is Tori Holt has something of his best seasons, Mark Bolger. Reggie Wayne had one of his best seasons, Andrew Lux rookie year, the Orange Gloves game.
Starting point is 00:56:43 Ask any Colts fan about the Orange Gloves game against Green Bay in 2012. And that's when you thought, oh, my God, like this team might actually like make the playoffs and be pretty good. And Wayne just put them on his back. I mean, Wayne was great in 2011 with Curtis Painter and Dan Orloskey. That that team was a grease fire. And Reggie Wayne showed up and showed out every single night.
Starting point is 00:57:04 So yeah, I mean, you know, I hosted a radio show with Reggie for three years. So I'm a little biased when it comes to that too. But, you know, here was a guy that emerged out of Marvin Harrison's shadow and became a number one receiver. And yes, he had Peyton Manning throwing to him. Last time I checked, I think, and Alan can check this for me because this was his error. I think Andre Reid had a pretty good quarterback throw to him. I think Michael Irvin had a pretty good quarterback throw to him. I think way back, I could ask my dad, I think Raymond Barry had a pretty good quarterback
Starting point is 00:57:34 throw to him. All those guys are in the Hall of Fame, right? So that's what bothers me about it is that how do you take this away from some and not from others? Like, there are all kinds of great NFL players who had unbelievable teammates. Should Jerry Rice not be in the Hall of Fame? I mean, you know, that's what sort of, it bugs me about the conversation. If you really want to pick apart Reggie Wayne's resume and things like that, fine. I guess you can do that.
Starting point is 00:58:03 But at the end of the day, you can't just make playing with Peyton Manning a disqualifier. Just like you can't make playing with Tom Brady or Joe Montana or, you know, John Elway, a disqualifier for any number of these great players that played on some of those teams. Yeah, I'm fine when it comes to tiebreakers saying, you know what, Andre Johnson was the only thing Houston had. He was awesome, first team all pro. Reggie Wayne could be behind Marvin Harrison and get open that way. I can understand when it comes to the tiebreakers between those two, I'm fine with it. But they're both Hall of Famers.
Starting point is 00:58:35 We're like, come on. Reggie, he had 14,000 or 14,000 yards receiving produced in the playoffs. Bill Belichick, when he talks about him versus Harrison, and the way that he played those two, I don't think he viewed Harrison as this high and higher player than Reggie Wayne in a lot of these scenarios. Reggie Wayne was a really good player. He's a Hall of Fame, man. Well, yeah, just chalk it up to having too many good receivers. But you mentioned the name Peter King.
Starting point is 00:59:04 Yeah. And maybe one day I'll tell you my Peter King story. Oh, gosh. Oh, boy. It's not very fond of Peter King. Yeah, and, you know, we don't need to discuss it on air, but just not a fan of Peter King. Respect everything that he's done. And he's an established writer.
Starting point is 00:59:27 And what did you call him? What was his title now? Was he some kind of Americanerous or something? He's like, yeah, Emeritus is a good word because I think he's kind of exited his full-time role in media. All right. Well, he's not high on my love. list and I'll share it as not an emeritus
Starting point is 00:59:46 to pick it out. Real quick, before we get out for the show, because it's news and notes, some Colts coaching stuff just around football, whatever.
Starting point is 00:59:55 The Colts still don't have a D-Line coach. That's still, Charlie Partridge still went back to Notre Dame, but we are still waiting on that. I mentioned the last second, Charlie Gelman,
Starting point is 01:00:03 the Colts, in-game strategists and like game day person is taking a similar role with the Baltimore Ravens and also going to be assisting with defensive backs as well.
Starting point is 01:00:12 I was told that that's big reason and why he wanted to go back was also being able to coach, like, defensive backs and stuff. Brian Bratton, the Colts assistant wide receiver coach, came up through the Tony Dungey fellowship, I believe, a couple years ago. I think he's going to Stanford to be their wide receiver coach down there. So a couple of openings on the Colts coaching staff, but overall, you know, it looks like Jim Bob Cuder, Alex Taney should be back. Louana Rumo's not getting a head coaching job.
Starting point is 01:00:39 So they're going to have the continuity despite having to replace a couple of these people on the coaching staff. Well, I'm happy to see the D-Line coach for the Coles. Go to my Irish. He's been a great college coach. He's been a great college coach. So, you know, he turned out JJ Watt, turned out Colagic Hansi. So if he can get that college stuff going again, be very good.
Starting point is 01:01:00 Yeah. If you like this Hall of Fame talk, I was going to save some of the Reggie Wayne talk for our next show on Thursday because that's one we'll know the Pro Football Hall of Fame class. And I think there's also a chance that maybe I don't think Reggie Wayne's getting in this class. And I think there's also a chance that Evan Terry doesn't get in this class, too, which I think would be surprising to see him not get in again. But still, we'll talk all about that. I'm fine with that. So, you know, we know how Zach is about kick. I just wanted to set up that
Starting point is 01:01:29 tease because I was planning for some of that to be on our Thursday show. And that's when Jake Arthur will be back to share some of his Reggie Wayne from covering him memories as well. Nine o'clock as our offseason schedule continues on Thursday for the Locked on Colt Squad show. But as always, the Colts new cycle never really goes quiet. As Zach mentioned, there's still some coaching stuff that's still yet to be determined. So keep it locked on Jake and Zach every day on lockdown Colts. Be sure to follow at Lockdown Colts on socials and check out our other great content on YouTube and TikTok. And we'll see you next time right here on The Squad Show.

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