INDIANAPOLIS – The Colts have parted ways with Jim Caldwell after three seasons as head coach.
The club reached the decision on Tuesday, a little more than two weeks after the team concluded a 2-14 season.
Caldwell joined Indianapolis in 2002 as quarterbacks coach under Tony Dungy. He earned the expanded title of assistant head coach prior to the 2005 season. Caldwell was elevated to associate head coach in 2008 before succeeding Dungy in 2009.
Caldwell earned a 28-24 overall mark with the club in his three seasons. Prior to the 2-14 mark in 2011, the team was 14-2 in 2009 and 10-6 in 2010.
The release of Caldwell came after the departures of Vice Chairman Bill Polian and Vice President and General Manager Chris Polian on January 2.
Ryan Grigson was named the club's general manager last Wednesday.
During his time with Indianapolis, Caldwell was a part of seven division winners. In 2010, Caldwell helped produce the franchise's 20th 10 -victory season, and he was one of six Colts head coaches to earn double-digit victory totals.
In 2011, Indianapolis opened with 13 consecutive losses before winning two of its last three outings.
From 2002-10, Caldwell was a part of Colts teams that led the league in victories, and he played a prominent role in one of the most remarkable NFL runs in history.
From 2003-09, Indianapolis set the NFL marks with seven consecutive seasons with 11 and 12 victories. From 2002-10, Indianapolis was the only team with nine consecutive 10 -victory seasons and playoff berths. The nine straight playoff berths tied the NFL record set by Dallas from 1975-83. From 2008-09, Indianapolis set the league record with 23 consecutive regular season victories. Indianapolis also won 115 regular season games from 2000-09, the most by a team in a decade in NFL history.
Caldwell was a part of seven division winners with Indianapolis. He helped the team forge a 44-16 record in AFC South play.
In 2009, Caldwell became the only Colts head coach to win his first 14 games. Caldwell became the second rookie head coach since the 1978 NFL move to a 16-game season to win 14 games (George Seifert, San Francisco, 1989). The 14-0 start marked the third in league history (16-0, New England, 2007; 14-0, Miami, 1972). Caldwell was the only NFL rookie head coach to win his first 14 games in a season, surpassing Potsy Clark (8, Portsmouth, 1931), and he surpassed Wally Lemm (10, 1961 Houston Oilers-1962 St. Louis Cardinals) for the most consecutive wins to start a career. Caldwell became the fifth rookie head coach to reach the Super Bowl (McCafferty, Colts, 1970; Red Miller, Denver, 1977; Seifert, San Francisco, 1989; Bill Callahan, Oakland, 2002). Caldwell joined Chuck Knox (L.A. Rams, 1973), Miller (Denver, 1977), Mike Martz (St. Louis, 2000) and Josh McDaniels (Denver, 2009) as the only rookie head coaches in the Super Bowl era to start 6-0. He became the fourth coach ever to start 6-0 when succeeding a head coach who won 100 games (Blanton Collier, Cleveland, 1963; Jack Pardee, Washington, 1978; McDaniels, Denver, 2009).
