Complacency

by JAMoney14 | 4 years ago | 0 Comments

- A Red Zone Story by Jackson Grady

 

At the conclusion of season 61, there were real questions out there in the Red Zone ether surrounding one of the longest running head coaches in Red Zone history. These were questions posed not just by me, but by other media pundits, by players, by fellow coaches and even by the ownership group that has employed this coach for the entirety of his run in the top league in football.

At that point, we were at the tail end of coach Ricky Chapstick's 54th season in the Red Zone football league. My piece centered around coach Chapstick's career and how his failures had defined him and caused - what many thought at the time - a break in the mental stability of the veteran leader of men. At that time, Chapstick was coming off of a very successful 9 year stretch with the Washington R-- Football Team. Playoff appearances in all but his first year and two RZ bowl appearances against the Chargers would be the mark of success for most coaches in the Red Zone. The longevity and failure to break through that barrier continued to wear on coach Chapstick.

After weeks of not speaking to the media following the conclusion of his final season with Washington, many thought the storied career was going to come to an end, myself included. I have been following this group and coach since my days as a young beat writer for Washington back in 2014. It felt right. Despite coaching the Vikings for several seasons prior to joining Washington in Season 13, coach Chapstick's true start with player personnel and coaching didn't begin until he signed on with the burgandy and gold. The expectation was met with only 1 playoff appearance in all of his first run with Washington, but the potential was there. It was always a steady improvement. 

With Detroit, Los Angeles, Chicago, and his second stint with Washington... Coach Chapstick continued to find more and more success as a football coach. From playoff berths, to savvy personnel moves, to consistent playoff appearances and finally multiple RZ bowl appearances in a single stint. The line had peaked. This graph had reached as high as it was meant to reach. These aren't the thoughts of me, however. These aren't the thoughts of fellow coaches or media pundits. These were the thoughts of the man himself. Hitting that wall after so many years... So many teams... Watching younger, newer coaches who had joined the Red Zone after him capture championship after championship ate away at the psyche of coach Chapstick. He was a defeated man. The anger and desire to do better the next time out of spite had shifted.

Instead of bottling that anger and turning it into inspiration and success, the lights turned off. Chapstick still walked out on the field each and every week, but the light in his eye that shone bright with a desire to prove everyone wrong and finally conquer the very best football league in the world... That light was gone. The handshakes after the games no longer had that intensity. The frustration behind losses was not turned into inspiration to avoid that feeling anymore. It had just dissapated completely.

Chapstick stood on the sidelines accepting the outcome, win or loss. 

That brings us to Season 62.

Coach Chapstick agrees to cycle-long guaranteed deal with the Indianapolis Colts

Inside the top 10 coaches hired for Season 62 and beyond, coach Chapstick put pen to paper and was not giving in after all. The reliable hand had stated his intentions to return for another 9-10 season stint, this time with the Colts in Indianapolis. The Colts were an RZ franchise whose fanbase had seen sustained success in the past. Legendary coach ManS Laughter had brought them RZ Bowl glory in the past, but they were now coming off of a less-than-stellar near decade under the leadership of Bubba Bitz. Bitz would sign with the Minnesota Vikings on that same signing day and still leads them to this day. 

Coach Chapstick actually took to the Colts nicely, leading the league in TD passes his first season, despite ending at 7-9. That year, in an unprecedented trade, he would trade 3 seasons worth of top draft picks to the very same Bubba Bitz in Minnesota for a chance to draft an all-time talent in Kamryn Killings at quarterback. In season 63, Killings first season in the Red Zone, the Colts were led to an AFC best 12-4 record and coach Chapstick held the #1 seed. He was here again. He was back. 

With a roster of young stars at the important skill positions, the Colts were positioned as the favorites in the AFC. That all came crashing down after a second round loss to the Miami Dolphins in the divisional round. The upstart Phins rallied behind a very aggressive defense to upset the #1 seed Colts, but would eventually fall to the eventual RZ Bowl champion Jaguars. 

No matter, the man who had won over 80 games in each of the last two stops in Chicago and Washington was back in a confident light. In Season 64, with an AFC South RZ Champion hovering over him the entire season, Chapstick and the Colts struggled mightily. Despite picking up a star tight end in the 4th round in Trevor Ward, the Colts would finish a meager 9-7, but managed to secure a playoff spot (partially due to a clerical error putting them in the 7 spot). A slump in the regular season after a #1 seed schedule is not unfamiliar territory, but the Colts looked... Different. Gone were the days of pinpoint accuracy and cerebral decisions from Kamryn Killings rookie season that led to a 12 win season. This team looked shaky, turnover prone, and unable to stop anyone on defense. 

Despite this, they turned it on in the playoffs, knocking off the Jets and nearly defeating eventual AFC Champion Tennessee in the divisional round. 

The story of Season 65 is well documented, however. Though 7-9 was the final record, the Colts enjoyed a much easier schedule, facing mostly teams with losing records. Week one saw the Colts narrowly squeak out a win over the Saints after a late interception from Fernando Giraldo and it was not going to get better from there. Losing their next 4 games, the Colts limped into a bye week on life support. The last ditch effort from Coach Chapstick to secure a youthful and talented roster and win the greatest prize in football had eluded him once again. After the loss to Miami in the playoffs 2 seasons ago, that flame that was barely hanging on seems to have finally been put out.

The Colts would back into a 7-9 record in Season 65, with very little fanfare and notice. 

That brings us to week 8, Season 66.

As of this article, we all watch as coach Chapstick leads a team with no identity and even less defense to a 2-4 record, looking identical in struggle in every way to last season. The turnovers have not gone down and have in-fact, increased from this point last season. Currently sitting at -9 in differential, good for 27th in the league, the Colts cannot get out of their own way. Making things worse, the team is allowing 35 points per game and have allowed 30+ points in every single game this season outside of week one against Cleveland. This is the worst in the entire league, defensively.

In the week 8 matchup... Ricky Chapstick will stand across the field from a man he knows very well. A man who has used 3 years worth of top draft picks to turn his own team from despair to prominence. Coach Bubba Bitz sits at a remarkable 7-0 ahead of the week 8 encounter. Kamryn Killings, the product of that same trade, has been twisted in a variety of roles since joining the Colts, starting as a mobile game manager, to a spread quarterback, to a west coast style, so a combination of all three that he holds today. He is currently middling in the league with 11 TDs, 12 INTs and falling under the BBL. 

The man who took over Bubba Bitz old franchise will shake his hand next week, knowing their history and where each of them stand. 

Despite what is likely to be a 2-5 record after this encounter, the Colts will still be tied for 2nd place in the AFC South, who is currently experiencing a slump of their own. Therein lies the entire problem we have had with this coaching staff since we last covered them in Season 61.

This season is far from over. There are opportunities for growth in Season 66 that can even lead into success in Season 67. This isn't unfamiliar territory for coach Chapstick, who sat at 2-4 with Washington before rattling off 9 straight wins and actually making the RZ Bowl that very season, and even going 16-0 the season after that. 

The problem is that this version of coach Chapstick is not the one we saw rattle off 25 straight regular season wins. This isn't the man who turned lemons into lemonade. The fire and desire to use is failure as a tool for change is gone. We're seeing minimal changes week to week. We're seeing a self-defeating mentality going into each and every game the Colts play. We're seeing a coach who is happy to be here, someone who has found complacency in a world of competition. We're seeing someone experiencing unfamiliar and heartbreaking regression in a league he's competed in for the better part of the last 30 seasons and choosing fatigue and defeat. We're seeing someone who has been punched too many times over the last 58 seasons and finally choosing not to punch back.

This season isn't over... But the only one capable of convincing coach Chapstick of that... is coach Chapstick himself.