INDIANAPOLIS – Bill Polian earned the trust of Colts owner Jim Irsay by presiding over the league’s greatest turnaround in 1999.
The reversal cost Polian and his son, Chris, their jobs.
Less than 24 hours after a season-ending loss at Jacksonville gave Indianapolis the No. 1 pick in April’s draft, Irsay fired the team’s vice chairman and general manager and decided to keep coach Jim Caldwell at least until he finds a replacement for the father-and-son team.
“It was a very tough decision for me,” the Colts owner said Monday. “I had a chance to talk to them both, I had a chance to express to them, and Bill in particular. You know how hard it was and the appreciation the franchise has for all that has been done by Bill, and obviously, him and I go back 30 years. So this is difficult, this is the tough part of this business.”
For more than a decade, the Polians and Irsays seemed to operate in lock step.
Irsay sided with Polian after the 2001 season when the then team president and coach Jim Mora clashed. He thought enough of Chris Polian to begin the transition from father to son and he repeatedly supported Polian publicly
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