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The Indianapolis Colts are one of the premier franchises in the NFL at the present. Since 1999, they've made the playoffs and won 10 games in all but one season. They've won at least 12 games in the past six. They've had offensive coordinator Tom Moore and offensive line coach Howard Mudd in place during that entire timespan. Tony Dungy was the head coach for the past seven. All three have now departed.

Their replacements are Jim Caldwell (head coach), Clyde Christensen (offensive coordinator) and Pete Metzelaars (offensive line coach). Translation: The Colts just drastically downgraded at three very important coaching positions.

The Indianapolis Colts have already had to replace their head coach this off-season. Now they're in danger of losing two of their most important assistants as well.

Because the NFL season never ends, we present our 2009 Offseason Roadmaps for front offices to navigate through the summer.

The Indianapolis Colts are one of the league's marquee franchises in the present tense. In 2008, they won 12 games -- their baseline figure for the past six seasons. No one else in the NFL can stake that claim. In fact, they've made the playoffs in nine of the last 10 seasons overall, another league-high in that span.

The problem, as has been the case far too many times for these Colts, was that they came away empty-handed in the postseason.

Ron Meeks has served as the Colts' defensive coordinator since 2002. Despite having a largely inconsistent defense -- especially run defense -- over most of that time, he's still been held in quite a high esteem when it came to getting sniffs for potential head coaching positions. In fact, the Jets, for one, were interested earlier this year.

Under rampant speculation, and a report from ProFootballTalk, that Meeks was about to be fired from his post by newly appointed head coach, Jim Caldwell, Meeks stepped down Tuesday.

With the retirement of Tony Dungy -- which was announced yesterday -- the torch is passed in Indianapolis to Jim Caldwell. It was hardly news, considering his eventual elevation was announced last season. Still, Caldwell is a relatively unknown dude to be taking the reins of one of the league's premiere franchises.

While there are those who focus on the fact that Dungy "only" won the Super Bowl once, Caldwell has some awfully big shoes to fill. Dungy was at the helm of 10 straight playoff teams, and he won at least 12 games in the last six seasons with the Colts.

"You dream about having the kind of relationship with a head coach that I've head with Tony." That's how Colts owner Jim Irsay described Tony Dungy, who officially announced his retirement this afternoon.

The news was hardly surprising -- Dungy has contemplated walking away from the game in previous years -- although I can't remember a more emotional press conference. It says a lot about Dungy's impact on the organization, the community, and the league. "I can't thank him enough. I know he's pushed me as a man and made me a better person," Irsay offered.

President Bill Polian, voice cracking as he read from a script, added that "We'll miss his faith, we'll miss his optimism, will miss his patience ... all of which contributes to that Dungy magic. ... What an honor it was to reach the ultimate goal with a man who did it the right way."

As for what the 53-year-old Dungy plans to do with himself:

The Rooney Rule is well-intentioned.

It's designed to assure that minority coaching candidates get their fair shot at jobs. It's a jab at the "good ol' boy" network, as you can't just hire some random retread who has a .450 win percentage but led a team to a 9-7 season once. Well, you can hire that guy, but not before you go through an actual interview process.

Anyway, the St. Louis Rams tried to -- in essence -- sneak past the Rooney Rule. They fired Scott Linehan, named defensive coordinator Jim Haslett the interim coach, and then gave Haslett a contract that calls for him to be named the full-time head coach automatically if he leads the Rams to six wins.

PFT reported that this provision caused Dan Rooney, owner of the Steelers and namesake of the rule, to lob a phone call to the league office.

Now, CBSSports.com's Pete Prisco (via PFT) reports the league has voided Haslett's contract.

When it comes to coaching vacancies, this off-season has been a buyer's market. Assistants Josh McDaniels and Jason Garrett turned down opportunities for head-coaching gigs, and Kirk Ferentz opted to stay at Iowa instead of pursuing NFL jobs.

But as FOX Sports' Jay Glazer writes, next year will be a completely different story.

While there were only four opening this off-season, a year from now, there could more than a dozen. Glazer lists the Seahawks, Eagles, Bengals, Vikings, Panthers, Cowboys, Chiefs. Colts, Lions, Rams and 49ers as teams who could be looking for new head coaches for the 2009 season.

The Seahawks, Colts and Cowboys are in the process of lining up successors -- word on the street has Jim Mora, Jim Caldwell and Jason Garrett all set to replace incumbents, if not next year, eventually -- but the other nine teams will be looking outside their organizations for the next head coach.

Glazer points out that Browns' offensive coordinator Rob Chudzinski could be next year's Garrett, and there's no doubt McDaniels will still top many owners' lists next spring.

Ravens defensive coordinator Rex Ryan, who is as deserving of a head-coaching opportunity as any assistant in the league, could finally get his shot. And while Gregg Williams probably isn't all that excited about losing out on the 'Skins job, he'll certainly get some interviews too. Other names that we'll certainly be hearing from: Tennessee's Jim Schwartz, Indy's Ron Meeks, and San Francisco's Mike Singletary.

Adam Schefter of NFL Network is reporting that Indianapolis coach Tony Dungy will return to the Colts for the 2008 NFL season.

The team has scheduled a news conference for 4:30 p.m. Eastern today at which Dungy plans to make a formal announcement of his plans. Assistant head coach Jim Caldwell, who is slated to become the Colts' head coach whenever Dungy retires, is also scheduled to appear at the news conference.

Dungy has given indications that he doesn't plan to stay in the game of football for much longer. He had said in the past that he wanted to leave before he turned 50 (he's 52), he says he wants to spend more time with his family (his son just transferred from a high school in Indiana to a high school in Florida), and he says he wants to start a prison ministry program (he has always maintained that his faith is more important to him than football). But apparently none of those motivations is enough to keep him away from the Colts for at least another year.

UPDATE: The Colts have now confirmed that Dungy is their coach for 2008.

Colts coach Tony Dungy is expected to reveal today whether he will return to coach the Indianapolis Colts, or whether he will retire. Colts owner Jim Irsay says he believes Dungy is leaning toward returning to the Colts:

"I'm hopeful, I think he's leaning our way, but he hasn't committed to anything," said Irsay, who spoke with his coach on Sunday. ...

"I'm optimistic but I really don't know that Tony will [return]. I can see him coming back for one, maybe two years, but he has to find peace with that."

Irsay confirmed to ESPN that assistant head coach Jim Caldwell is the Colts' next head coach, and will take over when Dungy retires. "Two things that are clear right now: One, if Tony comes back, he will come back full time and, two, Jim Caldwell will be the coach if Tony steps down," Irsay told Chris Mortensen.

Caldwell, a longtime Dungy assistant who has a good relationship with Peyton Manning, would likely make no major changes to the Colts. But losing Dungy would, in and of itself, be a major change.