Polian's long and winding road: Architect of Colts' success worked his way to the top.(Bill Polian)(Biography)

Bill Polian never took the straight line to anything or anywhere.

He never had that luxury.

The multi-sport schoolboy athlete from the Bronx never had the advantage of an inside track. So he broke in to the National Football League the only way he knew how: by outworking and out-smarting the competition.

By all accounts, Polian, 64, is still at it.

As the franchise he now captains and its hometown fans basked in the glow of the Super Bowl, Polian had already begun his next line of attack.

Long before Marlin Jackson's interception sealed the Indianapolis Colts' trip to Super Bowl XLI, Polian was putting together his next team. In this free agency era, every year is a rebuilding year.

"There's 30-percent player turnover every year," Polian said. "Every four years, you lose 45 percent of your core players."

Polian's model of having 53 men on the roster capable of playing at a moment's notice adds more pressure to the system's architect.

"With Bill's system, there are no throwaway parts," said Marv Levy, who coached Polian's Buffalo Bills teams in the 1990s. "Some teams have players so deep on the depth charts, they'll never see the light of day. That's not the case with Bill's system."

The New England Patriots, Baltimore Ravens and San Diego Chargers are the only other teams to follow Polian's "53-man model," league experts said.

"That puts constant pressure on the personnel director to build and rebuild the team," said Levy, now the Buffalo Bills vice president of football operations.

Long before the spotlight shined on Miami, Polian was trying to re-sign defensive end Dwight Freeney and other key players who become free agents this …