BREAKING NEWS: Colts Select Chuck Pagano as Next Head Coach
ProFootballTalk is reportingChuck Pagano has been named to Indianapolis Colts new head coach. (Joe Giza | Reuters) that league sources have told them that Ravens Defensive Coordinator Chuck Pagano will be the next head coach of the Indianapolis Colts. Colts Authority will have more information and analyis as the story develops.
Pagano's Baltimore Ravens Bio can be found here
UPDATE: The Colts have confirmed the hire, Chuck Pagano is your new head coach.
This is a very encouraging interview with one of Pagano's former players, Rolle. Seems to say a lot about his coaching style, strengths, and overall demeanor:
http://espn.go.com/blog/nflnation/post/_/id/52872/former-raven-rolle-loves-pagano-hire
In response to those who aren't impressed with Pagano's tenure in Baltimore:
Cleveland's pass defense was 22nd in DVOA (25th overall) the year before hiring Pagano as secondary coach. After hiring him they were 1st, 10th, and 8th (3rd, 7th, and 14th overall).
Oakland's pass defense was 30th in DVOA (26th overall) before Pagano. They were 27th in his first year (20th overall), and 4th in his second year (8th overall).
Obviously this means very little in terms of whether he'll be a good head coach, but it's encouraging nonetheless.
This is a great hire for the colts. The colts' needed a new direction with the defense. Now, will be able to see three and outs more often, the defense will rest more, getting off the field more. No more cover two, blitzing linebackers and safeties coming from all directions to the quarterback, the South division and the league better take notice, the colts are coming for you. The colts' will also be able to stay in most games with the defense, and keep the score low. Great job by the tweeter and the gm Grigson!
very enthusiatic about our new head coach. The future looks bright. It will be nice to build a football team thats decent in all three phases of the game. I'm willing to be patient.
I'm perfectly happy about this hire. We'll have to see of course, but for now it seems a good one. I'm just glad it wasn't Childress. BTW, I would have been perfectly happy with Tressel, not sure what you guys have against him. "Tatoogate" is quite irrelevant to the NFL and just not a big deal as an ethical breach. And no I'm not an Ohio State fan at all.
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PIerre Garcon happy, trying to lobby for Manning to stay now: "Our Defense just got better. Now let's keep 18. --->> CHAMPIONSHIP :)"
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@Kyle Rodriguez 18+decency everywhere else---> playoffs.
18+ decency everywhere else+ not rotten luck-----> championship.
I like the hire, because the timing to me indicates that he was the coach Irsay had had in mind from the start, although he still did his homework and looked for a homerun somewhere else before Pagano became available. That kind of decisiveness and thorough decision-making process from Irsay spells good things for the Colts, I think. As far as Pagano is concerned, well, I´m glad all his defenses put a strong emphasis on pass defense, and with great success across his career, even if Spagnuolo makes it clear you can´t predict what effect a new defensive HC will have on his new team. I love the fact he has some special teams background, even if it´s not his main characteristic, because it indicates he´ll pay it some kind of attention, and maybe we won´t have to tolerate utter ineptness as had been the case since who knows when in Indy anymore!
And obviously, I´m thanking all the deities of animal pantheons that neither Tressel nor Childress are to be ushered in as commander-in-chief of the shiny new Colts.
I think this is the best move for the Colts. Pagano was the one of the candidates interviewed that had the credentials that fit what was needed in indy. Now that the head coaching position has been filled, i wonder if Spags is going to jump aboard as a DC
Not sure if you were making a point, but... you just made a good point about Manning's success against the Ravens!
@LovinBlue Honestly, I'm not sure if I was making a point either ... besides the obvious "part-ownership" that Manning has had of that franchise's D for the past several years. It would be an interesting study, for sure.
Now it's speculation time on "what this means for Manning..."
@kasey_junk also remember he was only secondary coach during that time. Besides that first game, the Ravens held Peyton to some of his lowest QB ratings of the year. As far as yds, Td and Int Peyton was about average, he did do a lot of short passes in most of those games.
@paulcareyjr@kasey_junk@LovinBlue or... not too bad against one of the top D's in the NFL, but not mind blowing either.
@kasey_junk@matt_has@LovinBlue Averages out to 272 2 TD 1 Pick not too bad against one of the top Qb's in the NFL, but not mind blowing either.
@matt_has@LovinBlue Manning has played them 3 times while Pagano was on staff.
2008 Week 6 - 18/28 271 3TD 0 INT
2009 Week 11 - 22/31 299 1TD 2 INT
2009 Playoffs - 30/44 246 2 TD 1 INT
Make of it what you iwll.
@kasey_junk@LovinBlue Right -- I should have clarified when I said "units". I'm sure there's a way to statistically break down how he abused the DBs... or not. But he did, right? With the exception of the playoff game during the SB run, he pretty much ALWAYS abused the Ravens DBs.
@matt_has@LovinBlue Hard to judge the D as a whole given Pagano didn't play Manning as a DC.
I am really excited about this. I thought that after Dungy (who wasn't likely to come out of retirement, anyway, more of a pipe dream) Pagano was by far the best candidate. Thank god we didn't hire Tressel, not the kind of image I want for head coach as a Colts fan. It is great to have someone in here who has proven in all previous work that he really knows how to construct a defense.
@7IHd What proof is there that he knows how to construct a defense? Not saying there isn't, just don't know enough. For instance from his resume it is easy to believe he knows how to train DBs, I just don't see anything in his resume that screams defensive genius.
Though, I did like the game plan against the Patriots.
@kasey_junk@7IHd Check out the other thread that talked about him as a possible HC, he seems solid. one of the main things I like is that he gets his guys to play hard, I know it was a team with Lewis and Reed, but if they are not with you or backing you ideas then that is not a good thing, and they never seemed to have a problem with him or how he ran the D.
Having the respect of your players and having them buy into what you are preaching is a must have for every NFL coach.
@paulcareyjr@kasey_junk Pretty sure this is the general feeling from Colts fans everywhere haha
@kasey_junk by the way I don't think Caldwell was the worst coach in the world, I think he had a few things that he needed to work on, and I feel he did not step up to the plate in some areas, but he was not that bad.
@kasey_junk@7IHd there is more than that, he has made pretty decent in game decisions in regards to his defense, taking advantage of mismatches and allowing his guys to play up to their potential.
@kasey_junk Granted, secondary does seem to be a specialty, with several of his defenses (at multiple levels and with different teams) setting records regarding passing touchdowns allowed. However, I really admire what he's shown with the Ravens' defense these past years, where they've been consistently top 3 in the league overall.
@kasey_junk I understand your point, and there certainly will be a deal of uncertainty as we see what he does to our much different defensive schemes (a whole new base), but I think it's encouraging to see what he's done in previous work and am optimistic that it will translate into future (not likely immediate) success in that area for us.
@7IHd The Balitmore defense has been a top 5 defense (by DVOA) 8 times in the last decade. The 2 exceptions they were 6th. I don't see leading the Baltimore defense to a good standing as a huge argument either way (too hard to seperate players from coaches).
@kasey_junk To be fair, I think you could ask that question/make that statement regardless of who was hired.
@GregC@kasey_junk So Greg. How much exactly are you paying Irsay to make these decisions on the day of your podcast? The football Gods must be fans of the pancakes.
@pierrezombie It´s like feeling a breeze in an avalanche, yeah. Still I won´t believe in the end of the tunnel until we know that Peyton is healthy.
@Goéland I think we just moved back up one level. So much cooler here in Circle Seven...
@kasey_junk for me, personally: I don't know what I am. I'm happy that it wasn't some of the names on the list (and perhaps that's why they were included), happy that it wasn't a retread. Now, it's up to him to leave his mark on us and the team.
“He’s terrible. He’s a terrible coach, Suggs said to Garrett Downing of BaltimoreRavens.com. ”His players don’t love him, and he doesn’t know what he’s doing when he’s calling a game.”
Suggs of course is hoping the avoid drawing attention to Pagano as a head coaching candidate with more jobs popping up everyday. “Chuck Pagano, if anybody is trying to hire a head coach, if they ask, I’m going to say he sucks,” T-Sizzle added in hopes of keeping Pagano as his defensive coordinator in Baltimore.With openings in Kansas City, Jacksonville and now Miami, Pagano may draw some interest in taking over a franchise.
“He’s playing the chess match to death, and we’re doing a good job as a unit and as a whole team.”
@Payton@kasey_junk Quite nice to see that his current players hold him in such high regard. He must have a good presence in the locker room to garner such devotion from his players.
I thought he did a great job coaching an aging Ravens defense, and I like what I read about his personality (which was a little tiny blurb, to be fair).
@kasey_junk Agreed. We really don't know much about him. He's a defensive guy and he's been around a while, but that's about it. I just saw a couple interviews and he seems like an engaging guy but it's hard to judge his talent as a coach.
Let's put it this way, there were a lot of candidates that would have been downright bad and few that we could really know beforehand would be successful. He has potential and seems decent, but that's all we know for now.
Now if he wants to run a 3-4 and spend a ton of time changing the roster to do so, I'll be upset.
@kasey_junk He's not Childress or Tressel. Seems to know what he is doing on the defensive side of the ball.
