Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - LOCKED ON COLTS -10/18- Indianapolis Colts' Coach Chuck Pagano Is A Coordinator, Not A Head Coach

Episode Date: October 18, 2016

Some coaches are coordinators, and some are head coaches and Chuck #Pagano is a coordinator. Additionally, the staff is made up largely of questionable hires and real solutions need to be addressed, not swept under the rug while maintaining the guise of "moving on to next week". #Colts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Fearless is full of surprises. That's the power of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Federal Employee Program. Learn more about our healthy benefits and sign up at fepblue.org slash choose blue by December 11th. You are Locked On Colts, your daily podcast on the Indianapolis Colts, part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Welcome back to Locked On Colts. I'm your host, Matt Dainley, and we are on a Tuesday, October 18th edition of Locked On Colts. And thank you again, everybody, October 18th edition of Locked on Colts. And thank you again, everybody, for joining me today. First and foremost, my apologies for Monday's show.

It was late. It was hard to put a whole lot of things together, as you can imagine. It was trying to sift through all the garbage from what that Sunday night game was, was quite a task, to say the least. So all in all, when we go back and look at it, there's so many things that need cleaned up with this team. Even before the Texans took the ball at just over the seven-minute mark there late in the game, Andrew Luck missed a wide-open Eric Swoop, which could have been a touchdown even with just a decent pass.

It was a pretty bad pass by Andrew Luck. But again, the play with Lamar Miller getting in the end zone on third and seven there. He ran through 10 Indianapolis Colts defenders. I don't remember what I told you last night. I think it was nine. I went back and watched it, and I'll be uploading a video of it to YouTube. And I'm going to be dissecting that on today's pigskin as well and kind of show you how that broke down. And it was ugly. I mean, he just, nobody, I don't even know if anybody touched him the entire way and there was literally 10 uh and if you want to count eric walden twice

uh he missed him twice so it so many so many ugly things about that game but today as uh coach pagano was uh being interviewed and kind of talking to the group uh he mentioned that the colts have a ton of injured players, and I think that they're, it doesn't sound like they're very positive about some of them, too. I think there was some under-their-breath talk about some guys. I mean, Henry Anderson busted up his knee, Dwayne Allen out with an ankle. Who knows how that's going to affect him. Kurt Majit also had an ankle. Philip Dorsett was beat up pretty bad with a hamstring and so on. I mean, there was a ton of guys that went down. And Pagano talked about this.

The Colts were very limited in their offense in the end of the game. But, you know, that still doesn't matter. All those guys have had plenty of experience to this point in the season. And they all know what their job is i mean they all know uh another thing that pagano you know continues to talk about you know it's uh the whole team game it's on him it's on the team you know the guys didn't execute sunday night there's no two ways about it um they didn't but you know the coaching job there obviously is uh really in disarray at this point i mean mean, credit the dude, man. I mean, Pagano's one of those guys that gets, you know,

kind of like the kid in school that constantly is getting picked on but always runs his mouth right back to the biggest bully or something in school. I mean, he just does not care. And credit the guy for just continually coming back and saying, you know, we're going to get these guys ready for next week. Nobody cares. We're on a one-day contract always. And, you know, I mean, having that outlook on life, I think, in general and his coaching career because, like I said,

as far as the coaching aspect of it, it's not looking so hot right now. Finishing games, you know, the Colts, they've started games quick. The past couple weeks, last week, they rattled off scoring plays on the first four possessions. This week, they did pretty well getting, you know, some points up on the board early. Also, the defense was good in the first half, keeping Houston, you know, low on the scoreboard for sure. But the thing is, is that the Colts were so good in the first half, keeping Houston low on the scoreboard for sure. But the thing is, is that the Colts were so good in the second half. And I think that everybody just expected them to be much better than what they performed Sunday night. That's for sure. I mean, there's just no two ways about it.

But there's only so much that you can dwell on that you know games are games that the fact that they had given up so many yards to such a putrid offense I think is so bad and I just I think that I myself and everybody else came away from that Texans game that the main reason it stings as a fan is because they're the Texans team is just awful. They're terrible. Their offense was awful. Their defense was no J.J. Watt. A couple other guys were pretty injured in their secondary. So the Colts got the simplest form, if you want to call it that, of the Houston Texans defense,

and they still couldn't do anything against them in the second half. In fact, a guy who is a nobody that we, you know, we're used to guys like that on our defense so far this year, but a guy like one of those on Texans, I don't even know what his name was, picked off Andrew Luck on that throw to T.Y. Hilton. So that just goes to show you how depleted their defense was and we still couldn't beat them. Just so things aren't, you know, this is just not a happy-go-lucky kind of thing. And, you know, with all of us talking about Pagano being, you know, on the hot seat and such, I don't think that there's, you know, there's no doubt that he should be and that he is. But i want i want to play for you guys what andrew luck said

today to uh i believe it's dave calabro and kind of you know i'll just let you guys listen chuck pagano to go and it's his fault how do you you you guys support chuck oh 100 and it's everybody's fault and that's the beauty beauty of a team game. Football's the greatest team sport, in my opinion, in the world. And a win, everybody gets to enjoy. A loss, everybody takes the blame. And Coach, he is the right man for this job, 100%, no doubt about it. Now, I don't know what you guys think about that, but Andrew Luck's right that everybody takes the blame so on and so forth when you know you lose or you know gets to celebrate when you win but the part about Chuck Pagano being the right man for this job maybe in a uh attaboy type uh situation but i don't think he's the right coach for this team and first of

all let's kind of go through this just real quick on on some points that uh may lead to the contrary to what andrew luck says there you know when pagano was hired he was the right choice remember guys like greg sciano and some of those guys there were some really awful uh romeo cornell some of those guys just turned out to be awful, Romeo Cornell, some of those guys just turned out to be awful head coaches. I don't think any of them are still coaching. So I'm not saying in 2012 when Pagano was brought in, he wasn't the right guy. In fact, I wrote an article about that, I think at some point or another. And he absolutely was the right guy at that time for the job. However, things have changed, obviously, when you see that how they build a team, how they coach a team, how they prepare their team.

It's not, it doesn't look that way. You know, that's not his forte. There's certain guys in the NFL who are position coaches or coordinators, and there are certain guys in the NFL who were meant to be head coaches. I hate the argument, just because it's tired by now, but the argument about Bruce Arians, you know, oh, we let him go, this and that. Bruce Arians was a head coach in acting as a coordinator for a long time, okay? That guy had been in the NFL for ages and was always one of the smartest guys in the room, no matter where he was at or who his head coach was or anything

like that. So for him to have come to Indianapolis, he actually wanted to come back. And when he was given the job offer, he was getting ready to turn it down as a favor, not as a favor, but kind of not to stab a friend in his, one of his friends in the back who was the previous Cardinals coach off subject. But to make a long story short, Pagano is either A, a position coach or B, a coordinator. He handpicks his defensive coordinator, Ted Monachino. He's not doing anything that the Colts couldn't have some random guy. I mean, he is, and he's a position coach too. He's a linebackers coach for years. He's not a, I mean, he's just, he's not even a coordinator, I don't think. So this is, it's a bad combination and a display. Now I'd tell you who I do like, and that's Brian Schottenheimer, the quarterback's coach for Andrew Luck. I have high hopes for him, and I hope that he sticks around for a while because I think there's a lot of jobs coming his way in the organization. I mean,

that's just a personal feeling. I think that if you gave Andrew Luck some truth serum, he'd tell you that he, I think that Andrew Luck would tell you that he's far more vital to Andrew Luck's success than Chudzinski is at this point. Or maybe ever has been or probably ever would be. I don't think Chudzinski's a bad coordinator. But again, we see situations where Chudzinski, I know I'm all over the map here but this uh bear with me chud zinsky will you know on for example pulling uh gore out and putting turbine in on fourth down situations that's happened a couple times um you know on third and and short nothing but deep routes uh third and long you know uh only one deep route or no deep routes. You know what I mean?

Some of these things just don't make sense. And this is the kind of crew that is working together with a head coach, with a guy who is a head coach, but is more of a natural coordinator or position coach. I think that the Colts need an offensive head coach, an offensive-minded head coach, and they need to shop for a real defensive coordinator. I was high on Monachino. I'll never go back on what I've said before. I was impressed with him at camp because of how he was coaching the guys. Maybe there's a connection problem between he and the team. I just don't know. But the proof's in the pudding, guys. When you see it on the field and you see it on Sunday

or how they're reacting and reading teams, they still can't get Antonio Morrison to read coverages. And it's pathetic. We're in weeks, going, heading into week seven right now of the regular season. That there's 11 weeks already gone by, or there's 10 weeks already gone by if you count preseason. And then if you count training camp, that's even more. So it's, I mean, what, we're looking at close to four months, three and a half months, and Antonio Morrison still can't read coverage out of the backfield or cover anybody in space.

I mean, you know, some of the other guys are just not very good at it. They at least know what their assignment is. Morrison doesn't have a clue what he's doing. And there's a few guys like that. And on the other hand, Rashawn Melvin's been a fantastic pickup, I think. He gave up that big play there at the end of the game, but that was the best throw that Osweiler's ever had, in my opinion, and it was still good coverage on Melvin's part.

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Sign up today. And I'm going to stand by what I told you guys yesterday as far as if the Colts leave Tennessee 2-5, Chuck Pagano's done in Indianapolis. You can't lose your first three AFC South matchups against especially the teams that they are and expect to keep your job now I'm going to tell you right now Tennessee has one of the best offensive lines in the league Marcus Mariota's no joke we saw him last year he torched us and he wasn't even uh where he's at now developmental-wise.

You know, they're going to have Delaney Walker is going to be, you know, chewing up the center of the field. Tajay Sharp, I mean, the guys, they've got a running game too. So what are the Colts going to give up? You know, in this past game against the Texans, they were allowing Lamar Miller to run as long as they could keep the ball out of DeAndre Hopkins' hands. What are they going to give up in order to still try to achieve a win against Tennessee? I'm not trying to act like Tennessee is the most well-rounded team in the league, but they're far more well-rounded than

the Texans are. Texans have better skill position players in more important positions, I think, probably. But Tennessee has a very dangerous roster to where they could be pretty good given a little bit of momentum and the right circumstances. And I'll tell you what, there isn't a team in this league right now that doesn't want to play the Colts. The offense doesn't scare anybody because they know that's all we've got. The defense doesn't scare anybody because we get, the Colts are always known as soft. I mean, that's just the way it is, people. You can define soft a couple different ways. Nobody's saying that they're a bunch of sissies, but soft as in they don't stop the run, and that's key on defense.

You know, the Colts had a 100-yard rusher in Frank Gore Sunday night. That doesn't matter. Who cares? That 100 yards is totally arbitrary. It absolutely means nothing because the Colts got beat, and this shows you perfect reason that the Colts need the threat of the run. They don't need big games out of a running back in order to win. They have to have a suitable guy in the backfield who can chew

up yardage and keep defenses honest. He and Andrew Luck have to work off each other to, first of all, keep eight guys out of the box when Gore's going to get the ball. Gore's got to be able to protect Andrew Luck on play action, and he's got to be able to suck in those linebackers. And between those two, they have to work off each other for that offense to gel and mold and grow. And Andrew Luck's been phenomenal this year. And Frank Gore's been great too. So I'm not bashing Gore. I'm just simply saying that the yardage part of it is arbitrary. It means absolutely nothing towards the success of the Colts. But the harsh realism now is that the Colts are in last place in the AFC South,

a competitively one of the worst divisions in the league and they've got such a tall hill to climb just to gain some momentum back guys we play Tennessee that's no shoe in game I'm telling you right now the Colts very could be very likely going to two and five this Sunday if they don't get a ton of crap fixed they've got real defense with Arakpo and some of those other guys. Their offensive line, like I said, is one of the best in the league. This is no sissy defense. They're going to bring it. Jarrell Casey is a man on a mission against the Colts, and he loves playing him because he knows he's going to just violate whoever he's matched up against, and he's going to get two licks on Andrew Luck per game,

without a doubt. So think about that, because that's not a game that anybody right now should be thinking the Colts are going to win. In fact, I would tell you that Tennessee's probably better than both the Texans and Jacksonville, regardless of what's happened in the first five, six weeks of the season. So, and then like like i said colts before the bye week will finish up with kansas city who could hang a 50 burger on the colts with no problem and then they play green bay where green bay is playing like crap right now too but make no mistake about it that's in lambeau and if you think that the colts are going to go to Lambeau and dominate the Packers I think we've proven that the Colts can't dominate anywhere considering they've had so many close games so this is a real situation and not a not a spot that the Colts can afford

to go in I mean think about this it is extremely realistic that the Colts go into the bye week two and seven. Let that sink in for 30 seconds in your head and try not to throw up. I mean, it's a very real possibility. Very real. So Tuesday is not much more positive than Angry Monday was, but there are simply some things that we are not able to control right now. And like I was telling you guys yesterday, the Colts season does not look to be getting a ton better. So strap yourselves in, guys. This is going to be an ugly year. No matter what the Colts end up doing, if they get to 500, it'd be a miracle. I think at

this point, their second half of their season is just as brutal or is more brutal than the first half of their season. So do your best to be patient with this team and do not break your TVs. You need those the day after. Remember that. Think before you throw something at your TV. Try not to, you know, cuss too loud when you're talking about the coaching staff or some of the plays that the Colts give up, like that pathetic excuse for tackling on Lamar Miller the other night. That was just beyond ridiculous. I have no idea. I still can't figure out how so many guys can be close to him and none of them touch him.

But that's our show for Tuesday, October 18th. Now, get your emails in to lockedoncoltspod at gmail.com. Get your emails to me if you guys want to be entered in this Andrew Luck jersey giveaway. It's only going to be until Friday. Friday, I'm choosing the winner. We've got a ton of people. I've already gotten their names in the hat, so to speak, for it. Get your name in there if you want it. It's a nice jersey. Somebody's going to get it simply for sending me an email telling me why they want it. So again, go to iTunes or Stitcher or wherever you guys get

your podcasts. Rate and review the show, please. You guys have been fantastic, as I'll continue to tell you, because you guys have been great. I really appreciate all the kind words. I appreciate you guys sharing the show and telling me what you guys think about it. It's been all positive so far. It's really been great stuff. So continue to do that. Continue to listen. Feel free to interact with me. Ask me questions. If you guys want something answered on the air or whatever, we'll do maybe a mailbag this Thursday or something real quick, maybe five minutes worth of questions or something like that if you guys want to do that. So if you're listening to this and you're on Twitter, follow me or follow Locked On Colts on Twitter and send me a question and hashtag it mailbag or something of the sort

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your daily Indianapolis Colts podcast. Part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day.