A Renewed Colts Team in 2018

[Flash7]

Glass Half-Full Outlook:

1. The Colts fire a great man, but not a great coach, (Pagano). Ballard hires a new head coach and allows the new head coach to choose his coaching staff.

2. Luck returns healthy and ready to play in 2018. With over a year of rest, and a full off season to get re-acclimated, he is ready to roll.

3. Ballard adds talent to the O-line position via free agency. The new blocking schemes are far more effective and less complicated, allowing the players to play fast and physical. The new offense focuses on shorter timing routes, getting the ball out fast, not asking the O-line to block for 3+ seconds every pass play.

4. Ballard adds more overall talent to the team through the draft. The new players make an impact to the team in 2018 and going forward.

5. With the new coaching staff, Luck, and infusion of new talent, the 2018 Colts are ready to challenge for the AFCS title and make a playoff run in hopes to win it all.

 

Glass Half-Empty Outlook:

1. The new coaching staff could mean a total change in philosophy, resulting in a need for far too many new players. Existing players no longer fit the scheme and they do not play well. 2018 is the beginning of yet another re-build. The team struggles, learning to fit into the new system, using 2018 as a learning year.

2. Luck returns somewhat healthy and is hesitant to "sling" the ball, leading to a conservative offense. Luck struggles (as expected) and leaves doubt about whether he will ever fully recover.

3. The O-line, despite new talent and new scheme continue to struggle because they are learning new schemes and have not played together long enough to build cohesion.

4. The new players make a positive impact, however, they are still rookies and make rookie mistakes. These mistakes could be the difference between a W or a an L.

5. With the new coaching staff, Luck will not only have to return to football, he will have to get his body adjusted, and his mind wrapped around new concepts. It will be too much all at once and he will struggle. His struggles lead to a stagnant offense, which in-turn affect the defense and we do not accomplish our goals in 2018.

 

Which is the more likely scenario in 2018?

[onebad150]

I think your Half-Full outlook is on-the-money! You noted  most of the problems the present coaching staffs philosophies have contributed to our downfall. I really like the possibilities that Ballard brings to the new COLTS

[csmopar]

I think it'll be a combination of both, it'll start out bad the first 4-6 weeks, then we get on a roll, steal the division back, get to the playoffs, win 2, lose in the AFCCG

[deedub75]

It could go either way or somewhere in the middle. 

[Flash7]

1 minute ago, deedub75 said:

It could go either way or somewhere in the middle. 

Agreed. Part of why I started this thread is to show some people that hiring a new head coach and staff will not be a magic pill. Actually, a new coach and staff, new schemes, etc... presents its own set of new problems.

[Buddy Lee]

12 minutes ago, Flash7 said:

Agreed. Part of why I started this thread is to show some people that hiring a new head coach and staff will not be a magic pill. Actually, a new coach and staff, new schemes, etc... presents its own set of new problems.

Hopefully a coach will be chosen that has a defensive philosophy 3-4, press man, etc. That won't require an entirely different type of D personnel.We are already six years into our franchise QBs career. I hate to waste another three getting the right type of personnel to run a 4-3 zone coverage defense. I hope that will be a priority.

[Corndog]

I think it is going to be a bit of both.  All of the young players will have growing pains and carry over players from the Grigson era may not fit in the new scheme.  I do think Ballard will chose a Head coach(if allowed) that fits his style, so players he drafted should hopefully fit.  The o-line and possibly secondary can have added pieces via free agency.  Luck will be fine, but running shorter routes and having a simpler play book won't hurt anything and give the line a chance to improve.

 

Personally, don't see this team being championship caliber next year, that is a massive leap and way too much too soon to expect(although it would be nice to see).  I think the division is a reasonable target and then just go from there.  

[Smonroe]

How about this:  Ballard realizes that Pagano has never had the groceries and spends money and/or draft picks to get the O line that any * knows you should have to protect a once in a generation franchise QB?

 

Nah, that wouldn’t fit everyone’s vision.  Sorry.

[Flash7]

19 minutes ago, Smonroe said:

How about this:  Ballard realizes that Pagano has never had the groceries and spends money and/or draft picks to get the O line that any * knows you should have to protect a once in a generation franchise QB?

 

Nah, that wouldn’t fit everyone’s vision.  Sorry.

You can make a good argument that Pagano never had the players necessary to form a good team, and he especially did not have the O-lineman for it.

 

On the flip side, you can make an argument that his offensive philosophy, (ground & Pound with no misdirection, and a love of the deep ball) is what attributes to these horrible O-lines. Regardless, I think it's clear that the team will move on from him now, whether it was his fault entirely or not. (There is still a chance the team retains Pagano, but very slim, IMO).

 

This will be an interesting off season because there will be so much to talk about.

[Superman]

17 minutes ago, Smonroe said:

How about this:  Ballard realizes that Pagano has never had the groceries and spends money and/or draft picks to get the O line that any * knows you should have to protect a once in a generation franchise QB?

 

Nah, that wouldn’t fit everyone’s vision.  Sorry.

 

Let's torture this analogy, because I'm kind of tired of it anyway...

 

If I give you eggs, veggies and bacon, will you try to make an omelette, or will you try to make steak dinner? Both are good meals, but you would be foolish to try to make a steak dinner out of omelette ingredients.

 

This staff -- led by Pagano -- has spent several seasons trying to make the wrong kind of meal for the type of ingredients he has. They don't have steak and potatoes, they have eggs and veggies, but refuse to make a simple but effective omelette. 

 

And yet, the argument is 'he doesn't have the groceries for a steak dinner!' Yet, no one needs a steak dinner, just a good meal using whatever ingredients you have.

[Coltsman1788]

2 hours ago, Flash7 said:

Agreed. Part of why I started this thread is to show some people that hiring a new head coach and staff will not be a magic pill. Actually, a new coach and staff, new schemes, etc... presents its own set of new problems.

Which is why that process should have started this year with a new coach picked by Ballard.  We have essentially just wasted a year in that process.

[deedub75]

7 minutes ago, Superman said:

 

Let's torture this analogy, because I'm kind of tired of it anyway...

 

If I give you eggs, veggies and bacon, will you try to make an omelette, or will you try to make steak dinner? Both are good meals, but you would be foolish to try to make a steak dinner out of omelette ingredients.

 

This staff -- led by Pagano -- has spent several seasons trying to make the wrong kind of meal for the type of ingredients he has. They don't have steak and potatoes, they have eggs and veggies, but refuse to make a simple but effective omelette. 

 

And yet, the argument is 'he doesn't have the groceries for a steak dinner!' Yet, no one needs a steak dinner, just a good meal using whatever ingredients you have.

 

Pagano’s just not a good chef. 

[Superman]

25 minutes ago, deedub75 said:

 

Pagano’s just not a good chef. 

 

No, probably not. But what's worse is that it doesn't take a good chef to make a simple meal. 

[Corndog]

2 hours ago, Superman said:

 

Let's torture this analogy, because I'm kind of tired of it anyway...

 

If I give you eggs, veggies and bacon, will you try to make an omelette, or will you try to make steak dinner? Both are good meals, but you would be foolish to try to make a steak dinner out of omelette ingredients.

 

This staff -- led by Pagano -- has spent several seasons trying to make the wrong kind of meal for the type of ingredients he has. They don't have steak and potatoes, they have eggs and veggies, but refuse to make a simple but effective omelette. 

 

And yet, the argument is 'he doesn't have the groceries for a steak dinner!' Yet, no one needs a steak dinner, just a good meal using whatever ingredients you have.

Great post.  I suppose if we are going to use the chef analogies, Pagano is like hiring a chef specializing in Italian cuisine to run a sushi bar.  The point this really illustrates is this team needs to have a head coach and general manager on the same page.  Something that simply wasn't the case with Pagano and Grigson.  

[deedub75]

1 hour ago, Corndog said:

Great post.  I suppose if we are going to use the chef analogies, Pagano is like hiring a chef specializing in Italian cuisine to run a sushi bar.  The point this really illustrates is this team needs to have a head coach and general manager on the same page.  Something that simply wasn't the case with Pagano and Grigson.  

 

I think of Pagano as more of a sous chef.  

[ty4atd]

Half full is more likely I believe but it will surely be a combo of both.

[Dark Superman]

On 12/15/2017 at 5:42 PM, deedub75 said:

 

Pagano’s just not a good chef. 

He's turned this team into cheap microwavable tv dinners!