Chris Ballard blew it

[Superman]

1 hour ago, crazycolt1 said:

He is playing the cards dealt him. He is sitting in a no win position.

 

It's a yes or no question. Is he doing a good job or not?

[Dark Superman]

Didn't Ballard want to fire Pagano and bring in someone he was more familiar with?

If Irsay handed CB complete control of the team then he should have the final say on who stays and who goes.

The whole keeping Pagano thing has to be on Irsay. I can't see Ballard wanting to keep Pagano.

 

[SteelCityColt]

9 minutes ago, Superman said:

 

It's a yes or no question. Is he doing a good job or not?

 

Not sure this expression crosses the Atlantic but...

 

”You can’t polish a turd, but you can roll it in glitter”

 

However I feel Pagano instead of finding some glitter has instead picked up said turd and began to clap enthusiastically before looking like a deer in the headlight as he realises he’s got crap on his hands again. 

 

What I’m trying to say is, while he does still have a stunted roster a good coach maximises, Pagano seems to minimise. I really rooted for the man to do well but there’s nowhere left to hide as you said. 

[King Colt]

10 hours ago, jvan1973 said:

Grigson brought in tons of o lineman trying to fix the problem.   Unfortunately he was bad at evaluating talent.    They certainly didn't deliberately ignore protecting Luck.

OK, so how many hits was Luck supposed to take as Grigson sat and watched? You don't get paid to guess. Anyone can guess. Put it another way, how is Luck doing now days?

[jvan1973]

17 minutes ago, King Colt said:

OK, so how many hits was Luck supposed to take as Grigson sat and watched? You don't get paid to guess. Anyone can guess. Put it another way, how is Luck doing now days?

They do get paid to guess.    They are drafting potential.    His picks didn't live up to their potential.    He got fired.    It's a very common story

[stitches]

13 hours ago, Superman said:

 

It's not even about that, though, IMO. There was major beef between Grigson and Pagano. This was Pagano's chance to show that, without Grigson in his way, making his life hard, etc., he could coach this team well. Irsay said he expected Pagano to have his best season as a coach.

 

So the spotlight is all on Pagano. No one else with whom to split blame, can't complain about a meddling or egomaniacal GM, etc. Pagano, on his own merits and his own terms, is failing. He's been exposed over the course of these two seasons: after 2015, he got to revamp his coaching staff; after 2016, he was freed of Grigson's influence. Now what?

 

There's nowhere for him to hide anymore. He's been exposed for all to see. He's not the right coach for a contending team. Barring a miraculous turnaround this season, Pagano is done. 

We can probably even argue the more power he's been given and the freer he's been during his tenure the more his weaknesses have shined and overtaken the performance of the team. In a weird twisted kind of way Grigson might have been a balance to the buddy-buddy relationship between Pagano and the players. Right now wheels are falling off both on the field and off the field(players blaming whole position groups for the  failings of the team in front of sensation-hungry journalists, etc). I previously thought Pagano was an OK coach who simply not good enough to go against the best of the best. Right now I'm revising my view and leaning more and more toward the conclusion that he's not even as good as I used to give him credit for. From preparation to personnel decisions, to game management to player development... where is he even remotely successful? I don't see it. To me this looks like a total and complete failure on all fronts by Pagano. 

[King Colt]

5 minutes ago, jvan1973 said:

They do get paid to guess.    They are drafting potential.    His picks didn't live up to their potential.    He got fired.    It's a very common story

I agree on that but what I am getting at is their number of lineup changes in the OL which at last count was around 36. That cannot be defended ever. The players know they are failures. Grigson did not just make one mistake. 

[rockywoj]

17 hours ago, TheMarine said:

 

Game looks a lot better drinking Peyton Manning's beer of choice, Bud Light. Games are in fact a whole lot of fun that way

Especially when that blue can has the horseshoe on it!

[rockywoj]

5 hours ago, Superman said:

 

It's a yes or no question. Is he doing a good job or not?

And to that question, the answer is no, EVEN by his own admission.  lol

 

The team seems incapable of creating any scheme whatsoever to take advantage of their strengths and to minimize their weaknesses ... on both offense AND defense.  Add to that the fact that due to in game mismanagement, the team in put at even more of a disadvantage, seemingly every game.

 

Throughout my 50-ish year’s of watching, I have usually been very patient when it comes to coaching changes.   Simply put, really good teams rarely change coaching staffs.   We’re six years in now, though, with the Pagano regime.  This year, all free passes have run out on this end.  Pagano & his OC & DC all have to go, simply put.  I now advocate in-season pink slips, something I don’t often do, for I think it’s the only way to save the team’s culture from snowballing into complete apathy with defeatist attitudes.

 

Though there are no real good options from within to promote, I would put Philbin in charge as HC and Schottenheimer promoted to OC.  Not sure who I would put in as DC, but anybody has to be better than Monachino.  At this point, I don’t think it’s so much about who you put in charge for the interim, but rather, it’s more about getting the change implimented.

 

[Lucky Colts Fan]

16 hours ago, azcolt said:

I don’t know your professional background but in my own experience I have been recruited for a couple positions and in both cases I played hard ball with my requirements before taking the job. Maybe you have never been in the position to be picky and have simply accepted jobs, warts and all. Some people don’t have the choice, but I did

 

He inherited a coaching staff that he chose to inherit. No one forced him to take the Colts job complete with a lousy coach entrenched in the job most critical to Ballard’s success.

 

Not everyone chooses the easy path.  Some prefer a challenge.

 

Ballard accepted the challenge.  If I were an owner, I would rather have Ballard than you.

 

[Jaric]

8 hours ago, Superman said:

 

The difference between your viewpoint and mine is you're saying Ballard has set Pagano up as the fall guy, while I'm saying that Pagano was given a legitimate chance to save his job by doing it well, and hasn't been able to do so.

 

More or less although I don't think "set up" is the right language.  There was almost zero chance for Pagano to save his job.  Largely because he's not good at it, but also this roster is a mess.  

 

I feel that the eventual outcome was never in doubt.  Is it possible Pagano could save his job?  I guess but really after 5 years we should know exactly what we have.  I wouldn't say Pagano hasn't gotten a fair chance, this is his sixth season after all.

 

I just don't think this year was anything other than treading water.

[Jaric]

5 hours ago, Superman said:

 

It's a yes or no question. Is he doing a good job or not?

 

I mean, we just got shut out by the Jags at home...

[Defjamz26]

Blew it? Quite the contrary. Ballard has played this brilliantly and made himself look like a genius. Ask yourself this: who have been the most impressive Colts this year? You'd probably say names like Malik Hooker, Jonathan Hankins, Jacoby Brissett, and John Simon. All Ballard guys.

 

Hes showed that he can draft, but Pagano can't coach. This works out perfectly for him.

[Superman]

7 hours ago, stitches said:

We can probably even argue the more power he's been given and the freer he's been during his tenure the more his weaknesses have shined and overtaken the performance of the team. In a weird twisted kind of way Grigson might have been a balance to the buddy-buddy relationship between Pagano and the players. Right now wheels are falling off both on the field and off the field(players blaming whole position groups for the  failings of the team in front of sensation-hungry journalists, etc). I previously thought Pagano was an OK coach who simply not good enough to go against the best of the best. Right now I'm revising my view and leaning more and more toward the conclusion that he's not even as good as I used to give him credit for. From preparation to personnel decisions, to game management to player development... where is he even remotely successful? I don't see it. To me this looks like a total and complete failure on all fronts by Pagano. 

 

Agreed, top to bottom.

 

Grigson had his own issues, and people railed on him for meddling, but I get the feeling Grigson would have put a considerable amount of pressure on Pagano to get Quincy Wilson on the field, for instance.

[Superman]

4 hours ago, Jaric said:

 

I mean, we just got shut out by the Jags at home...

 

I know how I feel about it, I'm just wondering if crazycolt will answer straight up.

 

And everyone knows that I'm not the guy who calls for the coach to be fired after every bad game. I'm not calling for Pagano to be fired now (mostly because I don't think it will happen, but Sunday was probably an all time low, IMO). But I don't see how anyone can deny that he's doing a bad job.

[Superman]

7 hours ago, King Colt said:

I agree on that but what I am getting at is their number of lineup changes in the OL which at last count was around 36. That cannot be defended ever. The players know they are failures. Grigson did not just make one mistake. 

 

Grigson made a lot of mistakes, even if you just focus on the OL. But he's gone now, so why belabor the point?

[Superman]

6 hours ago, rockywoj said:

And to that question, the answer is no, EVEN by his own admission.  lol

 

The team seems incapable of creating any scheme whatsoever to take advantage of their strengths and to minimize their weaknesses ... on both offense AND defense.  Add to that the fact that due to in game mismanagement, the team in put at even more of a disadvantage, seemingly every game.

 

Throughout my 50-ish year’s of watching, I have usually been very patient when it comes to coaching changes.   Simply put, really good teams rarely change coaching staffs.   We’re six years in now, though, with the Pagano regime.  This year, all free passes have run out on this end.  Pagano & his OC & DC all have to go, simply put.  I now advocate in-season pink slips, something I don’t often do, for I think it’s the only way to save the team’s culture from snowballing into complete apathy with defeatist attitudes.

 

Though there are no real good options from within to promote, I would put Philbin in charge as HC and Schottenheimer promoted to OC.  Not sure who I would put in as DC, but anybody has to be better than Monachino.  At this point, I don’t think it’s so much about who you put in charge for the interim, but rather, it’s more about getting the change implimented.

 

 

I still don't think anyone gets fired in season. Maybe a coordinator, but I doubt it. In 2011, the Colts had a Week 11 bye just like they do this year. It came four weeks after they got blown out on Sunday night by the Saints, 62-7. The next three games, they got beat by an average of 18 points. Caldwell and his staff survived the bye. They fired the DC, Coyer, one week after the bye.

 

I agree with your premise, but I disagree with the bolded. If you break the whole triangle in the middle of the season, with Luck still on ice, Brissett trying to learn the offense, etc., I could see things actually getting worse. Especially if you put Philbin in charge; look at what happened to his locker room in Miami. 

[Superman]

5 hours ago, Jaric said:

 

More or less although I don't think "set up" is the right language.  There was almost zero chance for Pagano to save his job.  Largely because he's not good at it, but also this roster is a mess.  

 

I feel that the eventual outcome was never in doubt.  Is it possible Pagano could save his job?  I guess but really after 5 years we should know exactly what we have.  I wouldn't say Pagano hasn't gotten a fair chance, this is his sixth season after all.

 

I just don't think this year was anything other than treading water.

 

Let's revise history a little bit. Set aside the Rams game, and the offseason decision to roll with Tolzien. Let's say Tolzien was decent in the Rams game, but got hurt, and now Brissett is the guy.

 

Brissett, in his first start, plays a pretty good game against Arizona, then throws the pick in OT. Ouch, but encouraging, given the circumstances. Let's say Pagano actually challenges on the Mack TD, rather than going hurry up for no good reason, and the game never goes into OT.

 

Then the team plays the Browns, comes out hot, cools off in the second half, but still, nice showing given the change and the youth in the secondary.

 

We go to Seattle, Brissett plays poorly, a bunch of guys get hurt, but take away a couple bad plays on defense and this game was just about an inexperienced QB making crucial mistakes against a good defense. Imagine if the defensive minded head coach with the DB background had his secondary playing at a high level, and they didn't give up a couple of sloppy scores to McKissic, and you lose by 7-10 points on the road to a SB contender. 

 

Let's say they come out the next week, jump all over the Niners, then finish them. No big plays on defense in the second half, the offense keeps moving the ball, etc. The new QB is getting more and more comfortable, the defense is starting to come together in the back half.

 

They build on that by finishing in the second half against the Titans. Again, the defensive head coach tunes his defense in and they don't get torched over the top. The offense sustains a drive or two and puts up more points, and they hang on for a close win.

 

Then they actually gameplan for the Jaguars -- I'm not sure they did at all -- the QB has open receivers, they protect him through scheme and blocking, the secondary doesn't get torched, etc. They make some second half adjustments, and even if they don't win, they put up a fight. Let's say Pagano challenges the fumble/touchback in the first quarter, they get the momentum, and maybe get a lead on the Jags, then their headcase QB falls apart and the Colts actually dominate.

 

This is meaningless; what happened is what happened. But even with this issue-filled roster, I could see a good coach having his team better prepared, handling in game decisions more effectively, and making effective adjustments going into the second half. I think a good coach could have this team at 5-2 instead of 2-5. Even if you're still 2-5, you could be the Niners with multiple losses under 3 points, as opposed to multiple blowout losses. 

 

They gave Pagano a chance to show that he's a good coach. I think he could have done a much better job than he has, and maybe there would be a legitimate case to make that he deserves to stay. Instead, I think he and his staff have done a bad job, with the exception of special teams.

[throwing BBZ]

On 10/23/2017 at 12:54 PM, azcolt said:

If you are fortunate enough to be sought after by another employer, “101” theory says use this rare leverage to its max while being chased. Once you accept employment it is unlikely you will ever have such leverage again. In other words don’t accept the Colts GM job without making sure you have your basic expectations granted and at the top is your ability to hire your coach. If you fail to do this, Pagano, for example, is now your guy. You kept him, he did a crappy job of coaching up your new talent but it’s now on you, Chris Ballard. You blew it a year ago and you may never recover from that mistake.

 

Just the opposite. He got the job and the season he needed. It really is that simple.

PLEASE, DO expect another tough season next year, HOPEFULLY. Then...

[King Colt]

3 hours ago, Superman said:

 

Grigson made a lot of mistakes, even if you just focus on the OL. But he's gone now, so why belabor the point?

His disease is still killing.

[DaColts85]

14 hours ago, King Colt said:

His disease is still killing.

One season will not rid of his disease!

[lollygagger8]

On 10/23/2017 at 10:42 PM, southwest1 said:

Lolly, 

 

You always do the best job of expressing through pictures/Memes what everybody is thinking.

San Francisco is the real train wreck team right now in the league not us. You rock my man! 

 

Lol, I just hate typing ;) 

 

I couldn't agree with you more on the train wreck part boss!! You're right as usual!