Expect massive in-game coaching change

[Lawrence Owen]

https://www.colts.com/video/frank-reich-on-getting-the-city-excited-for-the-home-opener

 

In his latest press conference,  Head Coach Reich explains his philosophy in making changes during a game due to the 'eb-and flo'.

He explains that you have your set game plan, then you move up and/or down your list as the game demands.  This could mean play-to play,..but more likely possession to possession.  

This is a HUGE change compared to the half time changes we've seen (or in most cases NOT seen) by our previous regime.

Change on the fly determined by how the game is going is crucial IMO.  It can also be HUGELY beneficial.  A team who is expecting a 4 man rush cause is what they've seen the previous drive being hit with a corner/safety blitz while it just looked like the generic plays they've seen before can cause major disruptions.  

Or seeing your Run game is producing and keeping with what works until THEY make changes is also important.  Sadly..our previous regime was known all to well to go away from what works because it was in their 'card sheet' That they needed to go conservative with a 10 point lead in the 4th quarter.  Hopefully we have a more aggressive play caller defensively.  This is what our defense is made for.  Youth and speed are for aggression.  That is what works best.  Experience plays conservative much more effectively than youth.  Excited to see our first real game of the year.  For the good, or for the bad.  At least we'll finally find out what our team REALLY looks like player and coaching wise.

[Coffeedrinker]

I know it's fun and easy to bash on Pagano and the previous coaching staff but I have news for you.  All coaches do this.  Some are better at it than others, that is why some HC and coordinators are in high demand and others are not.

[Lawrence Owen]

5 minutes ago, Coffeedrinker said:

I know it's fun and easy to bash on Pagano and the previous coaching staff but I have news for you.  All coaches do this.  Some are better at it than others, that is why some HC and coordinators are in high demand and others are not.

If you look at any of my post's from last year or sooner, you'll see i actually liked Pagano.  I was an advocate of keeping him.  But one of his biggest flaw was his conservative nature in regards to dealing with a lead. Also,...his playcalling did have an odd flavor to it when it came to 'adjustments'.  He was a great person personality wise, and had an uncanny ability to bring players together and rally them.

There was no bashing going on. just obvious facts. (he did dial up blitzes when it was needed though.  But played horrifically passive with the lead)

[Coffeedrinker]

3 minutes ago, Lawrence Owen said:

If you look at any of my post's from last year or sooner, you'll see i actually liked Pagano.  I was an advocate of keeping him.  But one of his biggest flaw was his conservative nature in regards to dealing with a lead. Also,...his playcalling did have an odd flavor to it when it came to 'adjustments'.  He was a great person personality wise, and had an uncanny ability to bring players together and rally them.

There was no bashing going on. just obvious facts. (he did dial up blitzes when it was needed though.  But played horrifically passive with the lead)

Perhaps bash was the wrong word.  I don't' know if he was conservative or it just came across that way but I think he was very bad and developing a game plan and bad at make changes.  But it wasn't because he didn't try to make changes during a game, after a series, etc. (which is the way your original post made it sound, that Pagano didn't make changes).  He did and his coordinators did, they just were not good at it.  

[Lawrence Owen]

1 minute ago, Coffeedrinker said:

Perhaps bash was the wrong word.  I don't' know if he was conservative or it just came across that way but I think he was very bad and developing a game plan and bad at make changes.  But it wasn't because he didn't try to make changes during a game, after a series, etc. (which is the way your original post made it sound, that Pagano didn't make changes).  He did and his coordinators did, they just were not good at it.  

Hopefully Reich and Eberflus are better at this than Pagano and his trilogy of OC's.

[PrincetonTiger]

23 minutes ago, Coffeedrinker said:

I know it's fun and easy to bash on Pagano and the previous coaching staff but I have news for you.  All coaches do this.  Some are better at it than others, that is why some HC and coordinators are in high demand and others are not.

There were a couple of times I had to change game plans before the game even started

[Horse Shoe Heaven]

59 minutes ago, Lawrence Owen said:

https://www.colts.com/video/frank-reich-on-getting-the-city-excited-for-the-home-opener

 

In his latest press conference,  Head Coach Reich explains his philosophy in making changes during a game due to the 'eb-and flo'.

He explains that you have your set game plan, then you move up and/or down your list as the game demands.  This could mean play-to play,..but more likely possession to possession.  

This is a HUGE change compared to the half time changes we've seen (or in most cases NOT seen) by our previous regime.

Change on the fly determined by how the game is going is crucial IMO.  It can also be HUGELY beneficial.  A team who is expecting a 4 man rush cause is what they've seen the previous drive being hit with a corner/safety blitz while it just looked like the generic plays they've seen before can cause major disruptions.  

Or seeing your Run game is producing and keeping with what works until THEY make changes is also important.  Sadly..our previous regime was known all to well to go away from what works because it was in their 'card sheet' That they needed to go conservative with a 10 point lead in the 4th quarter.  Hopefully we have a more aggressive play caller defensively.  This is what our defense is made for.  Youth and speed are for aggression.  That is what works best.  Experience plays conservative much more effectively than youth.  Excited to see our first real game of the year.  For the good, or for the bad.  At least we'll finally find out what our team REALLY looks like player and coaching wise.

Stupid  Pagono bashing really! Wow! He was fine when he went to the playoffs the first 3 Years, and 8/8 twice with a hurt Luck and luck out! Last year was bad but the team was horrible and still in a great many games! Really looking forward to all this nonsense stopping hopefully soon!

[crazycolt1]

12 minutes ago, Coffeedrinker said:

Perhaps bash was the wrong word.  I don't' know if he was conservative or it just came across that way but I think he was very bad and developing a game plan and bad at make changes.  But it wasn't because he didn't try to make changes during a game, after a series, etc. (which is the way your original post made it sound, that Pagano didn't make changes).  He did and his coordinators did, they just were not good at it.  

Perhaps Pagano didn't have the talented enough players to make adjustments work?  His first three seasons his talent level was better and his half time adjustments were spot on.  He himself said he had to keep his most talented players on the field in hopes of winning games. The players who were drafted and the free agents that were signed did not help this team win. Looking back I realized that the Colts had more than their share of injuries in key positions too.  

Yes it was time for a change in coaching but pretty much the team as a whole was not talented enough to maintain wins. Thus is why we now have a roster full of rookies and players who have very little experience. 

[Lawrence Owen]

1 minute ago, Horse Shoe Heaven said:

Stupid  Pagono bashing really! Wow! He was fine when he went to the playoffs the first 3 Years, and 8/8 twice with a hurt Luck and luck out! Last year was bad but the team was horrible and still in a great many games! Really looking forward to all this nonsense stopping hopefully soon!

No bashing. Read a little closer.  I was stating facts.  Read the earlier post's between myself and Coffeedrinker.  If you are taking my post as bashing, then perhaps you take things too personally.  He was factually conservative with a lead.  He did not make or poorly made in game changes.  He had some times where he made good calls,..but had had more times when things were going very wrong defensively, that they kept going wrong or worse.  IDK if it is because he made no changes..or bad ones..but that is facts..not opinion bashing.

[Coffeedrinker]

1 minute ago, crazycolt1 said:

Perhaps Pagano didn't have the talented enough players to make adjustments work?  His first three seasons his talent level was better and his half time adjustments were spot on.  He himself said he had to keep his most talented players on the field in hopes of winning games. The players who were drafted and the free agents that were signed did not help this team win. Looking back I realized that the Colts had more than their share of injuries in key positions too.  

Yes it was time for a change in coaching but pretty much the team as a whole was not talented enough to maintain wins. Thus is why we now have a roster full of rookies and players who have very little experience. 

Talent has something to do with it no doubt.  But even in those first three years, Luck lead the league in 4th quarter comebacks at least 2 of those three years and and many times that was from running the hurry up O most of the 4th quarter.  That tells me the comebacks were less a function of the coaches and play calling and more a function of Luck taking over the play calling on the field.

[Lawrence Owen]

1 minute ago, crazycolt1 said:

Perhaps Pagano didn't have the talented enough players to make adjustments work?  His first three seasons his talent level was better and his half time adjustments were spot on.  He himself said he had to keep his most talented players on the field in hopes of winning games. The players who were drafted and the free agents that were signed did not help this team win. Looking back I realized that the Colts had more than their share of injuries in key positions too.  

Yes it was time for a change in coaching but pretty much the team as a whole was not talented enough to maintain wins. Thus is why we now have a roster full of rookies and players who have very little experience. 

what about last year when we had 7 leads in the 2nd half,...then lost them?  I won't put that on personnel, That's coaching issues.

Yes we were more talented the first 2-3 years...but we also lost A LOT of talent right before those years.  New regime, a lot of new players, new coaches,..new 3-4 scheme, ect. yet still did well.

[P'Son]

Darn right I expect it!

[LJpalmbeacher2]

1 hour ago, Lawrence Owen said:

https://www.colts.com/video/frank-reich-on-getting-the-city-excited-for-the-home-opener

 

In his latest press conference,  Head Coach Reich explains his philosophy in making changes during a game due to the 'eb-and flo'.

He explains that you have your set game plan, then you move up and/or down your list as the game demands.  This could mean play-to play,..but more likely possession to possession.  

This is a HUGE change compared to the half time changes we've seen (or in most cases NOT seen) by our previous regime.

Change on the fly determined by how the game is going is crucial IMO.  It can also be HUGELY beneficial.  A team who is expecting a 4 man rush cause is what they've seen the previous drive being hit with a corner/safety blitz while it just looked like the generic plays they've seen before can cause major disruptions.  

Or seeing your Run game is producing and keeping with what works until THEY make changes is also important.  Sadly..our previous regime was known all to well to go away from what works because it was in their 'card sheet' That they needed to go conservative with a 10 point lead in the 4th quarter.  Hopefully we have a more aggressive play caller defensively.  This is what our defense is made for.  Youth and speed are for aggression.  That is what works best.  Experience plays conservative much more effectively than youth.  Excited to see our first real game of the year.  For the good, or for the bad.  At least we'll finally find out what our team REALLY looks like player and coaching wise.

 

We of course wont know for sure until they start playing real games.

But the Cover 2, Tampa 2, IS NOT usually a aggressive defense as far as I know. In fact it's the opposite, Bend don't Break type of D. Especially when your DE's are not the caliber of Freeney & Mathis.

[crazycolt1]

3 minutes ago, Coffeedrinker said:

Talent has something to do with it no doubt.  But even in those first three years, Luck lead the league in 4th quarter comebacks at least 2 of those three years and and many times that was from running the hurry up O most of the 4th quarter.  That tells me the comebacks were less a function of the coaches and play calling and more a function of Luck taking over the play calling on the field.

So it was not Pagano who made those adjustments to the hurry up offense?  You can't have it both ways.  Did you forget how we got behind in a lot of those games that we had to come from behind?

[crazycolt1]

10 minutes ago, LJpalmbeacher2 said:

 

We of course wont know for sure until they start playing real games.

But the Cover 2, Tampa 2, IS NOT usually a aggressive defense as far as I know. In fact it's the opposite, Bend don't Break type of D. Especially when your DE's are not the caliber of Freeney & Mathis.

This is something that is going to be a problem. Without getting a lot of sacks and or pressure on the opposing QBs we are going to give up tons of yardage and possible a lot of points too.

[Lawrence Owen]

14 minutes ago, LJpalmbeacher2 said:

 

We of course wont know for sure until they start playing real games.

But the Cover 2, Tampa 2, IS NOT usually a aggressive defense as far as I know. In fact it's the opposite, Bend don't Break type of D. Especially when your DE's are not the caliber of Freeney & Mathis.

Yeah, i know cover 2 is not generally aggressive.  But Reich always preaches about playing to a players strength, and youth and speed's strength is aggressiveness.   I fear you may be right though.

[Coffeedrinker]

3 minutes ago, crazycolt1 said:

So it was not Pagano who made those adjustments to the hurry up offense?  You can't have it both ways.  Did you forget how we got behind in a lot of those games that we had to come from behind?

:0  Good point and yes I'm sure it was Pagano that made the decision to go to a hurry up offense.  But let me ask you a reverse question.  If Pagano said, "let's go to the hurry up offense."  Isn't he, in essence, saying, I'm not longer going to have anything to do with the offensive play calling until you come to the sideline and we talk about it"?

[Lawrence Owen]

13 minutes ago, crazycolt1 said:

So it was not Pagano who made those adjustments to the hurry up offense?  You can't have it both ways.  Did you forget how we got behind in a lot of those games that we had to come from behind?

yes and no. Pagano directed the Defense,  He may have said "go hurry up" But he let his OC's handle the playcalling.

[crazycolt1]

17 minutes ago, Lawrence Owen said:

what about last year when we had 7 leads in the 2nd half,...then lost them?  I won't put that on personnel, That's coaching issues.

Yes we were more talented the first 2-3 years...but we also lost A LOT of talent right before those years.  New regime, a lot of new players, new coaches,..new 3-4 scheme, ect. yet still did well.

So the teams we played didn't make the adjustments to win those games?   They just pounded our QB into the turf more. We had an offense and a defense that was rated in the bottom of the league for a reason and that was not all on the coaching.

For any coach to make adjustments and expect them to work he has to have the players who are talented enough to make those adjustments work.  Pagano himself said it was down to keeping the best players on the field so what does that say?  The players on the field wore down in the 2nd half is also a reality.

 

[Lawrence Owen]

1 minute ago, crazycolt1 said:

So the teams we played didn't make the adjustments to win those games?   They just pounded our QB into the turf more. We had an offense and a defense that was rated in the bottom of the league for a reason and that was not all on the coaching.

For any coach to make adjustments and expect them to work he has to have the players who are talented enough to make those adjustments work.  Pagano himself said it was down to keeping the best players on the field so what does that say?  The players on the field wore down in the 2nd half is also a reality.

 

This.  This is also a coaching decision.  And you're right.  A lot of the 2nd half losses could be pointed to attrition.  But that falls on the coach for not keeping players fresh.  Yes you have a fall off on talent from the 1's -2's-3's, but you gotta be smart about how/when to move these pieces to keep you best players playing as much as possible but at their optimum performance.

[PrincetonTiger]

3 minutes ago, Lawrence Owen said:

This.  This is also a coaching decision.  And you're right.  A lot of the 2nd half losses could be pointed to attrition.  But that falls on the coach for not keeping players fresh.  Yes you have a fall off on talent from the 1's -2's-3's, but you gotta be smart about how/when to move these pieces to keep you best players playing as much as possible but at their optimum performance.

That is great in theory but things don’t always work out that way

[DougDew]

54 minutes ago, Coffeedrinker said:

Talent has something to do with it no doubt.  But even in those first three years, Luck lead the league in 4th quarter comebacks at least 2 of those three years and and many times that was from running the hurry up O most of the 4th quarter.  That tells me the comebacks were less a function of the coaches and play calling and more a function of Luck taking over the play calling on the field.

Agree 100%.  Even in the first year after taking over from Arians, there were somethings that were directly attributable to Pagano and those problems were never solved.    Maybe Chuck did change during the game and became more aggressive, but it always seemed like it was about one quarter and a half later than what a lot of us wanted.

[crazycolt1]

We have to look at the Pagano era with open observations on the big picture.

He wasn't as bad as some make him out to be and blaming him for most of the problems is wrong.  There was a good reason the Colts offense and defense were rated at the bottom of the league. That had nothing to do with coaching.

IMO he did his best coaching job when the Colts went 8-8 with 5 different QBs.  No matter what anyone can say getting this team to a 8-8 record was pretty impressive under the circumstances.  It's easy to point a finger at one person when things go bad and I understand it falls on the head coach.  I was time for big time changes for the Colts not only for the coaches but most of the players as well.  Lack of talent and key injuries were the main problem and those factors would be a problem for any coach.

Oh well, we have a new coaching staff and a lot of new faces on the team so things should be heading in the right direction.  I have a feeling it is going to be rough in the beginning but learning to play as a team will come with time.

As always, Go Colts!!

[love the shoe]

The real problem was our defense stayed on the  field way too much , too many three and outs cause this , I watched every game , how do you make adjustments when you cant get a first down to start with 

[MB-ColtsFan]

Chuck is gone.  I'm ready to move on.

 

Reich can have a plan and say *this* or *that* all he wants.  Until I see it in action it's all talk.  Not that I doubt him, but we've heard things before and...

 

I hope he's a great coach for us in the making.

[GoColts00]

15 hours ago, LJpalmbeacher2 said:

 

We of course wont know for sure until they start playing real games.

But the Cover 2, Tampa 2, IS NOT usually a aggressive defense as far as I know. In fact it's the opposite, Bend don't Break type of D. Especially when your DE's are not the caliber of Freeney & Mathis.

Idk... the Tampa-2 seemed like an aggressive version of the cover 2. Ronde Barber had more (or more effective) CB-blitz than anyone else. Derrick Brooks didn't wait for RB to get to him. He sliced thru the line a lot. Of course it all stems from having Warren Sapp (and later Simeon Rice) on the D-line.

[RollerColt]

9 hours ago, MB-ColtsFan said:

Chuck is gone.  I'm ready to move on.

 

Reich can have a plan and say *this* or *that* all he wants.  Until I see it in action it's all talk.  Not that I doubt him, but we've heard things before and...

 

I hope he's a great coach for us in the making.

I'm feeling the same way to be honest. 

 

I had high hopes after Chud took over, was expecting all of these adjustments and playing to player strengths, and well...

 

Apparently my judgement was poor. 

[Pacergeek]

The botched fake punt play vs NE proves Pagano was a bad coach. This is a fact. Any decent coach would not have ran that play

[MacDee1975]

16 hours ago, Coffeedrinker said:

Perhaps bash was the wrong word.  I don't' know if he was conservative or it just came across that way but I think he was very bad and developing a game plan and bad at make changes.  But it wasn't because he didn't try to make changes during a game, after a series, etc. (which is the way your original post made it sound, that Pagano didn't make changes).  He did and his coordinators did, they just were not good at it.  

 

Quite simply, Pagano just isn't a very intelligent person.  Certainly not intelligent enough to come up with any innovative, creative, effective offensive scheme's in today's NFL.

[coltsva]

Pagano's fate was decided in the coordinator hiring's and his inability to get the team ready to start the season. 

 

Cordinators

Arians > Hamilton > Chud

Manusky > Monachino

 

Season start

2012  1-1

2013  1-1

2014-2017   0-8

 

 

[lollygagger8]

I'm not here to bash, but it's not going to be hard to improve on the play calling and in-game changes of the previous coaching staff. 

 

Even if there's no clapping after a bad play, that will be an improvement.  

[DaveA1102]

31 minutes ago, Pacergeek said:

The botched fake punt play vs NE proves Pagano was a bad coach. This is a fact. Any decent coach would not have ran that play

 

I am not a huge Pagano fan, but one play doesn't define what kind of coach he was.  There is no doubt the play was not a great moment, but it was obviously supposed to go differently.

 

It didn't work and so they should have taken delay of game penalty and punted, but Griff Whalen decided to snap the ball to the utter dismay of everyone, including Pagano.

[pgt_rob]

Just now, lollygagger8 said:

Even if there's no clapping after a bad play, that will be an improvement.  

 

Haha. I've already noticed how different it is on the sidelines with Reich by watching preseason. When players make bad decisions and come out of the game, Reich never looks pleased. I'm sure he probably holds them accountable more so than Pagano. 

[Pacergeek]

11 minutes ago, DaveA1102 said:

 

I am not a huge Pagano fan, but one play doesn't define what kind of coach he was.  There is no doubt the play was not a great moment, but it was obviously supposed to go differently.

 

It didn't work and so they should have taken delay of game penalty and punted, but Griff Whalen decided to snap the ball to the utter dismay of everyone, including Pagano.

Okay, then what about getting blown out at home by a crap Rams team? Or the terrible clock management displayed vs Detroit in 2016? Or all the adjustments he made to stop the run (zero) against NE? These are facts here that prove that Pagano was a bad coach. 

[Legend of Luck]

I loved Chuck. No bashing here from me. Yes we were successful under him, but honestly we really were dreadful to start games and any time we had a lead.

 

Looking forward to not having those two very annoying problems going forward. 

[jameszeigler834]

18 hours ago, Lawrence Owen said:

https://www.colts.com/video/frank-reich-on-getting-the-city-excited-for-the-home-opener

 

In his latest press conference,  Head Coach Reich explains his philosophy in making changes during a game due to the 'eb-and flo'.

He explains that you have your set game plan, then you move up and/or down your list as the game demands.  This could mean play-to play,..but more likely possession to possession.  

This is a HUGE change compared to the half time changes we've seen (or in most cases NOT seen) by our previous regime.

Change on the fly determined by how the game is going is crucial IMO.  It can also be HUGELY beneficial.  A team who is expecting a 4 man rush cause is what they've seen the previous drive being hit with a corner/safety blitz while it just looked like the generic plays they've seen before can cause major disruptions.  

Or seeing your Run game is producing and keeping with what works until THEY make changes is also important.  Sadly..our previous regime was known all to well to go away from what works because it was in their 'card sheet' That they needed to go conservative with a 10 point lead in the 4th quarter.  Hopefully we have a more aggressive play caller defensively.  This is what our defense is made for.  Youth and speed are for aggression.  That is what works best.  Experience plays conservative much more effectively than youth.  Excited to see our first real game of the year.  For the good, or for the bad.  At least we'll finally find out what our team REALLY looks like player and coaching wise.

This will help a lot I think rather than the garbage Pagano used to pull by running the same half baked game plans thinking no matter what they would work when everybody else knew clearly it wouldn't work. Pagano was so bad at in game coaching it wasn't even funny so far I believe the new head coach even though he is also a first time head coach I believe he will be much better than Pagano. 

[jameszeigler834]

1 hour ago, Pacergeek said:

The botched fake punt play vs NE proves Pagano was a bad coach. This is a fact. Any decent coach would not have ran that play

I bet Frank would have said punt the ball.

[LucknessMonster12]

2 hours ago, Pacergeek said:

The botched fake punt play vs NE proves Pagano was a bad coach. This is a fact. Any decent coach would not have ran that play

 Belichick 4th and 13 in the redzone. Cost them the game.

 

But, yeah. Pagano was an awful coach. Point taken.

[DaveA1102]

3 hours ago, Pacergeek said:

Okay, then what about getting blown out at home by a crap Rams team? Or the terrible clock management displayed vs Detroit in 2016? Or all the adjustments he made to stop the run (zero) against NE? These are facts here that prove that Pagano was a bad coach. 

 

Yup, there are plenty of examples of why some don't rate Pagano as a coach, many points with validity.

 

My point was that a player making a bonehead play (when the play was not designed for that to happen) is not on Pagano.

[John Waylon]

Reich has to succeed. Looking at it in the big picture long term, if we get 3 or 4 years down the road and it hasn’t worked out and we decide to move on from him it’s highly likely that Luck isn’t going to want to stick around through the potential swing and miss cycle again. 

 

And rightfully so. At that point of his career he’ll deserve a chance to go elsewhere and seriously. 

 

If we’re going to win multiple Super Bowls with Luck like the plan all along has been its up to Reich. 

 

Good to know he is keeping all options to make that happen on the table.