Who was the better coach?

[AKB]

I personally think Chuck was the better coach. While many will run to say that he had Luck, I will run to say that the roster around Luck was still trash.  Anyways, what do you guys think?

[Chucklez]

I'll never bag on him or say he wasn't good and I have nothing but love for the man, but Pagano wasn't that good a head coach. He wasn't terrible, but he didn't really give us an edge or advantage in any game. A defensive minded coach, and our defense was awful year after year. Luck really did carry him and Grigson for as long as they were a head coach and a GM. 

Frank staled towards the end, but he generally was good and had a good offensive plan most of the time, came in and made creative game plans, you could see it. Not sure what happened to that after the first few years, but for one reason or another it all just sizzled out with Frank. But in terms of who was the better head coach, it was Frank.

Put it this way, if we never lost him, i'm not convinced that Frank wouldnt have won a superbowl with Luck.

[csmopar]

I gotta go Frank Reich here even though I pounded the tables to fire him. What frank did given the QB cycle caused by Luck is nothing short of a amazing honestly

[Chrisaaron1023]

I just have to say Frank Reich is the better coach IMO.. and I think we actually fired him too soon. 

[lollygagger8]

[2006Coltsbestever]

Frank was the better coach. Pagano was average, wasn't bad but average. Frank had to deal with a QB carousal after Luck retired. Luck carried Pagano, it is a lot easier to look good as a coach when you have an Andrew Luck at his best as your QB. I give the nod to Frank. I also liked that Frank went for it on 4th down in crucial situations, many didn't but I did. Dude had balls. To me Frank wasn't anything special, but I would say above average, Pagano was average at best.

[Fluke_33]

They are really close.

 

Pagano was a bit better leader and getting the players fired up.  A more passionate speaker.

 

Reich was much better at Xs and Os.

 

I picked Pagano because i think the game strategy can be gotten from coordinators.

[throwing BBZ]

4 hours ago, Chucklez said:

I'll never bag on him or say he wasn't good and I have nothing but love for the man, but Pagano wasn't that good a head coach. He wasn't terrible, but he didn't really give us an edge or advantage in any game. A defensive minded coach, and our defense was awful year after year. Luck really did carry him and Grigson for as long as they were a head coach and a GM. 

Frank staled towards the end, but he generally was good and had a good offensive plan most of the time, came in and made creative game plans, you could see it. Not sure what happened to that after the first few years, but for one reason or another it all just sizzled out with Frank. But in terms of who was the better head coach, it was Frank.

Put it this way, if we never lost him, i'm not convinced that Frank wouldnt have won a superbowl with Luck.

 

 Frank went downhill after Sirianni left. And Rathman. Frank's leadership skills were better than his x and o skills.

[twfish]

The bitter taste Reich left for me makes it hard to not be biased. Frank couldn’t get out of his own way and wasn’t self aware enough to let go of the offense. Also it sure sounds like Reich let the players do whatever they wanted which definitely showed on the field with lack of discipline. If you’re allowing guys to be late to meetings it’s only headed down from there. Pagano was to loyal to guys and had a bad GM forcing his hand and to me he was ultimately let down by the coaching staff he surrounded himself with. So I guess I’ll go with Bruce Arians.

[Moe]

Bruce Arians 

[chrisfarley]

[Flash7]

Coach Pagano had Andrew Luck. But in the time that Luck was injured and unable to play, Pagano had success with guys like Matt Hasslebeck, Clipboard Jesus, and Tolzien.

 

Chuck Pagano's record with the Colts:  54-43.

 

Frank Reich's record with the Colts:  41-40-1

 

Frank Reich only had Andrew Luck for 1 year. That year the Colts started out horribly (1-5) mainly due to Luck coming back from shoulder injury and he was not able to make all of the throws. (Brissett coming in for Luck to throw a hail Mary pass to end the game). The offense was severely limited the first 6 games. But, once Luck got better and more strength in his shoulder, the offense opened up and the Colts went 9-1 the rest of the season.

 

I think that if Frank Reich and Andrew Luck continued to play together, this wouldn't even be a question. Frank's offense was perfectly suited for Andrew. It kept him safe with quick reads, quick passes, and from time-to-time, deep shots., backed up by a good run game. We really missed out on what could have been.

[jvan1973]

11 minutes ago, Flash7 said:

Coach Pagano had Andrew Luck. But in the time that Luck was injured and unable to play, Pagano had success with guys like Matt Hasslebeck, Clipboard Jesus, and Tolzien.

 

Chuck Pagano's record with the Colts:  54-43.

 

Frank Reich's record with the Colts:  41-40-1

 

Frank Reich only had Andrew Luck for 1 year. That year the Colts started out horribly (1-5) mainly due to Luck coming back from shoulder injury and he was not able to make all of the throws. (Brissett coming in for Luck to throw a hail Mary pass to end the game). The offense was severely limited the first 6 games. But, once Luck got better and more strength in his shoulder, the offense opened up and the Colts went 9-1 the rest of the season.

 

I think that if Frank Reich and Andrew Luck continued to play together, this wouldn't even be a question. Frank's offense was perfectly suited for Andrew. It kept him safe with quick reads, quick passes, and from time-to-time, deep shots., backed up by a good run game. We really missed out on what could have been.

The Colts didn't have success with Tolzien or Whitehurst.  Hasselbeck played pretty well though

[NewColtsFan]

Lots of interesting answers here.    
 

personally, I think there’s an argument for either one.   I don’t think either is obvious.  
But whoever is picked I don’t think there’s much gap between them.   To me, both were above average and had to deal with circumstances that were not always in their control. 

[John Waylon]

[Colt.45]

Lets see how Reich does in Carolina, I suspect he'll make threads like this a moot point moving forward

[Restinpeacesweetchloe]

 

[John Waylon]

1 hour ago, Colt.45 said:

Lets see how Reich does in Carolina, I suspect he'll make threads like this a moot point moving forward

Those TE screens and telegraphed runs will pay off eventually. 
 

[sb41champs]

While I am truly pleased with the hiring of Shane Steichen - I feel that the "psycho circus" that enveloped our entire team last season was primarily the fault of an over-antsy owner.

 

We will never know if Frank Reich could have turned things around or not.  I truly wish him well in Carolina - EXCEPT - when they play the Colts.

[John Hammonds]

Both were pretty good coaches, but not great.

I would (you know) say that (you know) the (you know) difference between the two (you know) was that Frank was (you know) better on (you know) the radio than (you know) Pagano was.  (you know)

[w87r]

Out of the coaches in this era.

 

[crazycolt1]

I picked Pagano just because Reich never held players accountable.  Being too nice of a guy is not something that works well for a head coach. 

[Moe]

2 hours ago, w87r said:

Out of the coaches in this era.

 

He filled in and was notably better than the other coaches!

[2006Coltsbestever]

21 hours ago, Flash7 said:

Coach Pagano had Andrew Luck. But in the time that Luck was injured and unable to play, Pagano had success with guys like Matt Hasslebeck, Clipboard Jesus, and Tolzien.

 

Chuck Pagano's record with the Colts:  54-43.

 

Frank Reich's record with the Colts:  41-40-1

 

Frank Reich only had Andrew Luck for 1 year. That year the Colts started out horribly (1-5) mainly due to Luck coming back from shoulder injury and he was not able to make all of the throws. (Brissett coming in for Luck to throw a hail Mary pass to end the game). The offense was severely limited the first 6 games. But, once Luck got better and more strength in his shoulder, the offense opened up and the Colts went 9-1 the rest of the season.

 

I think that if Frank Reich and Andrew Luck continued to play together, this wouldn't even be a question. Frank's offense was perfectly suited for Andrew. It kept him safe with quick reads, quick passes, and from time-to-time, deep shots., backed up by a good run game. We really missed out on what could have been.

Reich was actually 40-33-1 as coach. Jeff Saturday went 1-7 to finish the season, having said that neither coach worked out. I think Pagano was average, Reich above average. Obviously had Reich had Luck as his QB the whole time he was there, his record would have been even better. We may have even made the SB by now or won one with Luck. Really only KC has been dominating in the AFC since 2019.

[jvan1973]

14 hours ago, crazycolt1 said:

I picked Pagano just because Reich never held players accountable.  Being too nice of a guy is not something that works well for a head coach. 

Did Pagano hold players accountable?

[shasta519]

Reich was so much better than Pagano. It's just Reich's mistakes are much more fresh in our minds. Time has been very kind to Pagano's tenure it seems.

 

 

[2006Coltsbestever]

Just now, shasta519 said:

Reich was so much better than Pagano. It's just Reich's mistakes are much more fresh in our minds. Time has been very kind to Pagano's tenure it seems.

 

 

I was just about to post this. There were so many posters in here that bashed Pagano when he coached here, now some think he was better than Reich. Reich is just fresh in everyone's mind. Well put post.

[2006Coltsbestever]

16 hours ago, w87r said:

Out of the coaches in this era.

 

I am laughing because it looks like someone scared the crap out of him  

[crazycolt1]

57 minutes ago, jvan1973 said:

Did Pagano hold players accountable?

More so than Reich.  You may disagree with my opinion but looking at the offensive line last season gives a couple of clues. Just the changing of Reich to Saturday made quite a difference in the play.

[Superman]

46 minutes ago, crazycolt1 said:

More so than Reich.  You may disagree with my opinion but looking at the offensive line last season gives a couple of clues. Just the changing of Reich to Saturday made quite a difference in the play.

 

Ironically, I think the only time players were held accountable during the Pagano era was because Grigson dropped the hammer. Reports in the last few years have said that it was Grigson who wanted to suspend and bench Richardson, for example. I think Pagano was a player's coach, maybe to the extreme. He was more outwardly emotional, but I don't think he directed much of that toward correcting players.

 

But I don't think Reich was big on confrontation, either.

[Superman]

I have to go with Reich, but I think in the first few years, Reich's overall staff was better than Pagano's. I was never a big fan of Arians' as a play caller, but he was pretty obviously Pagano's best assistant, and he only lasted one year.

[ChuggaBeer]

 

[wrusselld]

We should have kept Arians and Siriani and let Pagano and Reich go.  I go back to Frank constantly going for 4th downs instead of at least getting 3.  That year the Jags beat us in game 1 and then they lost every game after.  We kick 2 field goals in that game instead of going for it on 4th down and we do not lose.  That pattern continued throughout his tenure and angered me more and more each time.  Hopefully stealing an Eagles OC will work this time

[LJpalmbeacher2]

Yikes!

Its like asking which do you prefer "Liver or Broccoli"? Lol.

 

But to Pagano's credit he did post a 33-15 record for first 3 seasons plus 3 post season wins, regardless of reasons why that's pretty good. His teams seemed more often ready to play and play harder.

I'd take just about anybody over reich  and that includes pagano hands down over him. 

[superrep1967]

On 6/14/2023 at 4:07 AM, AKB said:

I personally think Chuck was the better coach. While many will run to say that he had Luck, I will run to say that the roster around Luck was still trash.  Anyways, what do you guys think?

I don’t think so after still running the dumbest trick play in NFL history without the right the personnel to run the play made me lose any respect for Pagano it is Reich hands down. 

[AKB]

Im glad this poll did decent. I posted it at an odd hour for most Hoosiers. 

57 minutes ago, superrep1967 said:

I don’t think so after still running the dumbest trick play in NFL history without the right the personnel to run the play made me lose any respect for Pagano it is Reich hands down. 

but im pretty sure the ball wasn't supposed to be snapped based on the look they got.

 

was it historically stupid? yes.  Is pags to blame? Not really imo. 

[w87r]

On 6/15/2023 at 9:10 AM, 2006Coltsbestever said:

Reich was actually 40-33-1 as coach. Jeff Saturday went 1-7 to finish the season

And Pagano was actually 44-40, as Arians went 9-3 in his interim time.

 

Those w/l still count for Pagano on paper but shouldn't really, imo.

[Yoshinator]

Both of them are terrible. You can say Pagano because he had to deal with Grigson and Reich had Ballard as GM, but you can also say Reich because of the QB carousel. However, there's no guarantee Reich does anything even with a rookie 1st round pick or if Luck stays. The only example we have is 2018 and if I remember right, we still started off 1-5 with Luck.

 

I'd say Pagano because he did it with Grigson, but both are horrible and never learned from their mistakes.

[2006Coltsbestever]

3 minutes ago, w87r said:

And Pagano was actually 44-40, as Arians went 9-3 in his interim time.

 

Those w/l still count for Pagano on paper but shouldn't really, imo.

Yep. Those were Arians wins. Reich in reality had a better record than Pagano did while being head coach on the sidelines. Giving a win or loss to a coach that wasn't there is like giving your starting QB a win or loss when he was injured and didn't play. Just by eye test, Reich was better than Pagano. Reich lost the team sometime early last year, who knows what happened? Pagano was a better motivator but Reich was better overall. 

 

Bottomline, I wasn't really impressed with either but neither were bad, hopefully Shane and AR can bring us a winner.

[2006Coltsbestever]

Poll 32-16 Reich, so the Poll is really telling.