Indianapolis Colts’ new head coach and their hopes of better future – NFL feature
What the new head coach, Chuck Pagano, will do for the Indianapolis Colts that he could not manage for his previous team, the Baltimore Ravens?
It is the obvious question that has focused analysis of a majority of the game punters, who have closely been following developments on Colts.
They may find it more difficult to answer the question if they reflect on Colts’ 2-14 record in the 2011-12 National Football League (NFL) regular season to predict a better performance for the next season.
Colts, at the face value of their decision, are not at fault after hiring Pagano. They had already aggravated problems for themselves by clean sweep of their former managers in one go. The decision, no matter was of the owner’s own, is set have long-term
effects on his team.
The situation is such that the first-time coach will work with the first-time general manager. The expectations of the owner, Jim Irsay, who had just seen the worst time of his franchise history, are too high.
Colts are on the verge of replacing their most reliable quarterback, Peyton Manning, with a rookie. The coach himself had never been a head coach before. Moreover, he is coming from a defensive background.
Without Peyton Manning, Colts have a poor quality talent in the side. None of their players helped them to secure a win for first 13 games of the past season.
The dependence of the team on one man, Manning, is to an extent that they left him on the active roster without having a timeline for his recovery from a neck surgery, with hopes he might return at some point in the season and boost their chances of a win.
The players need training, guidance and most importantly a belief to become consistent winners once again.
A number of their veterans who are free agent are expected to be signed back by the team management to add to the strength of their squad.
Amid the above mentioned and many other issues, the new head coach was unveiled by the owner, at a news conference on Thursday, January 26, 2012.
Only apparent message from the owner about the introduction of new head coach was his expectation of bringing about the ‘toughness’ and ‘leadership’, which, he said, was the need of hour for his team.
Nothing much is said by the coach himself and it was left for the game commentators to analyse and project Pagano’s role in rebuilding Colts almost from scratch to make the side a consistent winner on the field.
Pagano is likely to focus on building a strong defensive line for Colts. He had been successful in doing so at Ravens. He had ended his only year at Baltimore with a record of 3-4.
A defensive coaching approach will likely to be more realistic in a sense that Colts want to get away with their too much reliance on offence, on one man quarterback, to be precise.
Also without a strong defence line, offence does not pay much. Pagano’s experience with Ravens proves otherwise, though. Despite being rated atop of the NFL in their defence, their reliability on defence did not pay them off in their American Football Conference
(AFC) championship.
It is the fact that the new coach pointed out at the news conference. It will be seen if he adopts other than a defensive strategy in rebuilding of Colts.
This is something that Chuck’s brother, John Pagano, confirmed. "I think he's a defensive-minded coach with fire and passion," John, who himself is a defensive co-ordinator at the San Diego Chargers, said of his brother.
The future is expected to bear witness to the contribution that Pagano’s going to make towards the rebuilding of Colts.
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