Colts fire OC Pep Hamilton; ex-Browns coach Rob Chudzinski to take over
The shake-up of the Colts coaching staff has started.
By
John Breech
•
2 min read
After struggling through three straight losses, the Indianapolis Colts have decided to shake things up. The team announced Tuesday that offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton has been relieved of his duties.
Coach Chuck Pagano, who's still on the hot seat in Indy, said that the team needed to go in a "different direction."
"Through the first eight weeks of the season, we have felt our offense hasn't performed at the consistent level that we need," Pagano said in a statement. "Because of this we've decided to go in a different direction and relieve Pep Hamilton of his duties as offensive coordinator. As head coach of this team, it’s my responsibility to make sure I'm doing everything we can to put us in the best position to succeed. We thank Pep for his service to the team and wish him all the best."
Hamilton will be replaced by former Browns head coach Rob Chudzinski, who arrived in Indianapolis after being fired by Cleveland in 2013. Chudzinski was originally brought on in 2014 as a special assistant to the head coach, then was promoted to associate head coach in 2015 before getting bumped up to offensive coordinator Tuesday.
Oddly enough, the Colts decided to fire Hamilton just one week before they were set to have their bye. If Indy had waited until next Monday, it would've given Chudzinski an extra week to get acclimated to Indy's offensive system.
It would've made sense to hang on to Hamilton until after this week's game against Denver, but the Colts decided that heads needed to roll now, after the team lost its third straight game Monday.
General manager Ryan Grigson and Pagano both deserve plenty of blame for the Colts' woes so far in 2015, but Hamilton was no doubt the easiest scapegoat in Indy.
No shock Pep Hamilton is being fired. Offensive design was bad.
— Pete Prisco (@PriscoCBS) November 3, 2015
The Colts' offense has been disastrous this season, at least when Andrew Luck has been under center. The Colts quarterback is 1-5 in six starts and leads the NFL with 12 interceptions.
Luck has thrown two or more picks in five of the six games he has played in this season.
Luck's history with Hamilton goes back to 2010 when both men were at Stanford. Hamilton served as Luck's offensive coordinator in 2011 during Luck's final year in Palo Alto, Calif.
Interestingly enough, the Colts offense was arguably at its best this season when Luck was out. During the two games that Luck missed, Matt Hasselbeck went 2-0 and threw three touchdown passes and zero interceptions.
Chudzinski will take over for an offense that's ranked 16th overall in the NFL. As for Pagano, he could be the next to go if the Colts don't get things turned around soon. Owner Jim Irsay might've decided to hang on to him because despite the Colts' struggles this season, they are in first place in the AFC South through eight weeks.
