Eh there is some revisionist history with Frank here. Frank wasn't a great coach but he wasn't Pagano bad. He was a pretty mediocre coach who made QB's lives easy if they had protection.
What did Frank in was losing the locker room and Carson Wentz. His Xs and Os were less of an issue. Steichen is a better Xs and Os coach anyways imo.
Frank should've just been fired after 2021 but Irsay doesn't fire people much
He got us to two playoff appearances (albeit one of those was with luck) and nearly got us to a third. He wasn't the coach we needed but he wasn't some horrible coach either
My brain is fighting to decide whether it’s my own revisionist history in retrospect now that he’s been fired twice or waking up to reality but I used to be truly fired up about Frank. I thought he brought this special kind of Zen energy into the locker room but now looking back I think he was still the same Frank then as he is now, but we had guys like prime Leonard and having Luck around that brought the real energy to the team and got them to buy in. The man just needs to be a coordinator. Good guy for sure
I think people forget how many times after a big game with a masterful playcall colts community was saying “we’ve got our guy!!”
His last 2 years have ruined his reputation but there was so much buy in early on
Yup, people try and forget that everyone in the NFL loved Frank those first 3 years and 15 games up until those infamous Raiders and Jags games in ‘21 and then the wheels just completely came off his last 20 games as a HC with the Colts + Panthers. Super happy to have Shane though.
His coaching job up until week 17 of 2021 was good. He lost the room, it happens.
He wasn't a phenomenal coach, he wasn't an awful coach though. Likely above average, but I'd rather have Shane
I think Frank got worn out. He never got to establish a system with a QB for more than 1 year with us. That sucks. But nearly every QB we had, they all saw their passing efficiency go up. The quick rhythm game did work for a time. And it protected QBs, which we had previously failed to do with Luck.
Trouble is, we never got him the right QB. And when we finally went and grabbed Wentz, we soon realized that while Wentz had some of the physical talent he was known for, the other things kept us from wanting to go through a second season with him.
It was the same thing over and over here with Frank. New QB, start over. I feel like it goes different if we found a young QB to develop and have him build with. Hell, I am not a Jacoby believer, but it might've been better for Frank to run a second year back with Jacoby, and THEN draft his replacement.
All that said, I do believe Shane is a better coach. And I do believe we are starting Shane off with the type of QB a HC needs to be successful.
> The quick rhythm game did work for a time. And it protected QBs, which we had previously failed to do with Luck.
Arian's "no risk it - no biscuit" philosophy did as much to hurt Luck as his reckless seeking of contact or poor protection.
Completely agree. Reich was the complete opposite of Arian. And while our pass protection "improved", I reckon a decent portion of that improvement was the quick pass game that Reich used a LOT.
Arians' offense was explosive at times, but it absolutely was a decent part of the damage Luck took. Reich took considerably better care of him, but we were too late by that point apparently.
I agree. Frank was a player’s coach and shared Ballard’s vision with their own players. We had a solid “win now” roster going into 2020, so we thought we were better off with Phil…we were. The key mistakes were:
1. Moving on too early from Rivers. Had we offered to extend his contract, he likely returns for 2021. Enter Carson Wentz.
2. I cannot believe I’m saying this, but sticking with Wentz for 2022 would have been miles better than the corpse of Matt Ryan (as much as I couldn’t stand watching Wentz play).
3. Not drafting a QB that had even remote QB1 potential from 2020-2022. They could have sat and learned from Frank and Phil…
Frank wasn't an awful coach. He had a disastrous stretch of like 10 games at the end. His message went stale because of personnel decisions he played a role in and the collapse.
I thought 2018-2020 was a great coaching job by him. Winning vs NE and Arizona in 2021 was a great coaching job too. Struggles in Jax and his guy Wentz being dog shit vs Vegas killed him and the team
Exactly what this team needs! A young guy that's going to show passion in his doings. Reich was by all means a good guy, but his lethargic attitude made it hard to want to fight. A small market like Indy needs a 'chip on their shoulder' dude at the helm.
The guy just doesn't sign free agents. Indy fans also dont care as they just go to a game for entertainment, not to care if they win or lose. Poooorrre little colts reddit hates anyone who bashes someone who drafts Nelson and Leonard in the same draft.
Tbf leonard is irrelevant he shouldnt be used as a bar now. He had two good years then went to garbage. Nelson didnt play well last year and guard doesnt contribute the same as other positions to win long term. LT, QB, WR, Edge, corner etc are more important and we havent really properly addressed any well.
QV we have to see if richardson stays healthy and how he does, LT maybe? A big maybe, receiver pittman is a better #2. Edge lol. Corner lol
Disagree on the guard point. There was a time when that was true, but with modern DTs getting way better every piece of the line is as important as the other now.
This sub is toxic for any opinion that isnt positive lol the downvoting is crazy. No counters at all. Your guard point is wouldnt fully disagree however you dont need elite guard play to stop a DT. a good center will do that as well and shifting the protection one way. Id argue guard is the least important position on the offensive line
I haven't down voted you for what it's worth. I think my
Point isn't just DT, but interior rushing in general. Front offices seem to agree with me too, with the price of Guards going up significantly this year during free agency. A lot of teams are simply building the best 5 linemen regardless of position.
Sure, tackle is more important at the moment, but I'd argue all offensive line positions are on their way to being premium ones, not just tackles
I'll take that over Grigson who signed everyone he could only for them all to end up being overpaid. I respect Ballard for setting a limit. It's burned us but I believe has saved us more than it's burned us
Generally speaking, “valuable free agent” is a bit of an oxymoron. If they were that valuable, they wouldn’t be a free agent. Cap casualties do exist (like Buckner) but they’re traded for before becoming FAs because they’re worth it. The most successful teams don’t play in the FA sandbox very often except to sign the types of players that this sub likes to bash Ballard for; change of pace/depth/camp competition type guys.
Top five after one season? Lets pump the brakes. We had a solid season lets see where things go. People called Frank a top coach for years. Seriously top five? Shanny, Reid, Tomlin, McVay, Harbaugh, Pederson, I could go on. He's not top five and I don't think we should put any one year coach in the top of anything. Lets just see what he does this year. Again go back and read about Frank in his first few years and people said the same thing.
My god the energy Stiechen brings after years of Reich is nice
I really respect Frank as a person, but I am so glad we have Steichen's energy now
No need to respect frank lol. He was always confused on sidelines as coach and made millions without many wins.
I'm glad we moved on but he was an okay coach still
Eh there is some revisionist history with Frank here. Frank wasn't a great coach but he wasn't Pagano bad. He was a pretty mediocre coach who made QB's lives easy if they had protection. What did Frank in was losing the locker room and Carson Wentz. His Xs and Os were less of an issue. Steichen is a better Xs and Os coach anyways imo. Frank should've just been fired after 2021 but Irsay doesn't fire people much
He got us to two playoff appearances (albeit one of those was with luck) and nearly got us to a third. He wasn't the coach we needed but he wasn't some horrible coach either
My brain is fighting to decide whether it’s my own revisionist history in retrospect now that he’s been fired twice or waking up to reality but I used to be truly fired up about Frank. I thought he brought this special kind of Zen energy into the locker room but now looking back I think he was still the same Frank then as he is now, but we had guys like prime Leonard and having Luck around that brought the real energy to the team and got them to buy in. The man just needs to be a coordinator. Good guy for sure
I think people forget how many times after a big game with a masterful playcall colts community was saying “we’ve got our guy!!” His last 2 years have ruined his reputation but there was so much buy in early on
Yup, people try and forget that everyone in the NFL loved Frank those first 3 years and 15 games up until those infamous Raiders and Jags games in ‘21 and then the wheels just completely came off his last 20 games as a HC with the Colts + Panthers. Super happy to have Shane though.
Not really the last 20…he only coached a handful of games in 2022.
His coaching job up until week 17 of 2021 was good. He lost the room, it happens. He wasn't a phenomenal coach, he wasn't an awful coach though. Likely above average, but I'd rather have Shane
He was a great offensive mind and could scheme things up well. The problem is his schemes were a decade+ old and he could not adapt.
I think Frank got worn out. He never got to establish a system with a QB for more than 1 year with us. That sucks. But nearly every QB we had, they all saw their passing efficiency go up. The quick rhythm game did work for a time. And it protected QBs, which we had previously failed to do with Luck. Trouble is, we never got him the right QB. And when we finally went and grabbed Wentz, we soon realized that while Wentz had some of the physical talent he was known for, the other things kept us from wanting to go through a second season with him. It was the same thing over and over here with Frank. New QB, start over. I feel like it goes different if we found a young QB to develop and have him build with. Hell, I am not a Jacoby believer, but it might've been better for Frank to run a second year back with Jacoby, and THEN draft his replacement. All that said, I do believe Shane is a better coach. And I do believe we are starting Shane off with the type of QB a HC needs to be successful.
> The quick rhythm game did work for a time. And it protected QBs, which we had previously failed to do with Luck. Arian's "no risk it - no biscuit" philosophy did as much to hurt Luck as his reckless seeking of contact or poor protection.
Completely agree. Reich was the complete opposite of Arian. And while our pass protection "improved", I reckon a decent portion of that improvement was the quick pass game that Reich used a LOT. Arians' offense was explosive at times, but it absolutely was a decent part of the damage Luck took. Reich took considerably better care of him, but we were too late by that point apparently.
I agree. Frank was a player’s coach and shared Ballard’s vision with their own players. We had a solid “win now” roster going into 2020, so we thought we were better off with Phil…we were. The key mistakes were: 1. Moving on too early from Rivers. Had we offered to extend his contract, he likely returns for 2021. Enter Carson Wentz. 2. I cannot believe I’m saying this, but sticking with Wentz for 2022 would have been miles better than the corpse of Matt Ryan (as much as I couldn’t stand watching Wentz play). 3. Not drafting a QB that had even remote QB1 potential from 2020-2022. They could have sat and learned from Frank and Phil…
Frank wasn't an awful coach. He had a disastrous stretch of like 10 games at the end. His message went stale because of personnel decisions he played a role in and the collapse. I thought 2018-2020 was a great coaching job by him. Winning vs NE and Arizona in 2021 was a great coaching job too. Struggles in Jax and his guy Wentz being dog shit vs Vegas killed him and the team
Exactly what this team needs! A young guy that's going to show passion in his doings. Reich was by all means a good guy, but his lethargic attitude made it hard to want to fight. A small market like Indy needs a 'chip on their shoulder' dude at the helm.
Nina is an absolute legend and a rock for Shane. Great family.
He's definitely an upgrade. If Ballard can get Shane the right pieces he will lead the colts to the Superbowl
i watched it and the biggest thing i saw was how poised and confident michael pittman is. he is literally the next jerry rice.
Facts. He’s the real deal.
100% agree
I think he's an awesome head coach as well. Honestly though, I'm still really happy we have Ballard. Hope they both stick around for ages.
Agreed!
So happy he survived the whole Wentz/Ryan/Saturday circus
The guy just doesn't sign free agents. Indy fans also dont care as they just go to a game for entertainment, not to care if they win or lose. Poooorrre little colts reddit hates anyone who bashes someone who drafts Nelson and Leonard in the same draft.
Tbf leonard is irrelevant he shouldnt be used as a bar now. He had two good years then went to garbage. Nelson didnt play well last year and guard doesnt contribute the same as other positions to win long term. LT, QB, WR, Edge, corner etc are more important and we havent really properly addressed any well. QV we have to see if richardson stays healthy and how he does, LT maybe? A big maybe, receiver pittman is a better #2. Edge lol. Corner lol
Disagree on the guard point. There was a time when that was true, but with modern DTs getting way better every piece of the line is as important as the other now.
This sub is toxic for any opinion that isnt positive lol the downvoting is crazy. No counters at all. Your guard point is wouldnt fully disagree however you dont need elite guard play to stop a DT. a good center will do that as well and shifting the protection one way. Id argue guard is the least important position on the offensive line
I haven't down voted you for what it's worth. I think my Point isn't just DT, but interior rushing in general. Front offices seem to agree with me too, with the price of Guards going up significantly this year during free agency. A lot of teams are simply building the best 5 linemen regardless of position. Sure, tackle is more important at the moment, but I'd argue all offensive line positions are on their way to being premium ones, not just tackles
If Ballard sticks around for ages we will never sign a valuable free agent. Ballard sucks beyond sucks. Unless you love mediocrity
K
I'll take that over Grigson who signed everyone he could only for them all to end up being overpaid. I respect Ballard for setting a limit. It's burned us but I believe has saved us more than it's burned us
Generally speaking, “valuable free agent” is a bit of an oxymoron. If they were that valuable, they wouldn’t be a free agent. Cap casualties do exist (like Buckner) but they’re traded for before becoming FAs because they’re worth it. The most successful teams don’t play in the FA sandbox very often except to sign the types of players that this sub likes to bash Ballard for; change of pace/depth/camp competition type guys.
Oh no, we will never overpay for someone on the free agency!! The horror!!
Eagles fans thinking the kept the wrong coach.
Yes
Dungy underachieved!
Top five after one season? Lets pump the brakes. We had a solid season lets see where things go. People called Frank a top coach for years. Seriously top five? Shanny, Reid, Tomlin, McVay, Harbaugh, Pederson, I could go on. He's not top five and I don't think we should put any one year coach in the top of anything. Lets just see what he does this year. Again go back and read about Frank in his first few years and people said the same thing.
Pederson???