Pep Hamilton and his time spent as OC of the Indianapolis Colts
With all of the talk regarding issues with Pep Hamilton, I thought it would be prudent to look back at his time as offensive coordinator of the Indianapolis Colts. Below is a link to an article summarizing a few of the main issues that plagued Pep Hamilton's time in Indianapolis, which resulted in his firing during the middle of the 2015 season. While I can't comment to the validity of all the points raised in this article, I found this part to be a bit alarming:
"One person in the organization told ESPN.com had that had been asking Hamilton to play with tempo for more than two weeks but that their suggestions weren't being received."
It goes a bit more into depth into the issue, but it does seem that tempo has never been an area Pep has valued or implemented under previous offenses.
This seems to support the claims that changes need to be made to this offensive staff in order to bring somebody on board who can provide the necessary expertise to incorporate uptempo elements along with a quick strike passing attack.
https://www.stampedeblue.com/platform/amp/2015/11/3/9667042/why-did-the-colts-fire-pep-hamilton
January 5th, 2019 at 2:06 PM ^
If Harbaugh believes that the team will be better if Pep is out, then it would be inexcusable for him not to do what's necessary. Especially if it results in the offense underperforming again next year.
January 5th, 2019 at 2:27 PM ^
Yep. If Pep is looking around he is either being nudged or he doesn't want to be at UM. Either way, he should be let go. Even if he isn't the problem on O, he isn't a good recruiter. Hard to have the highest paid guy on staff be a bad recruiter.
January 5th, 2019 at 2:34 PM ^
The Lions isn't the option. He's not even considered by the Lions
January 5th, 2019 at 2:48 PM ^
"Maybe he will land with the Lions or an NFL team"
FIFY
January 5th, 2019 at 3:53 PM ^
That's just plain dumb and not worthy of a coach of a top program. Blind loyalty and being afraid to hurt somebody's feelings doesn't get the job done
January 5th, 2019 at 4:07 PM ^
If you were a big time OC wouldn’t you demand control of the offense? Unless you were at middling program and saw our athletes as an opportunity and maybe a stepping stone.
I can live with the shared input. It’s not totally unique.
It’s inexcusable however to not have a two minute offense when the situation requires it.
January 5th, 2019 at 9:46 PM ^
Why won’t Harbaugh fire Pep? I understand loyalty to a point. But if that particular area is bringing the team down and has not been successful at all, how can that be justified. This is big time college football with A LOT of money being invested to win championships. Pep is an adult, he can handle it.
January 5th, 2019 at 10:18 PM ^
In each 3 of his last jobs he has been a failure. He's been fired in his previous 2 before coming here (where he should be fired already). He rode Andrew Luck's pure talent into people thinking he is better at his job than he really is. Luck played his worst football while coached by Pep in Indy. Speight severely regressed while transitioning from Jedd to Pep. Who knows how good Shea could be with an upgrade from Pep.
He is getting 1 million a year to be a no tempo ball and chain to our offense. Why would anyone hire him in a 'what have you done for me lately' type of career field? Please baby Jesus let the lions steal our burden.
January 5th, 2019 at 1:34 PM ^
Any chance we could see a Drevno situation where he "steps down" before actually securing another position?
January 5th, 2019 at 1:49 PM ^
He needed a new job yesterday.
Not worried about the committee playcalling, that's not the problem and not any different than what OSU does.
January 5th, 2019 at 2:22 PM ^
If so that's very disappointing and further shakes my faith in Harbaugh. Never would've thought he would prioritize his friendships over what's best for the team.
January 5th, 2019 at 3:25 PM ^
I wish Warde could ACT like an athletic director!!!
January 5th, 2019 at 5:14 PM ^
Seems like Schlissel brought in someone who could manage the budget well (which DB couldn't do and Warde can) and just retain existing coaches. Pretty disappointing to see him always cowering and refusing to assert himself out of the fear that doing or saying anything related to the football program will cause Jim to leave for the NFL.
January 5th, 2019 at 4:57 PM ^
What is interesting is that Jack Harbaugh appears to be the "elder" right now, for the program, yet he was fired by Bo because he couldn't cut it.
January 5th, 2019 at 10:38 PM ^
This is wrong. Jack Harbaugh left for a promotion to be Stanford’s DC.
This thread is a mess with inaccuracies and paranoia. Let’s just go ahead and let Jim Harbaugh decide what’s best for the offense and the team. The improvement was massive from 2017 to 2018. Coach Harbaugh will always look to gain improvement.
January 5th, 2019 at 3:23 PM ^
I just think this is insanity. Fire his ass, he will get over hurt feelings.
January 5th, 2019 at 5:09 PM ^
Can you say why he will not be fired? JH seems to be willing to let people go if they cannot get the job done, and Pep does not seem to get the job done.
January 5th, 2019 at 1:21 PM ^
I lived through his time in Indianapolis. It was remarkably similar to what is happening at Michigan. His relentless commitment to the long developing route schemes are the biggest impediment to our success at this point. Andrew Luck took the most hits in the NFL by a very large margin during his time as offensive coordinator.
January 5th, 2019 at 1:24 PM ^
The article talks of Andrew Luck struggling also. He is not struggling this year. He is on fire with Frank Reich. Someone who knows can explain why this is not mere coincidence.
January 5th, 2019 at 1:25 PM ^
SO what you're saying is that "Pep" has never lived up to his name.
January 5th, 2019 at 1:29 PM ^
I see what you did there
January 5th, 2019 at 1:36 PM ^
He needs to go it's as simple as that.
January 5th, 2019 at 1:38 PM ^
He stank as QB coach in Chicago.
He stank with the Browns.
He just stank.
January 5th, 2019 at 3:26 PM ^
3 stanks and you are OUT!
January 5th, 2019 at 1:55 PM ^
Im sure this has been brought up before but in the 6-8 games where you are clearly the favorite the 10-20 less snaps mean less actual game reps. Over time that is a huge loss of in game action. I would say a fast tempo can help so many things. Number of live reps being a huge one.
January 5th, 2019 at 2:03 PM ^
He’s been beyond mediocre in every significant stop he’s had. He’s a yes man with connections. That’s why he keeps getting jobs. And it’s exactly why he’ll be an OC in the NFL next year.
January 5th, 2019 at 4:32 PM ^
Stop getting my hopes up
January 5th, 2019 at 2:28 PM ^
Harbaugh's first year in 2015 with Fisch had a dynamic passing attack by the end of the season. I had so much fun watching Darboh and Chesson run all over the field, especially Chesson. There is no reason that couldn't happen again. Major difference is QB play and Pep replacing Fisch.
Even Grant Perry seemed to have a bigger impact his freshman year that same 2015 season than he did the rest of his career, at least in the second half of 2015. That 2015 season was so vastly different with the passing game.
I guess the running attack was much worse, so maybe Harbaugh became too reliant on running the ball once it became a strength? I don't know. I just know I wasn't highly disappointed with Rudock throwing the ball for 300 yards per game in the second half of that season.
January 5th, 2019 at 2:51 PM ^
Harbaugh and Pep sucked. In the second half of the last 2 games they sucked. They couldn’t do diddly poo. It was an absolutely horseshit game plan. Horseshit. I’m absolutely embarrassed for the team.
January 5th, 2019 at 3:29 PM ^
"One person in the organization told ESPN.com had that had been asking Hamilton to play with tempo for more than two weeks but that their suggestions weren't being received."
Harbaugh knew this going in, and was fine with it.
January 5th, 2019 at 4:06 PM ^
if offensive staff doesn’t change at the top, press rewind on this season and hit play. You will have the 2019 season.
Still waiting to hear from don brown as well. It won’t happen though.
January 5th, 2019 at 4:06 PM ^
It’s rather shocking that a former all pro quarterback such as Jim Harbaugh will refuse to use innovative schemes to get receivers open, in addition to not running tempo regularly as a tactic to force the defense to adapt and get favorable matchups.
If Harbaugh continues to coach offense with such an archaic philosophy, then in the immortal words of my old little league football coach Gary Bonham of the Soithgate Bengals:
“Shiiiit...he ain’t nuttin but a pussy”
January 5th, 2019 at 5:35 PM ^
Let's just get a coordinator who calls mesh and slants all day. Maybe don brown can get a clue how to defend them that way.
January 5th, 2019 at 6:39 PM ^
Yeah sounds real familiar.
January 5th, 2019 at 6:46 PM ^
January 5th, 2019 at 7:13 PM ^
I don’t really care if he stays. Just hope Harbaugh hires a full time OC who wants to play 21st century football and then, like he did with Don Brown, just gets out of his way.
Harbaugh, for all of his faults so far, has made some great hires during his tenure here. Hope he makes another big one this offseason.
January 5th, 2019 at 7:29 PM ^
I am also a Colts fan, and yes he was horrible with us and is with UM too.
January 5th, 2019 at 8:26 PM ^
There is a reason why the Browns and the Colts fired him and the fans were happy to see him gone. He sucks
January 5th, 2019 at 8:41 PM ^
Quick strike, has there been a quick slant in the last 2 years? How many hurry up offenses?
January 5th, 2019 at 8:54 PM ^
I hate to inject facts into this discussion, but someone please tell me who coached Andrew Luck to his highest number of touchdowns, his lowest number of interceptions, his highest yards per attempt and completion, his 2nd lowest sack percentage, and his 2nd highest qb rating? That happened to be Pep Hamilton when he was offensive coordinator of the Colts. In 2014 Luck had 40 touchdowns, then halfway through the 2015 season, a year in which Luck was injured in game 3 and missed 2 games with an injured throwing shoulder, Pep Hamilton was fired. Is it possible that Luck's injury caused the perceived regression in his game? It's hard to believe that the offensive coordinator who guided and playcalled Luck to an extremely low interception rate in one year, and then to a career high in touchdowns the next year, suddenly couldn't guide Luck to a productive season.
Next, this offensive dynamism by Jedd Fisch is much more revisionist history than it is fact. 25% of Jake Rudock's 3,000+ passing yards came in TWO GAMES (337 vs Rutgers, 440 vs Indiana). However, when they played good defenses Fisch's offenses couldn't muster much of a passing attack (168 yds vs MSU, 13 points vs OSU). In 2016, when facing good defenses, Iowa (13th in nation), and OSU (3rd in nation) the team scored a combined 30 points in regulation. And, Fisch seemed to do no better with John O'Korn than Pep did last year. In his only start under Fisch, O'Korn was 7/16 for 59 long yards.
For some reason, Pep Hamilton is getting scapegoated again! He's the only coach in the Harbaugh era who has coached a 40 touchdown passing season. Maybe if Pep was given total control of the offense he could do the same here. What will it take for some of you to recognize that this offense is EXACTLY the way HARBAUGH wants it? Look at his tenure in San Francisco. He never had a dynamic passing offense. Harbaugh wants to run the ball and play solid defense. His three NFC Championship Game teams, were no lower than 8th in rushing, and no higher than 23rd in passing, while being top 5 in defense. Were none of you watching that? You guys didn't know that Harbaugh was a conservative football guy?
Stop whining with a new Pep thread every couple of days. This is Harbaugh's show... just like in San Francisco. If you wanted fast paced, spread, run and gun type offense, you should've pleaded for them to keep RichRod! Harbaugh's offense can work. Saban won every one of his national titles by playing staunch defense and running the ball... even last year! Everyone talks about Tua, but that was one game where 26 points were scored. During the season, Saban's team averaged 193 yards passing per game, and 250 yards rushing per game. As a matter of fact, Saban won the title 3 years ago with Derrick Henry rushing the ball 46, 44, and 36 times in the Iron Bowl, SEC Title Game, and National Title Game, respectively. Did anyone constantly wail about him opening up the offense?
The offense will change only IF Harbaugh wants it to change. Stop the scapegoating of Pep, and accept Harbaugh for who he is. Either that, or run him out of town and become the University of Miami and USC... 4th coach in 8 years.
January 5th, 2019 at 9:25 PM ^
Bless your sane soul.
January 6th, 2019 at 12:23 AM ^
Thank you. At some point, I hope most of our school's fans to acquire a more rational, deliberate, sane point of view. This f'kn whining has gone on long enough.
January 5th, 2019 at 9:58 PM ^
"but someone please tell me who coached Andrew Luck to his highest number of touchdowns, his lowest number of interceptions, his highest yards per attempt and completion, his 2nd lowest sack percentage, and his 2nd highest qb rating?"
Ok, I will tell you: Clyde Christensen. The same man that built the Indianapolis Colts offense before Pep Hamilton got there.
January 6th, 2019 at 12:20 AM ^
Oh, the same Clyde Christensen who was still there in 2015 when Luck regressed? So, are you arguing that Luck's 2 good seasons were due to Christensen, and Luck's bad, injury filled half season was due to Pep... even though both were around all three years, and Pep called plays all three years?
Oh, are you referring to the same Clyde Christensen who left Indy to become Offensive Coordinator of the Miami Dolphins in 2016, and then promptly led that offense to 17th and 28th place finishes before losing that job after 2 years?
If you say Christensen coached and playcalled Andrew Luck to those 2 seasons, then surely you must speak in jest. Additionally, you are aware that Pep Hamilton was also the offensive coordinator when Andrew Luck had 37 touchdowns at Stanford, aren't you? Hmm, maybe he should be given the keys to Michigan's offense.
January 6th, 2019 at 4:03 AM ^
So now you're giving credit to Pep Hamilton for the offense that Jim Harbaugh built at Stanford.
Michigan lead the BIG 10 in scoring 2 years ago, before Pep Hamilton got here. Now we see the team settling for FGs way too often. That should show you the effect Pep Hamilton really has on a team that was built by someone else. Remember how great the offense at Michigan was 2 years ago?
But you will come up with some kind of reasoning that will talk it all away.
And what is your reason he was fired at Indianapolis?
You have watched the passing game at Michigan the last 2 years?
January 6th, 2019 at 12:41 AM ^
You already covered this with your IndyGoPete account
January 6th, 2019 at 4:01 AM ^
Every once in a while strange things like this are said, that I have another account. some of you guys on this blog are nutters about this.
January 5th, 2019 at 10:19 PM ^
Thank you for your sanity!
Some of the opinions in this thread are absurd. Run a consistent coach who wins ten games 3 seasons out of four, out of town! Fire a ten win OC/pass game coordinator, because obviously nothing’s working!
Blame the coaches because the team lost a supposed “meaningless” bowl game when 4 of the team’s best players - difference-makers - wouldn’t show up for the bowl!
And rumors repeated as though fact, not speculation.
Harbaugh “better” start winning these games! Or what? You folks saying that plan to personally show up in his office and fire him? Bring the torches and pitchforks, let’s storm the castle! Bullshit.
Our AD will show more balls ignoring the whiners and bellyachers, and standing by an excellent coach, than by insisting on ridiculous staff changes to appease them.
January 6th, 2019 at 12:26 AM ^
"Our AD will show more balls ignoring the whiners and bellyachers, and standing by an excellent coach, than by insisting on ridiculous staff changes to appease them."
Indeed, and it might be time that some of us have the same diligence as Warde and ignore them as well. Thank you, sir! Excellent comment!