Colts Fire Offensive Coordinator Pep Hamilton

The Indianapolis Colts have let go of offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton. Rob Chudzinski will take over the play calling duties for the offense for the time being.

The Colts released an official statement:

"Through the first eight weeks of the season, we have felt our offense hasn’t performed at the consistent level that we need. 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 joined the team in 2013 and was Andrew Luck’s offensive coordinator at Stanford. Hamilton helped to craft one of the more dynamic passing offenses over the past two seasons, but the team and quarterback have regressed severely this year.

There was always friction within the coaching staff and front office as Hamilton was not hired by head coach Chuck Pagano, but rather GM Ryan Grigson (most head coaches are allowed to pick their staff). Hamilton appears to be a sort of sacrificial lamb for the failures of the offense over the past eight weeks as the Colts crept out to a 3-5 record.

Most of the problems stem from Luck’s poor play (and possible injuries) rather than play calling but Hamilton will be the one to fall on the sword. While we can easily say Luck hasn’t played anywhere near his best, it also doesn’t appear that the play calling was doing him too many favors.

The Colts have too many philosophical ideals fighting against each other when it comes to building an effective team. Pagano and Grigson seem to want to focus on building a power team that can run the ball and stop the run, when the NFL is a passing league. Hamilton wanted a playmaker offense that dictated terms to the opponents based on the sheer number of weapons he had available.

The Colts haven’t been able to do either this season.

It is unlikely that a new play caller will make much of a difference, especially with the Colts facing the Broncos top rated defense this week.

We’ll keep you updated on this story as we get more information.