3.5. Midseason Changes Wouldn’t Matter
If the Colts did theoretically fire both Grigson and Pagano midseason, who are they going to get on an interim basis to come in and right the ship from the get-go?
Midseason moves rarely work out, as one of Pagano’s top assistant coaches–likely either offensive coordinator Rob Chudzinski or defensive coordinator Ted Monachino would be promoted to head coach. However, does that actually make the Colts significantly better?
It’s still a product of the same coaching staff after all, and a coach like Chudzinski was criticized just as much as Pagano this past weekend for not running the no-huddle offense enough and not having Frank Gore in the backfield on a critical failed 4th and 1 late in the game.
We saw last season when the Colts replaced former offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton with Chudzinski that changes in-season rarely make much of an impact. It takes an entire offseason and training camp for players to effectively learn a new coach’s scheme and system–not just a few short days.
Meanwhile, even if the Colts did appoint a new general manager, without the luxury of the NFL Draft or a marquee free agency period in-season, there’s no real way for the team to actually improve their roster on the fly. Sure, the new general manager could always try to go dumpster diving or eye the waiver wire like a hawk, but it’s extremely rare that those fringe players actually make much of an immediate impact.