Pep Hamilton Fired As Indianapolis Colts Offensive Coordinator

Pep Hamilton has been fired as the offensive coordinator for the Indianapolis Colts, as reported by Adam Schefter of ESPN.

The Indianapolis Colts have been a team swimming in turmoil thus far this season.

Three of the top people in the Indianapolis Colts hierarchy cannot get along with one another. Colts owner Jim Irsay recently got into an argument with general manager Ryan Grigson. Colts head coach Chuck Pagano has been having his issues with Grigson as well.

At the beginning of the season the Indianapolis Colts had Super Bowl aspirations. Not only are they sitting on a 3-5 record, Indianapolis has yet to win a game outside of the AFC South. Being in a really bad division is the only reason why the Colts are in first place.

Offense was supposed to have been a strength for the Indianapolis Colts. During the summer, Indianapolis gave starting quarterback Andrew Luck more weapons by acquiring running back Frank Gore and wide receiver Andre Johnson, both of whom are former Pro Bowl players. Adding two players of that caliber to an offense that was already in the top five was the reason for the high expectations.

Instead of thriving on offense, the Indianapolis Colts have been struggling. Their offense is ranked 20th in points, and they are the second worst team when it comes to turnovers. This is simply not anywhere near what the Colts were expecting when the season started.

Someone had to take the fall for the Indianapolis Colts. Many were under the impression that Chuck Pagano was going to be fired before he could finish the final year of his contract with the Colts. Instead, Indianapolis decided to pin the blame on Pep Hamilton and replace him as offensive coordinator.

The move comes as a bit of a surprise to those within the NFL. Pep Hamilton was the hot head coaching candidate around the league. There were even talks that he might be elevated by the Indianapolis Colts this season to see if he could take over in the long run when Chuck Pagano inevitably leaves town at the end of the season as expected.

There are speculations going around that the reason why Chuck Pagano was spared from a firing is because the team is still first in the division. Jim Irsay and Ryan Grigson know how much controversy that would generate if the Indianapolis Colts were to fire their head coach while leading the division. There is already enough controversy to go around in Indianapolis as is.

Replacing Pep Hamilton as the offensive coordinator of the Indianapolis Colts is Rob Chudzinski. The veteran coach has been in the NFL for 11 years now, including a year as head coach of the Cleveland Browns. Chudzinski was initially hired by the Colts as a special assistant to the head coach before being promoted to associate head coach.

Since Chuck Pagano has more of a defensive background, the Indianapolis Colts are going to put their offense entirely into the hands of Rob Chudzinski. He is going to need to figure out how to protect Andrew Luck more. Expect the Colts to make some changes to their blocking scheme.

The season for the Indianapolis Colts has not gone down the drain. If Rob Chudzinski can spark the offense and Andrew Luck can regain even more of his health, then the Colts have a chance at an 11-5 record. Indianapolis might not even need to win that many games because the AFC South does not pose that much of a threat to the Colts.

Firing Pep Hamilton may seem unfair, but it was something that the Indianapolis Colts had to do.

[ Feature Photo by Doug Pensinger / Getty Images ]