Indianapolis Colts: Where Is the Rob Chudzinski Love?
By Erik Lambert
The Indianapolis Colts are somehow still alive in the AFC South without Andrew Luck. Much of the credit is going to Jacoby Brissett.
The former New England Patriots backup has settled in nicely with the Colts after GM Chris Ballard traded for him just prior to the season. No sooner had that happened then he was being thrust into the lineup with barely any time to prepare. Thus far it’s been surprisingly impressive. Brissett had 997 yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions going into the Tennessee Titans game. He also added 83 yards rushing with another three touchdowns.
Again he had zero training camp or preseason preparation to help him. Due to that he’s been receiving a wealth of praise from all sides for his accomplishments. Of course he deserves the attention for playing well, but that raises one other question. Where is the support for offensive coordinator Rob Chudzinski? After all he was the man who had to craft a workable offense around Brissett on the fly.
Chudzinski has quietly been an excellent hire for the Colts
It can be too easy at times to forget about Chudzinski. At one point he was a rising star in the coaching world. He turned Cam Newton into Rookie of the Year and Derek Anderson into a Pro Bowler. The Cleveland Browns gave him their head coaching job in 2013. Things got off to a great start but injuries derailed the progress. Still he’d done enough to where most thought he’d get at least one more year. Instead the Browns fired him.
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Indianapolis quickly scooped him up as assistant head coach. After a year he was promoted to offensive coordinator in 2015, taking over a unit that had plummeted from 3rd to 28th under Pep Hamilton. The team immediately won three-straight games. A year later the Colts rebounded to 10th in the NFL, scoring 27 or more points seven times. Chudzinski is still a top offensive mind who never really got a fair shake at head coaching.
Perhaps it’s time for a second chance.