Curt Cavin|IndyStar
Maybe Frank Gore shed light on the new direction of the Indianapolis Colts’ offense Thursday whenhe playfully chastised rookie teammate Phillip Dorsett in the locker room.
Gore and Dorsett played a decade apart at the same Florida school, but things were different in his day, Gore said.
“It was the ‘U’ then, not the ‘University of Miami’ like for you,” he told Dorsett. “We all had (swagger), even the guys from out of town. We made 'em think they were from Dade (County).”
Rod Chudzinski grew up in Toledo, a tough town by northern standards, but he fit right in with the swaggering Coral Gables football team. He started three years at tight end, a cog in two national championship teams. He lined up alongside trash-talking Michael Irvin, coached by the brash Jimmy Johnson.
An apple doesn’t usually far fall from its tree, and Chudzinski not only played for the Hurricanes but coached them in various capacities for 10 years. Herecruited many program-defining players, including Gore and Colts wideoutAndre Johnson.
So when Chudzinski describes himself as an aggressive play-caller, listen up.
Apparently the Colts' new offensive coordinator wasted little time convincing his players of that this week.
“A lot of energy,” receiver DonteMoncrief said of Chudzinski. “Smart guy, and he’s coming at you ready. You can tell by the way he comes with swagger.
“He's 'poke your chest out, it’s time to play ball.'"
Sound like a Hurricane?
“He’s been my coach since college,” Gore said with a big grin. “Chud is all about football; he’s a great football coach.”
Gore was a freshman running back in 2001 when unbeaten Miami won the national title. Chudzinski coordinated that offense, mixing in Clinton Portis, Willis McGahee and Gore with Johnson as a wideout and Jeremy Shockey as a tight end.
For sure, talent oozed from that Miamiroster,but as an NFL offensive coordinator Chudzinski helped make Derek Anderson a Pro Bowl quarterback in Cleveland in 2007, and he smoothed out Cam Newton’s early years in Carolina. All of that is perspective for Thursday’s introduction, the first time Chudzinski spoke to the media since being named to his new post Tuesday evening.
Chudzinski, 47, has been on Chuck Pagano’s Indianapolis staff since January of last year,but he had largely been the consultant standing in the back of the room, eyes and ears open, mouth closed. He haddone only a limited number of media interviews, and few outside the Colts’ inner circle could describe what his role was as associatehead coach.
Apparently, he was soaking things in and expounding when called upon, whether it was by Pagano, an assistant coach, a player or anyone else who matters to the organization.
“Being a resource,” he said unassumingly. “It was (Pagano) asking if I’d run this play before. ‘How did you coach it? What did you do? How did you handle it when (the defense) blitzed?’
“Maybe it was a defensive lineman asking ‘What do you see when I’m pass rushing out there? Am I too high? What can help me?' A lot of things like that around the building.”
Now Chudzinski, who was Cleveland's head coach in 2013,will be making the Colts' offensive decisions, and he said all the predictable things in his first 15 public minutes since replacing Pep Hamilton. He will work to curtail the penalties that have stalled drives. He will tweak plays to give the obviously skilled players the best opportunities to win matchups. And yes, he will work closely with Andrew Luck to try to shake the funk the fourth-year quarterback has been in.
Chudzinski seemed to suggest the tight ends will get more attention in Sunday’s game against Denver — “If it works out that way great,” Coby Fleener said — and he noted a love for power football, which Gore appreciates. Chudzinski also noted the recent improvement of the offensive line, which had only one holding penalty Monday at Carolina after having 17 in the first seven games.
“There’s usually a lot of reasons for (struggles) and if there was a simple solution it would poof! and we’d have it fixed,” he said. “There are a lot of things that have contributed to it, but the bottom line is we need to work for consistency and each one of those things we’ll chip away on.”
Chudzinski apparently has been chipping all week, organizing his thoughts and notes deep into the night, evidenced by red rings under weary eyes. He wasn't prepared for Hamilton's release.
As Chudzinski described it,Pagano laid out a plan of reorganization.
“He told me he had made the decision and asked/told me — that I was going to be doing this,” Chudzinski said.“There wasn’t much I could say to that.”
Imagine, a speechless Hurricane.
Follow Star reporter Curt Cavin on Facebook and Twitter: @curtcavin.
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Broncos at Colts, 4:25 p.m. Sunday, CBS