INDIANAPOLIS – For nine NFL seasons, Chuck Pagano served as a defensive backs coach.
While Pagano can be observed migrating through all the position groups at practices, there's no denying the hands-on approach he shows the secondary.
So when Pagano looks at a player with Vontae Davis' skill set, the head coach loves what he sees.
For the Colts attacking defense, a player with Davis ability (Davis was Pro Football Focus third ranked corner in 2013) is highly sought-after.
The free agency period will officially get underway next week and the Colts aren't shy about their pursuit of Davis.
"We've got a plan in place for Vontae," Pagano said on 1070 The Fan.
"I know that we are working that process. We are doing our due diligence with that. Certainly, he's one of the guys that we are currently having dialogue with and the camps are both talking. Hopefully we get something worked out."
Pagano and his staff are in the midst of the offseason where the evaluation process extends well beyond reviewing game film.
The entire Colts program is being analyzed in an effort to try and take the next step.
"Everything we are doing from A-to-Z, whether it's in the weight room, the training room, meals that we are serving, I don't care what it is, we are going to turn every stone because it's one thing to go from 8-8 to 11-5, then from 11-5 to 12-4, to try and get to 13-3 or 14-2 and gain home field advantage," Pagano told JMV.
"That's a huge undertaking so we are going to look at every aspect of the program and try to get better every day."
Pagano is pleased with the direction the Colts took in 2013.
Recapturing the AFC South title and a quartet of wins over teams that finished the season in the playoffs highlighted the regular season.
Winning a playoff game for the first time since 2009 has the Colts in position to make an even deeper run next season.
Pagano told JMV that Reggie Wayne is "beating up the trainers" by spending seven days a week in the team's facility.
The reintegration of Wayne back into the Colts offense should only enhance the progression of Andrew Luck.
After two NFL seasons, Luck's ability to continually orchestrate comebacks is something his head coach points back to his days of coaching in the secondary.
"He's like any great corner. You've got to have amnesia," Pagano said of Luck.
"He touches the ball every play of the game. He gets frustrated for a split second, comes off, identifies the problem, the mistake that was made and then he's able to move on and put that behind him."
