INDIANAPOLIS –In his 25 years of coaching, Ted Monachino is a front guy.
The front seven of a defense is where Monachino has been entrenched since his days as a high school coach in rural Missouri.
So as Monachino embarks on his first coordinating role at the collegiate or professional level, he doesn't shy away from the pass rush emphasis he's hoping to bring.
"It's priority No. 1," Monachino said in Indianapolis late last week.
"There are a lot of different ways you can look at pass coverage but the way I look at it—the best pass defense is a good pass rush."
For much of the 2015 season, the Colts lacked consistency with their quarterback pressure.
Things began to click in the final month of the season with the unit producing 16 sacks in the last quarter, the second most of any NFL team during that span.
That was the 2015 highlight though for the pass rush.
A combination of 19 sacks in the first 12 games is where Monachino will be looking to re-write the script.
He's going to do it with an entire defensive unit he wants attacking.
"You expect (the defense) to be sound and simple in a way that our guys can play full speed all the time. You expect it to be aggressive in everything that we do, yet smart in everything that we do in the backend," Monachino says of what he wants fans to see in the Colts defense.
"We are never going to coach caution into a great player. We are always going to coach full speed."
Monachino says there will be some risk taking involved from his defense and plenty of innovation when passing situations arise.
With the Colts personnel built for a 3-4 scheme, that will be the label of the unit. Yet, the 49-year-old defensive coordinator also stressed the multiple looks the Colts defense will deploy.
"I know that we have a lot of players that can fit a lot of different spots and we are going to use those guys and use their skills as best we can, as often as we can and keep that as consistent as possible," Monachino says. "A guy that rushes the passer really well, he's going to do that as often as he can. A guy that's a cover-man corner, he's going to do that as often as he can.
"Philosophically, we have to do everything we can to make sure our players are in the position to make sure they can play their best and make plays when they have the opportunity to."
Before Monachino immerses himself in dissecting the Colts personnel on defense, he will put together the rest of his defensive staff.
The little film Monachino has watched of the Colts defense, he likes the groundwork.
"This defense is a proud defense and one that we are going to continue to grow," Monachino says.
"All the coaches that came before me have done a great job building the foundation and we are just going to go one more step with it."
