Posted by: Chris Vannini on January 23, 2013

The Indianapolis Colts went all-in with Andrew Luck.

That included giving him every chance to succeed and keeping things comfortable. It certainly worked, with the Colts going 11-5 and reaching the playoffs this season.

The 2012 Colts roster had four rookies from Stanford, including Luck, tight end Coby Fleener and reserve receiver Griff Whalen. Now the team includes a coach, as Stanford offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton was hired to replace Bruce Arians, who took the head coaching job with the Arizona Cardinals.

Colts head coach Chuck Pagano spoke with SiriusXM NFL Radio about losing Arians and why they went with Hamilton. Pagano didn't shy away from saying his familiarity with Luck was a factor.

"(Arians) did a phenomenal job. As good as anybody's ever done in that position (with me out)," Pagano said. "We wish him the best. I hate to lose anybody. You don't want to ever replace anybody. We had such a great thing going. But when you win, it's just a byproduct of that. When good things happen to good people.

"We're extremely excited for him and feel good about having Pep Hamilton coming in to replace him. ... First and foremost, (Hamilton's) familiarity and relationship with the quarterback is huge. We've kept the bulk of the staff together, other than the line coach. He'll come in, we'll look at everything and analyze everything.

"Take a bit of his system, blend it with what we have and see what mesh's Obviously, the familiarity with a couple guys on the team is going to be big."

Below is the audio of Pagano's interview.

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Chris Vannini is the lead writer for CoachingSearch.com and has covered Michigan State sports for The State News, The Oakland Press and MLive.com. He writes a weekly column for the Detroit Free Press on behalf of SB Nation. Vannini lives in Big Ten country, so his foot speed is far from SEC caliber, but his pulse on coaches is hard to match. Be sure to follow @CoachingBuzz on twitter and send your feedback to chris@coachingsearch.com