Chuck Pagano not going anywhere, as Colts give him extension
Chuck Pagano was on the hot seat for most of the second half of this season. He told his players in a meeting on Monday he didn’t know if he’d be returning as their coach, according to the Indianapolis Star.
But in the end, the Indianapolis Colts gave him a contract extension. So did general manager Ryan Grigson.
It was a strange day around the Colts on Monday.
Pagano has been under heat most of the season because the Colts went from a popular Super Bowl pick in the preseason to an 8-8 finish and out of the playoffs. Not all of that was Pagano’s fault, considering injuries at quarterback hit Indianapolis hard, but team owner Jim Irsay isn’t the most patient man in the NFL.
However, the Colts had 11-win seasons in each of Pagano’s first three seasons (he missed a large part of one season while he battled cancer) and played in an AFC championship game last season. One 8-8 season wasn’t enough to cause the Colts to look elsewhere for a coach. And it had already been speculated that Pagano would be one of the top available candidates if he wasn’t retained, so perhaps Irsay thought better of pushing out a respected coach.
The Colts had a tough season, but there was a sense of relief and excitement at a news conference with Pagano, Irsay and Grigson (whose job security was also in question) on Monday night.
“Words can’t describe how I feel right now. It’s a great, great day,” Pagano said. “I owe it all to Jim for believing in me.”
Pagano’s contract expired after the season so the Colts could have walked away. But Irsay decided Pagano is the best coach to lead his team forward with young star quarterback Andrew Luck. And Grigson, who was also in trouble and reportedly at odds with Pagano at times this season, got an extension too, Irsay said. At times over the past few weeks it seemed like a long shot that either Grigson or Pagano would return next season, and it’s quite the surprise that the conclusion to the ordeal seems to be that both will return in 2016. Pagano painted a picture of his relationship with Grigson as being respectful, even if they disagree.
“We’re united,” Grigson said.
The decision on Pagano didn’t come down until late Monday evening, after a day of silence from the Colts while Irsay and Pagano met. Many thought at the beginning of the day that the meeting would lead to a parting of ways. The Colts announced at one point on Monday that no decision on Pagano would be coming until at least Tuesday.
Colts players have a lot of respect for Pagano (many tweeted their excitement over the news that Pagano would stay), who built a good reputation as a defensive assistant with the Baltimore Ravens before Indianapolis hired him. But it still seemed, as the Colts went along with their subpar season, that Pagano might not get the chance to continue as Colts coach. But Indianapolis is keeping Pagano. That takes a potential top coaching candidate off the market, and it eliminates a potential opening that might have been the most coveted in the NFL this offseason.
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Frank Schwab is the editor of Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @YahooSchwab
