Colts coach Chuck Pagano is in the last year of his contract. And it could very well be his last year with the Colts.
Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reports that Pagano has “doubts” about whether he’ll be back for the 2016 season.
Pagano could have secured his future (or at least a buyout) by accepting a one-year extension that was offered in the offseason. After he denied it, reports began to emerge that Pagano could be on the way out.
The failure of the team to win games coupled with the constant stream of reports about Pagano’s future and his relationship with G.M. Ryan Grigson could make that outcome as inevitable as Jim Harbaugh’s exit from the 49ers a year ago. The real question becomes whether owner Jim Irsay would clean house like he did in 2012 -- or whether he’d keep the G.M. and hire a new coach like Irsay did in 2002.
Irsay’s willingness to move on from or neuter Grigson will have a direct impact on his available universe of options. Candidates at the top of the proverbial A list will want control over the roster and/or the draft. If Irsay decides to aim high, he’ll need to be willing to shift those duties from Grigson to the new coach.
If Pagano goes, it remains to be seen whether he’ll land elsewhere or whether he’ll stick to his vow that the Colts job will be his last job.
Regardless of how it ends, the noise will continue until the day Pagano is fired -- or the day he signs a new contract.