APWith the Colts reportedly poised to fire coach Chuck Pagano, Bob Kravitz of WTHR.com paints a picture that points a finger at G.M. Ryan Grigson for a culture of dysfunction in Indianapolis.
“Grigson is significantly more involved in the coaching area than [Bill] Polian ever was,” Kravitz writes. “Sources tell me Grigson not only dictated who would and would not play, but undermined Pagano when he wanted to discipline certain players.”
Kravitz then shares several specific examples from the Grigson-Pagano years, an array of information from unnamed sources that clearly traces to Pagano and members of his staff who are about to be dropped after failing to get more out of a roster littered with bad draft picks and misguided free-agency decisions made by Grigson.
First, Kravitz writes that, after trading for running back Trent Richardson in 2013, Grigson continued to insist that Richardson play, even though he wasn’t playing very well. “According to sources, Grigson was concerned with creating the narrative that it was a good trade,” Kravitz says.
Second, Kravitz reports that Grigson insisted on the use of punt returner Josh Cribbs last year, against the desires of Pagano and several members of his staff.
Third, Kravitz explains that Grigson kept Pagano from disciplining certain players he wanted to discipline.
Fourth, Kravitz says that Grigson forced former offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton on Pagano. “Pep was never answerable to Chuck. Pep answered to Ryan, and everybody in the building knew it,” Kravitz said, citing an unnamed source.
As a result of those and other factors — including the presentation to Pagano of a one-year extension in the offseason that Pagano found unacceptable — Pagano and Grigson has virtually no relationship, according to Kravitz.
At a time when some think Grigson’s relationship with owner Jim Irsay will help Grigson return for the fifth year of his original contract (and possibly beyond), Kravitz writes that Grigson’s employment could hinge on the wishes of a new coach. If nothing else, the information dump directed to Kravitz will ensure that any coach with options will opt not to come to Indianapolis as long as Grigson remains employed there.
a simple small minded putz..did I forget self centered..there that sums it up right.
The roster is garbage. That’s all on Grigson.
Unless he’s got some really rare, autographed Beatles memorabilia to distract Irsay with, you gotta think he’s gone.
No decent coach is going to come and work under that imbecile. To be clear, Irsay is an imbecile as well, but he owns the team so he’s entitled to be an imbecile.
Chip Kelly
Yay for the colts!!!! Participation ribbons all around!
Still can’t believe grigson won exec of the year over Schneider.
Ryan learned from the best in Philly, old Howie was able to undermine Reid and Kelly which lead to their walking papers.
What a mess! Sounds Grigson is as bad a GM as Jerry is if not worse.
Poor Pagano, he deserves better. Any coach(even Bilichick) cannot succeed in such environment. Lets hope they keep Grigson for a long while.
At least they haven’t figured out yet that Grigson is a spy that answers to Belichick…
The OL is like turnstile. Our young QB is getting beaten to a pulp. So let’s draft a WR in the 1st round.
Maybe he should switch to coaching then because he’s a crappy gm and the reason luck is hurt.
Grigs won executive of the year because of Arians’ coaching, period.
The more Grigson got his hands on and molded this team, the worse it got.
#FireGrigson
If they didnt have Andrew Luck, Grigsons horrible drafts would be exposed even more. His drafts have been terrible (1st round pick on Werner??). He has failed to surround Luck with significant talent and the O Line is terrible
Colts are the dirtiest team in the NFL and deserve all the turmoil that happens to them.
Caught several times piping in phony crowd noise. There tape actually started to skip on live TV!
Tanked an entire season to secure the #1 pick during the infamous and blatantly obvious “Suck for Luck” campaign.
Lying on the injury report that went far beyond the normal gamesmanship. Broken ribs and lacerated kidneys?
Several teams have seen them with inflation needles on the sidelines. They even admitted that they tested the psi in the ball they intercepted in the AFCCG last season. That’s tampering according to the NFL.
They, along with Baltimore, instigated the whole Deflategate nonsense that was quickly debunked by science, the Wells Report and common sense.
Rule changes forced down the Competition Committee’s throat year after year, so that now DBs can’t even look sideways without getting a flag.
The owner is a world class boozehound and drug addict. The GM is a clueless liar.
Boo and hiss! Dirty, no class franchise!
Maybe he should have spent less time worrying about the Patriots & focusing on his own team. Bet he wishes now he never took that phone call from the Ravens. The framegate curse continues.
People who follow the league knew that Grigson is both incompetent and a tool even before this Kravitz expose. It’s kind of hard to miss.
Still, it doesn’t reflect well on Pagano to let himself be undermined by a non-football guy from the office. Makes him look weak. I think he’s a good guy with a half-decent football mind but this tells me he doesn’t have the stones required of a successful head coach in the NFL.
Dumb and dumber.
Fifth; Grigson is the low life. So proud of himself thinking he was setting up the SB Champions with his buddies at ESPN and NFL Park Avenue with manufactured and totally spurious allegations. Serves him right, he’ll be fired and he’ll be like Mangini and have that weasal reputation following him for the rest of his career. He’s peaked, it’s all down hill from here for Grigson.
Irsay way to hire GMs who think they are the coaches. Polian was similar and it’s common knowledge he was who put an end to the Colts going for the undefeated season in 2009.
Grigson is like that know it all uncle at the family reunion.
This org is so bad, you just can tell that, if they keep going the same direction, Pagano gets fired and Grigson stays — when it should be just the opposite.
And after Pag is gone, the other fifteen teams in the AFC will take a brief moment to cheer that Andrew Luck’s career is being wasted by two supreme idiots. Honestly, my teenage sister could do better.
Interesting that grown men (professionals???) act like this. I’d have expected such behavior to cease in middle school.
Saw bob kravitz stopped reading
Thank god he can blame “small balls” for his complete failure. Maybe Bill will give him a job taking care of his balls.
Going to be hard to find a quality HC to take that job.
Sounds like Roseman. Weasel
Let’s see – Grigson is the source of “Deflategate”, undermines his head coach, sucks up to the owner who seems clueless on how to run a business or franchise, makes horrible personnel decisions – and he is Irsay’s confidant? Peyton built the stadium; Grigson has made it the laughingstock of the NFL. Irsay, Steven Ross, Woody Johnson – the Moe, Larry and Curley of the NFL.
I wonder if Grigson learned his undermining skills from his old boss Howie Roseman.
Grigson is a vile little worm
Grigson, what a guy? Another bitter ex jet….
I believe that Pagano had a very tough situation BUT that fake punt against the Patriots was one of the dumbest things I have ever seen. I realize that the ball shouldn’t have been snapped but it is bad coaching no matter how you look at it.
Chuck is a class act and better than average coach. He was set up to fail by the Colts (as will the next coach).
Ha. I don’t think Grigson is a Belichick spy. He’s the one that instigated deflategate.
100 bucks says Kravitz’s mole is Chud.
uschawk says:
Dec 31, 2015 6:50 PM
Still can’t believe grigson won exec of the year over Schneider.
________________
Yeah, grigson was a brilliant exec of the year selection. After drafting the consensus #1 QB that irsay, polian and company tanked to get the ponies went 11-5. It was a ‘miraculous turnaround’ from an engineered disaster of their deliberate creation, lol.
Schneider on the other hand built an entire team, one that continues to ball on. That shows how ridiculous the Sporting News is.
Grigson deserves every thing he gets. Worst gm in NFL. Kravitz worst writer and irsay worst owner.
In addition to Pagano, Grigson undermined the future of his own franchise, the future of the Ravens franchise and the credibility of Mr. “Integrity” and the cadre of the former employees of the Nee York Jets that run the NFL.
The only coach I could think of that would work like that already works for the Cowboys.
That’s what happens when you screw with Belichick & Brady, just ask the Jets. Next comes the Ravens then ESPN
The guy kinda sounds like a jerk who isn’t all that good at his job.
We all know that’s the very worst kind of jerk.
He’ll get fired. He’ll be trying to work as an agent in a year.
I am continually amazed at how mediocre GMs are able to undermine and get coaches fired because they buddy up to the owner while the head coach is trying to, you know, coach. Schottenheimer gets fired after going 14-2 because of AJ Smith. Harbaugh, Reid, Kelly all fired in part by office politics. Pagano looks like the next victim. Amazing.
No coach of merit will bother calling on Indy as long as Grigson’s around.
Laughing at the pagano apologists. Fun n games until he coaches your team
With an owner like that, how could there possibly be any sort of internal dysfunction? Culture starts at the top. Irsay is the biggest problem in Indy.
As a non-Colts fan, I hope Grigson last another year, if not longer.
Welcome Indy to the ranks of the dysfunctional front office wrecking your team and blaming the coach for it. Coach Baalke did exactly the same to the 9ers. You got some long seasons ahead
This is what happens when you try to Shaft Belichick & Brady. Just ask the Jets. Next up is the Ravens then ESPN.
Grigson needs to be the one to go then
Good riddance to this buffoon. The Colts should let him keep the AFCG ball as a parting gift – you know the one – the only ball from the game that was significantly was significantly deflated. The only one that was ever in his possession during the game.
Miami is looking, and they see Indy cast off as an upgrade, somebody needs to save us from our owner and front office. Bill
Both stink. No leadership, no guts, and unfortunately that starts w irsay
How many times did Grigson soil himself this season?
Isn’t it weird how Pagano hired two guys who look similar to him in facial hair. He based his hirings off of facial hair look a likes and blames his losses on air pressure in footballs.
So he’s basically a husky version of Trent Baalke, got it.
Jim Irsay has a major decision to make. He needs to fire Pagano since Pagano’s contract runs through the League year – March of 2016. That means that the Colts would not know if they needed a new coach until all the good ones are gone. Pagano knew this and decided to force Irsay’s hand. Should Irsay also fire the sycophants who inhabit the front office? Grigson has become a caricature of a professional general manager, interfering with coaching and game time decisions. The key is that Irsay let the dysfunction reach epidemic proportions that have wrecked the team. Good luck Colts fans if he keeps Grigson. Remember, Luck is not signed long term. Sooner or later he will have a hand in determining the future. Maybe he has some idea of how to run a professional franchise. Indy cannot fire an owner.
butt kissing gets you farther than hard work
How does Kravitz have any credibility after Rogergate?
He didn’t just draft terribly for the most part
he also signed lots of veterans at high prices for depth–the colts are NOT a young team aside from the QB at all
He built an OL that managed to get three quarterbacks hurt enough to go on IR or miss games in one season. That has to be some kind of record.
He needs to built OL to protect luck and takes a WR in the 1st round last year that was hurt or ineffective most of this year.
Yes, no decent coach would ever want to work with Grigson. Getting caught lying about requesting the ball pressure check was also bad.
But Irsay can look at the numbers–if he thinks Grigson is doing a good job, he has to be back on heavy drugs.
That’s what happens when the owner spends more time passed out on the bathroom floor in a pool of his own piss than paying attention to his team…..
Grigson was just as bad as their last GM, Bill Polian. He’ll probably end up with one of those ugly yellow jackets that Polian wears. You know, the one with the initials HOF.
Grigson is not only a bad GM, he’s a bad human being.
It would be nice to see at least one of the DeflateGate clowns get his comeuppance.
My Arya Stark list:
Ryan Grigson
Mike Kensil
Troy Vincent
Roger Goodell
Ted Wells
Jeff Pash
Exponent
Jim Irsays a fool. I feel sorry for Colt fans.
if Grigson somehow stays, Luck leaves after next year…
Pagano should take whatever Ravens position coach job becomes available during the offseason
Hey Andrew, play out that rookie contract and come play for Bruce Arians at Arizona. The owner is sober, the GM isn’t a jackass and knows how to build a roster (even an OL!) and you’ve already thrived under Bruce once before. Now you know why John Elway didn’t want to play for Irsay Sr.
“pick during the infamous and blatantly obvious “Suck for Luck” campaign.”
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I don’t think they ever had control over winning and losing that season without Manning. Did you think Curtis Painter had more in him then that?
Grigson is weasel. But still not as big a weasel as Roseman. The weasel king.
Don’t know if the Josh Cribbs argument was just about punts specifically (where he did not do well) or being the return man in general, but he did lead the league in kick return average last year.
I love grigson. Best gm ever.
The picture above looks like two men in a mob outfit.
Sounds like Grigson studies from the A.J. Smith playbook.
I don’t see how Grigson survives after a report like this. The funniest part is how Grigson forced them to keep playing Trent Richardson so that epic failure of a trade didn’t reflect badly on him. Nobody is going to want to coach there. But you never know what a drug-addled, half-insane owner like Irsay is going to do.
rockvilleusa says:
The OL is like turnstile. Our young QB is getting beaten to a pulp. So let’s draft a WR in the 1st round.
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Sounds like Grigson is being mentored by Matt Millen. Colts fans … I feel your pain. The fact that Irsay likes this guy tells me everything I need to know.
Roseman protégée. Scary, they are multiplying.
I can understand bringing in players like Gore and Andre Johnson, but those guys are role players at this point in their careers, it seemed like he was bringing them in to be starters.
Some GMs get lucky and have a player like Luck, Manning, or an Adrian Peterson fall in their lap and those guys hang on to that for as long as they can. When you watch what kind of team they put together after that though those GMs can get exposed. GMs that know what they are doing like TT in GB, McKenzie in Oak, and Kelm in Ari. Sometimes it may not be flashy or uber exciting, but big Splash moves usually wind up backfiring
People remember the GM who is able to work with coaches, not the GM who thinks they are also a coach.
Hey Grigson, a new sheriff is coming to town. Saban is a Hoodie disciple, so pack your bags and slink off.
All you Indie fans get used to the idea of hearing your coach heap praise on the Master who trained him.
Kravitz and the rest of your media “experts” better learn to ask an intelligent question at Nick’s press conferences too.
Maybe Nick will rip the top off that dome so you learn to play like men in January.
Manning’s gagging legacy will be erased; Luck will learn greatness.
Your sons and grandsons will thank Belichick for lifting them from the shame of humiliation and participation banners.
Kravitz- Grigson- Pagano…The Three Stooges
He sounds like Roseman in Philly who wants to run everything and in the end will run their teams down the drain.
Grigson should be fire period, If Irsay have any sense he will fire him and keep Pagano and have him take control of he team on the field. He plays who ever he wants and handle down punishment when needed. Give him a chance to prove that he can handle the team and get a GM who knows what he is doing and keeping him off the field.
“a roster littered with bad draft picks and misguided free-agency decisions made by Grigson.”
That’s all a jury would need to hear.
Not even a fan of the Colts here but, I don’t need Kravitz to tell there is something woefully wrong in that FO.
Looks like Kenny Powers is in that pic.
“any coach with options will opt not to come to Indianapolis as long as Grigson remains employed there.”
Wow – what a statement. I wonder what true Colt fans think of Grigson.
With any luck the Lions will hire him.
Remember, Grigson is the idiot who traded away a #1 pick for Trent Richardson. Go figure. An already prove bust in Cleveland (Cleveland, no less) and Grigson gives up a #1.
Dont care a penny about this team, but the dolts are a half minded team. Reason being there owner is a junky.
Grigson is still better than Ray Farmer. Just sayin’
Grigson just looks like a dumb tard with rocks for brains. How do some of these morons get jobs as nfl GMs????
Bob Kravitz ….. that pillar of journalistic integrity.
Right.
Even a micro manager doesn’t want to be micro managed.
The colts are a mess ! He’s should have been fired for the Richardson trade! Losers!
Is there any doubt as to why Luck desperately wants out of Indy?
Grigson was trained by the best coach underminer in the business…..Howie Roseman.
Grigson is a lying scumbag. So he definitely qualifies for a high level job in the NFL office.
The unraveling of the Colts is popcorn-worthy.
The Irsay-Grigson duo is good for the Colts and good for the NFL. Imagine the alternative, that they had surrounded Andrew Luck with a Dallas-type OL and methodically built the defense?
Instead they traded for Trent Richardson and drafted Bjoern Werner and (is it Philip?) Dorsett.
Wow.
…..Pagano cant get out of Indy quick enough….he’ll be hired within a week to some other NFL team that wants a good head couch.
Most issues boil down to simple miscommunication and poor comprehension, and the Irsay-Grigson interface is just an acute example. Like when Grigson misunderstood Irsay’s simple-worded demands:
1) “AIR. THE. BALL. OUT. MORE!!” and,
2) “STOP. PLAYING. SMALL-BALL!!”
Grigson heard the words and thought he understood, and dumbly complied. Or maybe Irsay was still high and just said it wrong – same result. And people wonder why Pagano says this is his last coaching job…
bearflagfan says:
Dec 31, 2015 8:14 PM
I am continually amazed at how mediocre GMs are able to undermine and get coaches fired because they buddy up to the owner while the head coach is trying to, you know, coach. Schottenheimer gets fired after going 14-2 because of AJ Smith. Harbaugh, Reid, Kelly all fired in part by office politics. Pagano looks like the next victim. Amazing.
No coach of merit will bother calling on Indy as long as Grigson’s around.
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Andy’s time was up with the Eagles when he was fired. Both he and the team knew it was time for changes and he was only out of work for a few days.
Grigson on the other hand if this is true may have set the Colts back a long time.
So Howie Roseman-like?
When the 2014 season ended and the whole world saw Luck trying to put up 50 per game with a weak run game and bad oline because the D was horrendous, and they had their first draft meeting and Grigson said lets take a receiver in the first! Thats when he should have been forcibly escorted off the campus by security.
Does it require any brain to pull off sucks-for-Luck? It only requires lack of integrity. Grigson needs to go. May be he find a job working for Goodell.
When do Luck’s and Nick Saban’s contracts run out? Maybe it’s the same time that Brady and Belichick decide to hang ’em up?
Just sayin’.
Karma….bee atch
Throw an entire season…….pay the piper.
Roger’s integrity schtick…….selective enforcement
This GM is pure garbage. I can only hope the Colts keep him so there will be several more years of mediocrity. However if he does lose his job it will be what is well deserved. We can all hope that he never finds another job in the NFL.
Luck should never sign another contract with that team. Play out your contract and go to free agency where you can pick a team that has the supporting front office and offensive players you need to be a success. Any other option with Indy should not be considered.
ocgunslinger says:
Jan 1, 2016 9:45 AM
Luck should never sign another contract with that team. Play out your contract and go to free agency where you can pick a team that has the supporting front office and offensive players you need to be a success. Any other option with Indy should not be considered.
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It’s almost depressing to see the way the Colts have run that young man into the ground and likely taken a few years off his career. On top of that, they relied too much on his own talents and haven’t developed him properly so he has actually regressed in some ways. Just a mess.
Once Pagano called Belichick and apologized for the cooked-up scheme know as “deflategate”,his days were numbered in Infy. At least he recognized the long term ramifications and the backlash of that fraudulent endeavor. Grigson will never live it down
So, how did that witch hunt work out for you?
Is this any way to treat the hero of Deflategate??
irsay should hire mike shanahan to run this entire outfit with personnel control. he runs the perfect offense for a guy with the skill set like andrew luck has. hes aknown winner, and washington tenure was a joke. im a pats fan, and can tell you that shanny is a bulldog of a coach that gets great results from his players. not many teams had the pats number the way the broncos did under mike shanahan.
I love when an incompetent meddling owner bonds with an incompetent meddling GM and both blame everyone else but themselves for the poor performance. They squandered a decade and a half with one of the greatest QBs ever and it appears they’re well on their way to a repeat performance.
Grigson would make a perfect lackey for Blindino at 345 Park Ave.
How is it that ignorance, arrogance and sleaze all come together too often in NFL front offices? These are such highly sought and powerful positions that I can’t imagine any owner tolerating less than the absolute best. Unless of course the owner is ignorant, arrogant and sleazy himself.
And the Patriots Karma train continues….
grigson – upset the football world by micromanaging his “small balls” in the AFCCG then hanging a banner about the 45-7 thrashing his team took.
Here’s hoping he’s around for a long time in the AFC micromanaging things.
Maybe Pagano or Kelly will go to the niners
The Turk is coming for you Grigson. He’ll be wearing a black hoodie this time.