Chuck Pagano is as full of reality as he is cliches.
So while the Colts head coach seems to get that he’s on something less than stable professional footing, he said he’s not going to let it dominate his mindset for the last three weeks of the season.
“It’s perspective,” Pagano said, via Stephen Holder of the Indianapolis Star. “As long as you’re on this side of the dirt, you’re not guaranteed anything. You know that. We’re all on one-day contracts. We’ve said it a million times. That’s what it is. You’re not guaranteed anything. You get today and we’re going to go after today like no other day. And when we get tomorrow, we’re going to do the same thing.
“Control what you can control. Whatever happens, happens.”
While that answer contains more bons mots than a mall poster kiosk, it’s also a decent reflection of where they are.
The Colts are 3-10. They hired a new General Manager (Chris Ballard) last year in charge of rebuilding the place, one with no link to Pagano. Pagano is 52-41 overall, but 19-26 the last three seasons (after a pair of 8-8s and this disaster, which largely coincides with quarterback Andrew Luck’s shoulder going on the fritz).
So he fully understands the talk about hot seats. He’s just not giving into it.
“You know what you got into,” Pagano said. “It’s all I’ve known forever. The shelf life for these jobs is not long. So you embrace every single opportunity, every single day, every single game. To get to go to practice with these guys and grind and work and compete and go play games, it’s a blessing. You can’t sit and worry about it.
“I’m good.”
While that’s likely a temporary diagnosis, it at least applies to today. Which is all Pagano’s worrying about, because it’s all he can control, because he’s going to keep chopping wood. Or something.