Before Sunday’s games kicked off, there were reports on both FOX and CBS concerning Colts coach Chuck Pagano.
Pagano’s contract is up after the 2015 season and Jason LaCanfora of CBS reported that people close to Pagano believe “it’s inevitable he’ll be coaching elsewhere” next season. Jay Glazer of FOX reported that Colts players are confused by Pagano’s lame duck status and owner Jim Irsay faced questions about the reports after Sunday’s 27-14 loss in Buffalo.
Irsay said that it “couldn’t be further from the truth” that Pagano is already on his way out in Indy and denied that there was a rift between the coach and General Manager Ryan Grigson. Irsay went on to say he was “shocked” to hear the reports because Pagano isn’t coaching for his job.
“I don’t look at it that way at all,” Irsay said, via the Indianapolis Star. “Whenever these guys are in coaching, as players, everyone has to win. I mean that’s a given. I don’t look at it like he’s coaching for his job or anything like that. I don’t see the dynamic being anything different than any other year in the past, to be honest with you.”
You can define it semantically any way you like, but Pagano doesn’t have a contract for next season so he’s either coaching for his job or the Colts have already decided to move on to another coach. If it’s the former, Sunday’s game won’t help him much although Grigson deserves no small measure of blame for the performance of a roster short on quality offensive linemen and defensive playmakers.