5 candidates to replace Chuck Pagano, Nick Saban leads the way

If Chuck Pagano is fired by the Colts, then who are the five best candidates to replace him?

The Indianapolis Colts came into the 2015 NFL season with enormous expectations; there were several people around the league who considered the Colts a contender to emerge from the AFC and play in the Super Bowl. However, things have been much less glamorous than that for Indianpolis this season as they’ve simply struggled to stay atop the worst division in the NFL.

While part of the problem may have been the fact that their star quarterback in Andrew Luck has been banged up to varying degrees throughout the season, but a bulk of the blame has fallen on head coach Chuck Pagano. Pagano hasn’t done an adequate job of making adjustments this season or in terms of even simpler things like clock-management and so on.

The blame has fallen so hard on Pagano that he’s been considered to be on the hot seat in Indy for several weeks now. Even after a big win over the Denver Broncos in Week 9, Pagano’s job security remains low. So low, in fact, that reports surfaced on Thursday that Colts owner Jim Irsay is still seriously considering firing both Pagano and general manager Ryan Grigson.

These reports concerning Irsay’s potential plans for Pagano in the Colts stem from the fact that the Colts owner doesn’t believe that the current head coach has what it takes to take the team to the next level. With a franchise player in Luck playing quarterback, it’s Super Bowl or bust for the Colts in the mind of Irsay and he doesn’t believe that Pagano is the coach that will get the team to the pinnacle of the NFL.

It’s worth noting that these reports regarding Irsay’s feelings about Pagano are from Bob Kravitz. Kravitz is the same Indianapolis-based journalist that first reported the Deflategate scandal. Though that report took on a life of its own after Kravitz’s initial findings, that does give this report regarding Pagano a bit more credibility than it would coming from another source.

Now the speculative question is who Irsay would potentially bring in if he were to actually part ways with Pagano. There are always potential coaching candidates to be found in both the NFL and in the college ranks. However, Irsay’s mentality regarding his team’s success indicates that he’ll be looking to hit a home run with a new hire rather than give someone a chance to prove themselves. With that in mind, these five coaches would have to be on Irsay’s list to replace Pagano as the head coach of the Indianapolis Colts.

Next: No. 5 Nick Saban