Will Indianapolis Colts fire Chuck Pagano before Week 15?
By Josh Hill
The Colts are a disaster, but is it finally time for Jim Irsay to fire Chuck Pagano?
Once the narrative in Indianapolis shifted earlier in the season from whether or not the team would make the Super Bowl to whether or not they would even make the playoffs, we could all feel the tension starting to build. There had already been animosity between head coach Chuck Pagano and owner Jim Irsay, but there hadn’t been sufficient grounds to fire the head coach until this year.
In each of the years the Colts have had Andrew Luck, they’ve made it deeper and deeper into the postseason, riding the wave all the way to the AFC Championship Game last year. But in less than a year, the narrative has shifted from being about the Colts and Deflategate to Pagano being out of a job.
Zak Keefer of the Indianapolis Star wondered aloud whether or not the most recent loss to the Jaguars was damning enough for the team to fire Pagano much like Orsay did to Jim Caldwell back in 2011.
On the surface, this seems to be something that almost needs to happen. There is a personal attachment to Pagano in Indy, but we need to separate emotion and profession when making decisions like this. The Colts are a rancid dumpster fire of awfulness right now, but is firing Pagano really the right move?
Not having Andrew Luck on the field has crippled the Colts, and while Pagano has battled back from his own health issues in the past — he’s not a Witch Doctor able to conjure up some miracle sure for what ails Luck. Not having your franchise quarterback leading the team is a detriment, but it’s also not like Luck was having that great of success when healthy either.
The real head of the snake is general manager Ryan Grigson. He’s the one who has filled the Colts roster with aging veterans and players they don’t really need while neglecting building up an offensive line that can protect Luck and make sure he doesn’t lacerate his spleen. Luck suffered injuries you sustain in serious car accidents — that’s how well put together his frontline protection is.
Usually when you replace a GM, the head coach is gone as well. That’s not anything Irsay will lose sleep over, as it’s clear he doesn’t want Pagano in charge anymore. But if he really wants to fix the Colts, he needs to get rid of Grigson first and then let the chips fall where they may with Pagano and whoever may be available on the coaching market this offseason.
As far as firing your head coach while you’re still in the hunt for a division title — that’s too rock and roll crazy even for Jim Irsay.