Indianapolis gives Pagano, Grigson contract extensions

The Indianapolis Colts could very well be on the verge of firing head coach Chuck Pagano after an 8-8 season that will have the Colts sitting home for the playoffs for the first time since 2011.

How much longer he’ll have it is unclear.

Colts owner Jim Irsay woke up on Monday morning hopeful that he could keep his head coach.

Coach Pete Carroll said on his radio show that Lynch was back at the team’s facility after missing the final seven games of the regular season and undergoing abdominal surgery. But the delay renewed hope among Pagano’s biggest supporters that he could come back.

Irsay didn’t see a need for change either, which turned out to be great news for Pagano.

“To sit there and go 5-3 with Matt Hasselbeck at quarterback and then to pull off, I don’t know if this has ever happened before in the history of the National Football League, where you bring in two guys off the street and basically get three days to prepare these guys and go win a football game”, Pagano said. I tried to do everything that I talked about early with these guys when the change was made.

One fan held a sign that read “Chuckstrong”, a phrase that was used during Pagano’s battle with leukemia in 2012.

Irsay said Pagano insisted that he and Grigson remained “tied at the hip” and Grigson was also given a new contract extension.

A lot of that friction stems from the fact that Pagano has no say over personnel and didn’t even get to pick his own staff. When the Colts hired Pep Hamilton as offensive coordinator, they did it because Grigson wanted him, not Pagano.

Following Sunday’s victory, longtime pass rusher Robert Mathis walked over to Pagano, handed him a game ball and gave him a hug in a mostly somber-looking room that included Irsay and one of his daughters. They also point to poor play calls, continual penalties, turnovers and a series of questionable decisions such as the bungled fake punt against New England.

It’s not the first time that Irsay has taken a slight shot at one of the franchise’s former greats, as beloved quarterback Peyton Manning has been the recipient of some past unprovoked comments. On Thursday, he issued a statement denying reports that anybody’s fate had been decided.

Recently signed Freeman and Lindley each threw one first-half touchdown pass, and a third-quarter defensive score gave Indy all the scoring it needed to beat Tennessee 30-24.

Pagano’s original contract expired at the end of this season and he reportedly had several meetings with the team to discuss his future.

With the Colts keeping Pagano and the Titans apparently not inclined to look elsewhere, there’s really only one current vacancy for a team with a great quarterback. “As far as our goals, I feel like we got a lot of that accomplished”. Through this season, which became trying and disappointing, he’s always been sort of a bastion of whatever that is of a good coach.

Pagano, 55, and the Colts dealt with adversity all season.

Pagano finished 11-5 in each of his first three seasons with the Colts and is 44-26 overall, including the postseason.

Unfortunately for Johnson and the Indianapolis Colts, they’ve been eliminated from the Playoff picture.