Reverse: Chuck Pagano goes from hot seat to four-year contract extension

Chicago Bears: Bears general manager Ryan Pace stressed Monday that the team desperately needs to acquire playmakers on both sides of the football.

It was a odd day around the Colts on Monday.

The team obviously reversed course though because they made the announcement that Pagano had agreed to an extension at 9:40 p.m. ET.

Quarterback Ryan Lindley, who was added to the Indianapolis roster last week as well, was also signed to a contract through the 2016 season.

“I’m convinced that we have the right stuff going forward to win a world championship”.

“Ryan and I met, and Chuck and I met, and then Ryan and Chuck had a long meeting”, ” Irsay said.

If Pagano had to argue his case for staying to Irsay, he had a strong one. 641 winning percentage ranks fourth among active head coaches in the NFL.

“We’re going to have to get probably a little bit younger going forward and that sort of thing, but we’re excited about the future”, Irsay stated.

In the wake of the Titans game, Pagano reviewed the season and how his team battled through adversity. It is worth mentioning that the team played most of the season without their starting quarterback Andrew Luck and Matt Hasselbeck had to take over the QB role for the Colts.

“If you think I’m going to let someone bully my head coach, you’re wrong”, Irsay said. Richardson lasted just two games into his second season with the Browns before it became clear to even them that he had weight and commitment issues. At the same time, you’ve got to be patient, you’ve got to listen to the doctors and you’ve got to go through the protocol so to speak.

From a player standpoint, the decision to keep Pagano makes sense.

Colts players have a lot of respect for Pagano (many tweeted their excitement over the news that Pagano would stay), who built a good reputation as a defensive assistant with the Baltimore Ravens before Indianapolis hired him. FS Dwight Lowery, SS Mike Adams and Major League Baseball D, Qwell Jackson also intercepted a pass and returned it for a touchdown this season. “And we’ve had some good ones… but this one, you are going to look back on this one and say, ‘all the adversity, all the obstacles and you never quit'”.

“I will fight my a- off to be the coach here”, he told reporters Wednesday. I hope that the number of wins Pagano has is not the main reason why Irsay made a decision to extend him. “It’s a great, great day”.

Luck is under contract until the end of the year and when asked if he would be willing to sign a long-term deal, the 26-year-old said: “Yeah that would be great”.

So it went. The owner steadfast in his conviction and steadfastly embracing Pagano and Grigson.

Jim Irsay is absolutely right to suggest that this new era of Colts football is off to a more successful on-field start than the previous era of Colts football, but he’s completely inaccurate in saying that Ryan Grigson has “outdone” Bill Polian while doing so. Hamilton, who was hired in 2013, was sacked by the Colts in November and replaced by Rob Chudzinski, the man Pagano originally wanted for the job.