Yep, that celebration was short lived.

Excited about Ballard... hope Chuck is shown the door

Yes, they are better, but they could be even better by canning Pags. Anyone who watched Colt games the past 2 years knows that Pags is not a good NFL coach, he sucks. Both Griggs and Pags needed to be shown the door at the same time. I've come to have great distain for Pags who continually throws everyone under the bus to save his own ass.

I just can't stomach that we will likely suffer through another miserable season with Pagano on the sidelines.

Even better news if Pagano is gone soon... piss poor coach

Why are they keeping the clapper around? the in-game management buffooneries was all on him. I mean, grigson was a turd banger, but pagano is a shit head coach. Put us in the AFC east, North, or West and we would have won five games last year. an 8-8 record with luck should save not his ass. "ROLL UP THE SLEEVES" bullshit. I am through with hearing that. Working hard without results = out of a job.

Yep, should have fired Pags after the Jags blew us out of the building a couple years ago, or when he pulled that stupid punt play against the Pats or even when we split with the horrible Jags this past season. Not sure what Irsay sees in Pagano at all. Hopefully Ballard can show Irsay the error of his ways.

I would sit him down in front of a tv and play those egregious plays for him. once the tape stopped, I'd say, "no questions. Mine have already been answered, you're fired".

From everything I've heard around league last few years, seems like a slam-dunk hire. Honestly, KC is a good QB away from being a top 3 team in the league. They've done incredibly well to stock both defense (and specifically, defensive playmakers) and offense (specifically weapons at skill positions), and always have a dynamic return game. Ballard seems to have a good eye for playmakers in general, which the Colts obviously lack.

Definitely would be curious to learn more about the best returner prospects in this year's draft. Have to think they'll be on Ballard's radar big time.

Don't get sticking with Pagano. Think you're delaying the inevitable there. Don't see the sense in wasting another year with someone who isn't the long-term solution.

I just can't believe Ballard would be ok with keeping Pags. I bet a change is made this week.

Nah, no way someone of Ballard's intelligence would agree to be saddled with that imbecile. An change is coming shortly.

We can only hope. This is Ballard's first true test as GM.

No doubt. Obviously, Irsay insisted on keeping Pags. The question is, WHY? WTF is he smoking?

I've got a bad feeling we're stuck with Pagano for one more miserable year.

Why would someone of Ballard's supposed caliber agree to it?

If we keep Pagano why? Clock management (for the life of me, I don't get why this is so difficult) and the crappy starts to games drive me crazy. Maybe Pagano isn't responsible for that, but if not him then who? On the other hand, it is difficult to evaluate a coach who has to coach such lousy players as Grigson gave him. T Rich, B Werner were not crappy players because of coaching. I have to think that the play of the offensive line the last quarter of the year had something to do with this. Irsay loves continuity and may not want to bring on a new system for these young players to learn. I can't put a lot of blame for the defense on Pagano. He had no players worth a damn (I know, there are a few). At least Grigson is gone. If Ballard can get us some ballers then maybe we can evaluate Pagano more fairly. It gives me some hope that Belichick was 41-55 his first six years and won one playoff game. At least I have some hope, something I had zero of 2 weeks ago.

from everything I have read, this should be a good hire.

now that coaching thing...

Maybe he figured it was worth it to get a job with a franchise qb already in place. That's by far the hardest part to find. He figures, I can ride Pags one more year and if he fails, it won't be held against me. Then I can get rid of him and get my own guy.

Sucks for us as fans but I can see why Ballard would do it.

I wonder if they think its too late to put together the staff they would want.

I think that irsay feels he owes it to pagano for some reason which is stupid.

Fire Pagano, hire Toub, keep the rest of the staff on offense, get a new DC. Continuity on offense, but a change in culture and on defense. Problem solved. Is anyone on the offensive side really going to leave in protest because Pagano is fired?

This is just so weird.

Did Irsay insist on Pagano and Ballard just decided that the job with the Colt sis so great that he'll live with such a ridiculous demand? I mean, this guy turned down an interview with the 49ers, so he seems like he was picky about his job.

Did Ballard just decide that Pagano is a worthy candidate for hire? I guess if there's one thing Pagano does do well, it's interview for his own job. He apparently sold Irsay quite well in 2012, he got him to extend him after the 2015 season and he apparently duped Ballard as well? The Chiefs whooped our asses 30-14 at home this year, it's not like Ballard would have come away from them game impressed by what he saw from the opposing sideline.

Is this just them making nice before he's evaluated/possibly fired? I mean, okay fine, but they could have toned the rhetoric a bit. Jim Caldwell thought he was staying in 2012, but if there's one thing that Irsay/Grigson did right, they weren't talking about him publicly being back. If Pagano is canned, this will be an abrupt about-face and the Colts will likely face come PR backlash for it (which I would argue would be certainly worth it).

Like I said, this is just...weird...

It really can't be that he feels he owes Pagano anything, he'll have to pay him for the next three years!! Could it be that he thinks Pagano is a good coach?? That's a scary thought!!

who knows what happened in their therapy sessions.

I read he wants to stay in a smaller market in the midwest. Besides, who would really want to go to the dumpster fire that is the 49ers? (besides lynch)

Irsay can still say that at the time, pagano was the coach, thus his statement. however, in talking with the new GM they felt it was best to make a change now blah blah blah... the question is, will they do it?!

That first part is my theory. And honestly, this team isn't winning the Super Bowl next year even if they had Bill Walsh on the sideline. This offseason is about bringing in talent to get back to the postseason. 2018 is the first realistic year for a new title window.

Do I wish a change were made? Yes. Do I think it'll make much of a difference on the 2017 result? Not really.

Why not plow through some of the growing pains of a new coaching staff this year then?

Absolutely on point, why waste TWO more years!!

Same here but anyone that would think that Pagano is a capable NFL coach leads me to question if he knows what he is even looking at.

The first move Ballard should make is dumping the clapper. It's not like Pagano is Tom Landry & Jerry Jones waited abut 10 seconds before he replaced him.

Stroking?

Also, what if this team gets to 10 wins (not unrealistic at all with a non-idiot providing another idiot with talent) and we suddenly have this unfounded renewed confidence in Pagano?

I'm not convinced that this would be a lameduck year in which Ballard could just fire Pagano afterwards. We very possibly could go back to being 11-5 but seriously flawed and unfit to make it to the Super Bowl (2012-2014), and Pagano would survive based off of that.

Exactly. The talent level was high enough that it masked Pagano's coaching deficiencies some. The talent level going down revealed the truth, just as it was revealed how overmatched he is whenever we got into one of those blowouts like against the Rams a few years ago, or when we played the Pats in the playoffs.

I think that is what Irsay is banking on.

They should hire Toub and make him Associate HC so he can help with decision making and move him into the permanent position as soon as Pags calls another dumb play

That would be a great idea ... :cool:

That's creating another toxic situation. Could you effectively do your job with a gun to your head? Having the obvious new HC in the building isn't fair to Pagano, however much he sucks. Just fire the guy and be done with it. Stop dicking around, Irsay!

Nope So maybe Pags will quite... not working to get rid of him any other way

Why would he quit when he's getting paid? I wonder what his contract stipulations are regarding payment if he's fired or if he just up and quit. Isn't he under contract for 3 more years anyway?

True

Adam Schefter ‏@AdamSchefter 31m31 minutes ago
A presser today, but Colts GM Chris Ballard intends to keep HC Chuck Pagano for 2017, then re-evaluate for 2018, per league sources.

I mean, maybe since he's new, he doesn't feel like his first order of business should be firing the head coach, regardless of how terrible he may be?