The Indianapolis Colts have announced that the team has reached a contract extension with head coach Chuck Pagano in a bizarre turn of events:
The #Colts reached a contract extension with head coach Chuck Pagano. wow.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 5, 2016
In fact, NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport is reporting that both Pagano and general manager Ryan Grigson will remain with the team going forward:
Everyone will return for the #Colts. That's coach Chuck Pagano AND GM Ryan Grigson.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 5, 2016
While details have yet to be announced, Pagano is set to have a late 10:30 PM press conference with the team.
Last week, Pagano said he was going to “fight his ass off” for the job. Well, that’s exactly what he did–as his team had an improbable victory against the Tennessee Titans to finish 8-8 on the season.
Of course, fighting is nothing new for Pagano, as the Colts head coach fought off leukemia in 2012 only to follow with 3 consecutive 11 win seasons with the team–having never missed the playoffs until this season.
Still, it’s a surprise turn of events to say the least, as Pagano had been widely reported over the past few weeks to be an eventual coaching casualty. In fact, it was expected that it was pretty much a foregone conclusion that Pagano would be coaching elsewhere next season.
Still, owner Jim Irsay apparently saw enough from Pagano, finishing .500–despite playing 9 games without star quarterback Andrew Luck to warrant keeping him around for the foreseeable future.
That, and his players and the locker room continued to stand by him throughout the entire process.