Indianapolis Colts fire GM Ryan Grigson, keep coach Chuck Pagano

The Indianapolis Colts announced that they had fired general manager Ryan Grigson earlier today. Owner Jim Irsay held a press conference to discuss the firing and future direction for the team.

Following the firing the GM Ryan Grigson, all eyes turned to who owner Jim Irsay would hire to run his team. The Colts will conduct a search for a new GM and Jimmy Raye will take over the day-to-day operations for the time being. Raye will also interview for the position, but Irsay promised an extensive search.

Irsay praised Grigson as a man and for his accomplishments over the past five seasons. He noted that the Colts hadn’t had a losing season in that time but felt it was the right time to move in a new direction.

Irsay was asked about the rumors around Peyton Manning being brought back into the fold. Irsay was dismissive of those assertions, saying that Manning wasn’t even a year removed from retirement and didn’t feel ready to take on this role. Irsay said he’s been a sounding board for Manning, but it hasn’t progressed much past that.

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Irsay was also asked about former GM and Hall of Famer Bill Polian. He said that the two still speak as friends, but he doesn’t see any role for Polian in the administration going forward.

Irsay stated that coach Chuck Pagano would be the coach in 2017, but that a new GM would likely decide his fate after that. Irsay also said that he had a long discussion with Pagano about what has to be done better moving forward. At the same time, Irsay denied any rumors about potentially bringing in Jon Gruden as the future head coach of the team.

This time last year, Irsay stated that Grigson and Pagano were joined at the hip, but now we know that isn’t true. Irsay said that he untied them because it was in the best interest of the franchise. Both have their flaws and hopefully this will lead to a more positive direction for the team.

It is important to take Irsay’s words with a grain of salt. It was reported earlier this week that Grigson’s job was completely safe.

Irsay closed by saying that he had a list of candidates and that he was open to adding people to his pool of potential interviewees. He said that the people weren’t high profile names, but that it was always shifting.

The direction for the Colts heading into 2017 is about as murky as it was before the Grigson firing. There should be news coming from the team in the coming weeks about a new team manager.

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