REPORT: Chuck Pagano Will be Fired by Colts

In what seemed like a foregone conclusion, and NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport is now reporting that the Colts are expected to fire Chuck Pagano after Sunday’s game.

Colts fans have been waiting for this day for about a year, or maybe even longer.

Sunday’s game against the Texans signals the Colts’ final game of the 2017 season, and the final game of Chuck Pagano’s tenure in Indianapolis. Ian Rapoport’s reporting that the Colts have decided to finally seal the kiss of death for Coach Pagano.

Rapoport wrote up a column on NFL.com, which detailed each of the AFC coaches on the hot seat. This article comes just before “Black Monday”, which refers to the Monday after each team’s final game on Sunday when coaches are normally fired.

"“Coach Chuck Pagano is expected to coach his last game on Sunday. Sources say Indianapolis will be looking for a new coach, which will be general manager Chris Ballard’s first hire,” wrote Rapoport."

We’ll also take a closer look at the candidates Rapoport told Colts fans to keep an eye on.

Chuck Pagano’s poor record this season, without Andrew Luck, has given Chris Ballard a perfectly sound reason to hire him. Especially when many of the Colts’ losses in 2017 have come due to second-half meltdowns that are normally blamed on the coaching staff.

Next: Andrew Luck Addresses Media After Returning from Europe

Rapoport wrote that Andrew Luck’s presence in the organization makes this an attractive job for the prospective next head coach. Even with Luck’s disturbing injury history of the past few seasons, he’s proven that he can be a franchise quarterback when healthy.

This will be Chris Ballard’s biggest decision of his young career of being an NFL general manager. He’s done a solid job in Indianapolis so far, let’s see if he can find the right coach to lead this team.

Here are the possible (and hopeful) candidates we’ve profiled thus far: