The Times Herald (Norristown, PA)
Colts fire coach Chuck Pagano after 4-12 season
INDIANAPOLIS » The Indianapolis Colts fired coach Chuck Pagano on Sunday, less than two hours after they ended a 4-12 season with a 22-13 victory over Houston.
Team owner Jimmy Irsay made the announcement in a statement, wishing Pagano and his wife well in the future.
The move comes after Indy missed the playoffs for the third straight year, the team’s longest postseason drought since a seven-season absence from 1988-94.
With Andrew Luck missing the entire 2017 season, Indy never had a chance. The Colts wound up with their first losing season since 2011, their second since 2002, and the first in Pagano’s six seasons as coach.
Pagano finished his first head coaching job with a 56-46 record, including a 3-3 mark in the playoffs.
The Colts started fast under Pagano, making the playoffs each of his first three seasons while advancing one step deeper each time.
Indy made one of the greatest one-season turnarounds in league history in 2012 as Pagano battled leukemia, then captured AFC South titles in 2013 and 2014. They advanced as far as the AFC championship game following the 2014 season, before losing at New England in what was dubbed the “Deflategate” game. to need it. We want this to be a place where no team comes in with any kind of hope. We’re going to need our fan base to do that.”
If you don’t want to believe that, embrace the power of Bradley Cooper, the diehard Eagles fan who grew up in Jenkintown. If the Rams or any playoff team think the road through Philly is going to be a cakewalk, regardless of the quarterback, bring it on.
“You want to know the best way to shut a loudmouth up?” Cooper said in an Eagles commercial. “Shut it for them.”
The Eagles are in the best position they can be to do that. Contact Bob Grotz at bgrotz@21stcenturymedia.com; follow him on Twitter @ BobGrotz.