Raiders fire Del Rio; Colts let Pagano go
Oakland Raiders coach Jack Del Rio was fired Sunday after his third year when the impressive turnaround job he engineered for his hometown team collapsed with a disappointing six-win season.
Del Rio said owner Mark Davis told him after the team’s season-ending 30-10 loss to the Chargers at StubHub Center that he would not be retained as coach. Del Rio signed a four-year contract extension last February after Oakland ended a 13-year playoff drought with a 12-win season.
The Raiders followed that up by becoming one of the league’s disappointing teams. Oakland went 6-10 for the second-biggest one-season drop in wins in franchise history, leading to Del Rio’s firing and raising speculation that former coach Jon Gruden could be in line for a second stint as Raiders coach.
Gruden was traded by the Raiders to Tampa Bay after the 2001 season and beat Oakland for the Super Bowl title the following season. He was fired by the Buccaneers after the 2008 season and has been in the broadcast booth since then. ESPN reported Saturday that the Raiders were interested in bringing Gruden back.
The Indianapolis Colts fired coach Chuck Pagano, less than two hours after they ended a 4-12 season with a 22-13 victory over Houston. The move comes after Indianapolis missed the playoffs for the third straight season, the team’s longest drought since a seven-season absence from 1988 to 1994. With quarterback Andrew Luck missing the entire 2017 season with injuries, 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 job as head coach with a 56-46 record, including a 3-3 mark in the playoffs.
Houston Texans general manager Rick Smith said he would take an immediate extended leave of absence to help his wife battle breast cancer. Houston (4-12) lost its final six games of the season and nine of its last 10, prompting speculation there may be a shakeup in the front office, on the coaching staff or both. Smith called the decision “extremely difficult” and acknowledged he still wants to bring Houston a championship.