Irsay was unsure if he would keep Pagano and Grigson on Black Monday

[SkyBane]

http://www.stampedeblue.com/2016/2/4/10917128/jim-irsay-no-one-knew-how-black-monday-was-going-to-turn-out-for-colts-chuck-pagano-ryan-grigson

 

Irsay says he wanted to keep them, but wasn't sure if they could work out their tiff. He saw enough through the long conversations on Black Monday to have the papers drawn up for extensions.

[BProland85]

Let's hope they can work in harmony. Or else it could really set this franchise back.

[Fx Stryker]

Let's hope it works out. I have a feeling it's going to become a bad relationship again once they disagree.

[BProland85]

17 minutes ago, Fx Stryker said:

Let's hope it works out. I have a feeling it's going to become a bad relationship again once they disagree.

 

If one of them goes, I still hope it's Grigson. Irsay cannot let this relationship deteriorate at all. The minute their relationship becomes toxic again, Irsay must have a plan in place.

[OffensivelyPC]

13 hours ago, BProland85 said:

 

If one of them goes, I still hope it's Grigson. Irsay cannot let this relationship deteriorate at all. The minute their relationship becomes toxic again, Irsay must have a plan in place.

There's virtually no scenario where Pagano stays and Grigson goes.  5-8 years is plenty enough time to decide whether you've got a permanent guy or not.  If the GM goes, Irsay will really limit his pool of GM candidates by retaining Pagano (unless he's going to give Pagano GM duties, which would be a colossal mistake).  It could be Grigson stays and Pagano goes (and even then, I don't know that that's true), but it almost never works the other way around. 

[Bravo]

With success comes happiness.

 

If the team is successful I don't see there being many problems between them. If there is another bad year then I could see them drifting apart again.

 

However I do think that Grigson and Pagano realize that they are more than gone if the bad relationship continues. There is less pressure on them this time around. They both obviously have winning in mind and I actually think it will work out this time. 

 

 

[LJpalmbeacher2]

13 hours ago, BProland85 said:

 

If one of them goes, I still hope it's Grigson. Irsay cannot let this relationship deteriorate at all. The minute their relationship becomes toxic again, Irsay must have a plan in place.

 

I respectfully disagree.

Griggs is capable of getting lucky and hitting on draft picks/free agents. Pagano, imo, is not capable of coaching consistently at a championship level.

[Thewholefnshow28]

I hope that they worked it out like Irsay said because if they do not we are going to waste another 2-3 years of Luck's career.

 

I just do not see how you can work out the issues those two had in a single day of meetings.  I am sure Irsay made his point, but relationships just do not magically mend in a few meetings.  The true test will come via free agency or the draft when these guys actually disagree.  

 

If they ever do get rid of Grigson that pretty much means Pagano will be on his way out.  No GM is going to come in here and be fine with Irsay saying oh your coach is already here so get to picking players.  GMs want their own guys in there since they are tied at the hip.  My guess is if things do not work out Irsay will just have to let both go.

[chrisfarley]

15 hours ago, Fx Stryker said:

Let's hope it works out. I have a feeling it's going to become a bad relationship again once they disagree.

Grigson certainly didn't seem as giddy with the whole thing,  look like fake smiles and grunting to say something nice.  I could have read it all wrong along with many others, but they are going to struggle to agree on things, it's just the way football is when egos clash (i dont think pagano has as big an ego but I also dont think he is the smartest tool in the head-coaching shed).

[Synthetic]

 

He also was unsure what guitar was coming off the rack to play rock star that night; DAMN IT FEELS GOOD TO BE A BILLIONAIRE 

[Jason_]

He said pretty much exactly the same thing at the press Conference where they announced the extension.

 

I'm also not concerned about their getting along in the future. The previous tension was most likely caused due to lack of precise clarification in the contracts about who had final say in certain types of decisions. The ONLY way that gets worked out in one day is if additional clarification is explicitly  spelled out in the contract extensions.  Reading between the lines I think that means pagano now has final say on the types of decisions that he wanted to have final say on whereas he previously did not.

[Defjamz26]

I think he was in the fence about both of them because looking at it realistically, he probably couldn't have kept one over the other. Not many HCs might have been okay with Grigson, and a top GM might not have wanted Pagano as his coach.

 

But now they're both under immense pressure to succeed. It seems Pagano got what he wanted, and has already started preparing by bringing in new coaches. Now the ball is in Grigson's court. It's on him to do what Irsay hinted at and get a lot younger. The 2015 draft was pretty good, but he has to follow it up with an even better one. And the days of him bringing in old FAs on big contracts are probably done.

 

This will be an interesting off-season and season. I haven't been this anxious since the 2012 offseason.

[crazycolt1]

I am so glad all of you know Pagano and Grigson on a personal level. It's nice to know these things.

[theanarchist]

22 hours ago, chrisfarley said:

Grigson certainly didn't seem as giddy with the whole thing,  look like fake smiles and grunting to say something nice.  I could have read it all wrong along with many others, but they are going to struggle to agree on things, it's just the way football is when egos clash (i dont think pagano has as big an ego but I also dont think he is the smartest tool in the head-coaching shed).

Ya I thought Grigson looked like was trying to fabricate a happy face in between mean muggin and I doubt I was the only one who noticed that. I think Grigson probably had to eat some crow or he probably knew he was out the door. I think any time your boss tells you that you need to work things out with someone who is under your charge that probably tells you that he may not exactly think your way of thinking is in the right.

[theanarchist]

1 hour ago, Defjamz26 said:

I think he was in the fence about both of them because looking at it realistically, he probably couldn't have kept one over the other. Not many HCs might have been okay with Grigson, and a top GM might not have wanted Pagano as his coach.

 

But now they're both under immense pressure to succeed. It seems Pagano got what he wanted, and has already started preparing by bringing in new coaches. Now the ball is in Grigson's court. It's on him to do what Irsay hinted at and get a lot younger. The 2015 draft was pretty good, but he has to follow it up with an even better one. And the days of him bringing in old FAs on big contracts are probably done.

 

This will be an interesting off-season and season. I haven't been this anxious since the 2012 offseason.

Good points. Pagano might be taking some criticism for cleaning house after saving his own job but I think you have to ask the question- how much pull did Pagano have when the staff was originally assembled? I would assume he could have hired anyone he wanted at the time but I'm not sure. Plus, maybe, at that time he wasn't able to get all the coaching talent he preferred and he was able to maybe upgrade at this point, hard to say.

 

As you say, both will be under pressure to produce(as if that hasnt already been there)and I would assume there would be very little patience for things such as more failed first round picks, haphazard special teams trickery, or signing 35 year old free agents.

 

 

[SteelDragon]

It would be interesting, for sure,  to know what differences were settled. What did Pagano do in 2015 to warrant his extension that he didn't do in 2014 when Irsay made the paltry one -year deal offer? For the record,  I'm glad Pagano gets another shot. 

I can see scenarios where Grigson remains the GM and Pagano is fired, although Irsay stated their fates will be in each others hands. 

Seems like we'll be entering 2016 with more questions than we had a year ago. 

 

 

[csmopar]

Here is the thing. Irsay has said that these 2 are now tied together and if one goes down, they both go down. I have a feeling Jimmie is gonna be keeping a close eye on these 2. And from all looks of things, Grigson seems to have lost some power that he had, whether he was supposed to or not, and it went to Pagano.  Gonna be interesting to see if the strategy in the draft and FA changes any

[chrisfarley]

Pagano was green coming in having never coached, he let many things just play out with decisions coming from Grigson, what else could he do being a rookie coach and being very thankful for even having the opportunity, and top that off with coming aboard with the winningest franchise of the last decade.  He was just on cloud nine being here in Indy, and as a result, just became a passive coach in certain areas. Having all this time to stew on some of the aforementioned decisions, it is now appearant to him IMO that he needs to be more out-spoken, involved in most of the more relevant decisions, and and active debater.  Combine all that with cancer negating him for the better part of a season, and you have what now should be a much more well-rounded, a bit more callous, and a more experienced CP.