Chuck Pagano "not at all" concerned about his job status with Colts

With the talk swirling about the future of Colts head coach Chuck Pagano, it's impossible not to hear the noise and conclude that it's very, very unlikely that he will return next year as the team's head coach.  There's one person, however, who isn't paying much attention to it: Chuck Pagano.

Asked directly on Monday whether he is concerned about his job status, Pagano said, "Not at all, not at all.  I got today.  Like I said, if I get tomorrow, then I'm going to work my tail off to get things right."

This has been a common refrain from Pagano this year and one that he repeated a couple of different times on Monday.  "I got another day, so it's a good day," he said.  "You go back to work.  You can't wallow around in self-pity, this, that and the other, you've got to grind.  That's how this thing goes.  There are going to be good days.  There are going to be bad days.  We don't judge.  We just keep moving forward."

Honestly, that's the only thing that Pagano could possibly say publicly, and that needs to be the way he approaches his job behind closed doors too.  He knows that his job is in serious question, and we've seen it impacting him this year.  But his main point is that he's going to control what he can control, continue coming into work each day that he can, and work on improving and winning football games.

While that's Pagano's focus, though, that doesn't mean that he's safe.  Rather, it is looking incredibly likely that he will be fired, with the bigger question now being when that will happen.  WTHR's Bob Kravtiz reported this morning what most assumed in that Pagano is unlikely to be fired this week - but that doesn't say anything about his long-term future.  Will he be fired during the bye week?  At the end of the season?  We don't know when it will happen, but the talk is hard to miss right now.

So while Pagano is saying the only thing he can possibly say and trying not to let this affect his preparation or coaching, it's an issue that will just continue to get louder unless the Colts can suddenly turn their season around.