Report: Chuck Pagano has "doubts" he will be back with Colts in 2016

The more the Colts continue to struggle on the field, the louder the talk of head coach Chuck Pagano's future will become.  By this time it has been widely reported that there are legitimate disagreements between Pagano and general manager Ryan Grigson.  A couple of weeks ago, CBS' Jason La Canfora reported that people close to Pagano think it's "inevitable" that he'll be coaching somewhere else next year.

This morning, NFL Media's Ian Rapoport took it one step further, saying that Pagano himself has told people that he has doubts whether he'll be back as the head coach of the Colts in 2016.

On the #Colts: Chuck Pagano has told people he has doubts he returns to Indy next year. He bet on himself with his contract, must prove-it

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) September 27, 2015

Rapoport brings up a good point: by turning down a one-year extension, Pagano bet on himself.  At the time, it seemed like a safe bet, but now the Colts are 0-2, have the lowest-scoring team in the NFL, and have concerns.  Adding that on top of the issues between Pagano and Grigson isn't exactly a great formula to get a long-term extension and raise.  There certainly is a long way left to go in this season for the Colts to turn it around and for Pagano to earn himself that extension, but the fact that he previously turned down a (minuscule) extension offer puts the pressure on himself and his team to impress well enough to earn a larger offer, and it's starting to sound like that might be more and more unlikely.

Who can blame Pagano for turning it down, though?  After three straight winning seasons and three straight playoff appearances, the Colts offered him just a one-year extension worth close to the same amount as he had been making.  It wasn't a bad move to turn the deal down, but now it's adding even more fuel to the fire of a possible split after the season.  So much so that, according to Ian Rapoport, Pagano is expressing doubts to people that he'll be back.