Colts’ boldest offseason move is obvious: keeping Ryan Grigson and Chuck Pagano

A few weeks ago, ESPN’s Mike Sando released an In$ider article looking at the boldest move that each team made this offseason. It’s a simple enough idea, and the answer for the Indianapolis Colts is obvious: keeping both Ryan Grigson and Chuck Pagano.

Here’s what Sando had to say:

Owner Jim Irsay easily could have justified changing out the Colts' leadership. The team's free-agent spending spree last offseason proved to be money poorly spent. Andrew Luck’s uneven performance and season-ending injury shook the organization at the one spot where it had been most stable. Sticking with both Pagano and Grigson amid questions about how well the two work together was a bold move for Irsay even though it represented the status quo.

Even though it makes sense for it to be considered a safe move in keeping things the same, for the Colts that wasn’t the case: it was a very bold, risky move by owner Jim Irsay. All last year we heard about how Grigson and Pagano didn’t get along, and while fans like to pretend like it didn’t happen now that both are back, the reality is that there was a lot of friction there. When you add that with uncertainty about whether both men are actually the right fit at their jobs in the first place, that leads to understandable criticism and speculation that a change is coming - particularly after an 8-8 disaster.

Instead of making the change and cleaning house, however, Jim Irsay opted to keep his general manager and head coach together for the foreseeable future. The Colts revamped their coaching staff under Pagano this offseason, but they kept him in charge. Maybe it will work and Irsay will be proven to have made the smart move, but there’s also a very real risk that the two could continue to not get along as well and continue to have plenty of question marks in terms of the job they are doing building and coaching the team. Jim Irsay went against everyone’s expectations this offseason in keeping Ryan Grigson and Chuck Pagano around, which certainly counts as a bold move. Only time will tell whether it was the correct one.