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All Colts fans are surely well aware by now of the tension and disagreement that existed between Ryan Grigson and Chuck Pagano in recent years, and it ultimately played a factor in Jim Irsay firing Grigson earlier this offseason.
Grigson’s replacement is Chris Ballard, a highly-sought after and well-respected personnel guy who, by all indications, is strong at developing relationships with people he works with.
Ballard has expressed excitement about working with Pagano and seemingly has respect for the guy entering his sixth season as the head coach of the Colts. With the NFL Combine approaching fast, and then free agency and the draft soon after that, Ballard and Pagano are surely spending many hours working together to figure out the best course of action for the Colts.
On Sunday night, Irsay returned to Twitter to offer some encouragement to fans by saying that Ballard and Pagano are “clicking on all cylinders.”
Colts Nation...I want you to know New GM Chris and HC Chuck are clicking on all cylinders...#12 is healing and great things to come!!
— Jim Irsay (@JimIrsay) February 20, 2017
Irsay also mentioned that Andrew Luck is healing, which is a vague update but also encouraging. We still haven’t gotten any sort of timetable from the Colts yet on when they expect Luck to return, but most of the reports have suggested it will be in the summer, meaning he’ll likely miss most - if not all - of the offseason workouts. This weekend, Luck Tweeted out a video for his book club that showed he’s still wearing a sling.
I hope everyone's enjoying the weekend. How are the veterans enjoying #whenbreathbecomesair? #albookclub #albcfebruary pic.twitter.com/hU1fZ1l7Gk
— AL Book Club (@ALBookClub) February 19, 2017
That’s not too big of a deal right now though, as we’re still months away from the season.
Basically, Jim Irsay is trying to encourage fans and get them excited for the upcoming offseason and then the upcoming 2017 season. Actions are going to speak louder than words, but Irsay is making it a point to note the relationship between Ballard and Pagano is going well. Considering the history in Indianapolis with the last GM and Pagano, that’s probably needed.
Irsay says “great things [are] to come,” and we know that he has very high expectations for his franchise. This offseason will be a crucial one as the Colts build toward their ultimate goal.