Andrew Luck Shares Thoughts on Time with Chuck Pagano, Chris Ballard’s Search for New Coach

Regardless of what we the fans feel about the tenure of former Indianapolis Colts head coach Chuck Pagano, he was undoubtedly a man full of relationships with his players. Naturally, the coach and quarterback having one of those tight bonds is important. There’s little doubt that Pagano and Andrew Luck had that and now with the team moving on, Luck spoke with Caroline Cann (here) about their connection and friendship.

Luck stated that he would “be forever indebted” to Pagano, that he’d been “an incredible leader, incredible friend” to the Colts franchise quarterback. Luck continued, saying “[we] shared a lot of great memories and some not-so-great memories. I feel very fortunate to count him as a friend, and someone in my life — I know he’s going to be successful wherever he is next, and very fortunate to have spent these last 6 years with him.”

But, the whole interview wasn’t about Pagano. Cann then pivoted to asking what Luck expected the qualities the Colts future coach to possess. Luck responded simply “Trust, loyalty and respect — are the pillars of the horseshoe — I’m sure Chris Ballard will do a great job of getting the right guy in here.”

In hearing from Luck for the first time in quite a while just the other day, after being gone so long, he certainly seems to be positive in his expectations for what Ballard and his front office should be able to offer the Colts in the future. There isn’t a more important offseason to the Colts near future, and now with one hurdle taken care of, the focus will be solely on filling the coaching vacancy and subsequently surrounding Luck with a more impressive roster.

The Colts have been requesting interviews from multiple candidates in less than 24 hours of letting go of Pagano, and should be a fun coaching search to watch develop over the next couple of weeks or so. Big changes are coming again this offseason.