Chuck Pagano: Ravens DC Reportedly Set to Become Colts' Head Man

The Indianapolis Colts franchise is on fire right now as the future of Peyton Manning is still left uncertain. Reports issue the man tasked with putting out the flames is former Ravens defensive coordinator Chuck Pagano. 

Pro Football Talk tweets the news on Wednesday that sources have issued the next man in the driver's seat in Indy will be Chuck Pagano. 

Jason La Canfora of the NFL Network then tweeted that Pagano was giving his former team the bad news. 

This would be a quick and dramatic turnaround as NFL.com reported only yesterday that Pagano would be added to the list of head coach suitors the team was considering.

It would mirror the brief time that he sat in as the Ravens head of a fearsome defense that was arguably the best in the NFL.  

What It Means 

Pagano is not just inheriting any old rebuilding team, this is a Colts franchise that just celebrated a decades worth of playoff success, and then had to endure a year of misery. 

Manning may very well have played his final game in Indianapolis. If that is the case, Pagano will be the face of the franchise when a legend is presumably forced out. 

Aside from that, he is tasked with turning around no less than the worst team in the league. There is hope that an awful and inconsistent defense that stunk up the joint last season will be far more clued in this time around. 

The Ravens defense was fourth in the league in passing defense, letting up only 196.3 yards per contest, and were second in holding off the ground attack, letting up a paltry 92.6 yards per game. 

What's Next?

The first order of business for a newly hired head coach is to begin the healing. That includes hiring coordinators and building a game plan. 

This is no ordinary gig. Pagano may have to endure more pain before he can start that healing process. The team owns the first overall pick in the NFL draft, and it's widely assumed that they will take Andrew Luck from Stanford. 

Manning hinted out this week that things were far from normal in Indianapolis. There is a shroud if uncertainty that plagues the training facility and locker room, and Pagano will be thrust into it immediately.

Taking over a last place team is never easy, but this challenge is far more treacherous than any before it. Pagano is about to earn every last penny of his salary. 

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