Pagano to be next Colts coach

The Indianapolis Colts introduced Chuck Pagano as their new head coach on Thursday.

Pagano, 51, was with the Ravens this season, when Baltimore came within a few points of returning to the Super Bowl and has exactly what owner Jim Irsay was looking for in a head coach.

"I really believe Chuck is bringing a toughness, the leadership we need at this point for the franchise," Irsay said.

Pagano's defense was a major reason for the Ravens' success, as the team allowed just 266 points in 2011, second fewest in the AFC to the Steelers.

He was previously the Ravens secondary coach for three seasons. The well-traveled coach has been with the Browns and Raiders in the NFL and the Miami Hurricanes, East Carolina, UNLV, Boise State and Southern California.

Blunt and humorous, Pagano should be a hit with the media with comments such a the one he made when taking over the Ravens defense.

"I had a great experience, or sentence (with the Raiders)," Pagano told reporters. "Well, I can't say sentence, a two-year sentence in Oakland. And congratulations to Hue Jackson, it's well deserved. And he will earn every cent that they pay him. It won't be much, but he will earn every nickel. But I had a great experience out there. And two years was plenty."

Turning around the Colts' defense isn't the only challenge ahead of Pagano.

On the immediate radar are roster decisions on a panel of accomplished, fan-favorite veterans on the wrong side of 30 years old. Defensive end Robert Mathis, wide receiver Reggie Wayne and center Jeff Saturday could all be let go as free agents, and Saturday said last week he's considering retirement.

Then there's the pillar of the franchise, quarterback Peyton Manning.

Amidst rumors of his own retirement Manning says aren't legitimate, the Colts and Manning view the wide-ranging changes in the front office and coaching staff from vastly difference perspectives. For Manning, the change might signal the end of his Colts' career. He'll be 36 in March and after not playing 2011, his health remains an unknown following three neck surgeries in a 19-month span, including spinal fusion.

Manning recently set the record straight concerning new general manager Ryan Grigson. The two met, albeit briefly, recently at the Colts' headquarters.

No decisions have been made about Manning's future with the team, he said.

That includes whether the Colts will release the four-time Most Valuable Player in early March when a $28 million bonus is due or if the quarterback will remain with the team for the 2012 season.

"One thing (Grigson) kind-of, sort-of told me, without really wanting to tell me, was that Irsay will be the guy I'm going to sit down and talk with," Manning said. "That's going to happen at some point, but we haven't had that conversation yet because we really don't need to have that conversation yet."

Pagano will be left to handle the aftereffects. With Manning, the Colts would likely be a cap-strapped team counting on the All-Pro to carry the franchise back from a 2-14 disaster in 2011. Without Manning, Indianapolis is on the brink of a major rebuild centered around likely No. 1 overall draft pick Andrew Luck of Stanford.

Manning is having a hard time digesting all the recent front office and coaching moves that Indianapolis has made since the end of the 2011 season.

Bill and Chris Polian gone. Jim Caldwell gone. Several long-time assistant coaches gone.

Manning, who has been ramping up his workout routine over the last several months after undergoing neck fusion surgery on Sept. 8, is very much a creature of habit. He isn't a big fan of change.

"I'm not in a very good place for healing, let's say that," he said, referring to the practice facility.

"It's not a real good environment down there right now, to say the least. Everybody's walking around on eggshells. I don't recognize our building right now. There's such complete and total change."

The Polians had been with the team ever since Manning was drafted No. 1 in 1998. Caldwell, meanwhile, joined the Colts coaching staff in 2002.

"One of the things about football is, it's a relationship business," Manning said. "Sometimes guys get fired, it goes across the ticker, 'Jim Caldwell got fired' and that's that.

"But when it's every day in a relationship business ... with Bill, with Marvin (Harrison), Edge (James), guys who retire, get cut, traded or fired, it's just really hard. I don't think I have an emotion for it. The new (management) team doesn't have a relationship with these guys like I do, and I know a lot of players feel that way about them (the departing coaches), too."

Manning was asked one important question -- considering all the changes that have been made, does he still want to be a part of the Colts' franchise moving forward?

"I don't want to get into some kind of fan campaign with the owner, but I think it's well documented that I want to play in the same place my whole career," he said. "It's been a privilege to play here. I love the fans, the city, the transformation of the fans, how our place has become the toughest stadium to play in, the fact our fans wear more jerseys to games than anybody else. It's been fun to be a part of that.

"But I understand how it works. I understand tough decisions have to be made. There's personal and there's business and that's where we've got to separate the two. I've seen other guys leave places and it was personal. I've invested too much into this city for that to happen. We live here, we've given lots of time and money to the community and our church, and that's never going to change Nothing changes that."

"Whatever happens, happens. I can't give you a prediction because Jim (Irsay) and I will sit down at some point and he'll get a feel for where I am and I'll get a sense of what direction he wants to go. Right now, I have no idea," Manning added.

Manning will be easy to find whenever Irsay and Grigson are ready for a meeting.

"I'm in the facility every day," he said. "I'm right there. They know where to find me."

Irsay said at Pagano's press conference that Manning is a "politician" and voiced disappointment that Manning took so-called family business outside the organization.

"I don't think it's in a good interest to paint the horseshoe in a negative light, I really don't," Irsay said. "He's such a big part of that and everything else, but the horseshoe always comes first.

"I think one thing that he's always known, because he's been around it so long, is you keep it in the family. If you've got a problem, you talk to each other. It's not about campaigning or anything like that."

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