Chuck Pagano's "last rodeo" with the Indianapolis Colts is complete.
The team fired Pagano as head coach on Sunday, according to Stephen Holder of the Indianapolis Star and USA TODAY Network, marking an end to his six-year run that was capped by a tumultuous season.
Pagano was hired in 2012 but was diagnosed with leukemia and missed 12 games. In 2014, he led the team to the AFC Championship Game and its third consecutive 11-5 season.
But Pagano would go 8-8 in 2015 as quarterback Andrew Luck was limited to playing in just six games. Pagano and then-general manager Ryan Grigson were given extensions through 2019, though Grigson would be fired after another 8-8 campaign in 2016.
With Luck's right shoulder injury eventually landing the quarterback on injured reserve, the Colts limped to their lowest win total since finishing 2-14 in 2011 when Peyton Manning missed the entire season after multiple neck procedures.
Pagano seemed to reference his fate earlier in the week when he referred to Sunday's finale as the "last rodeo" with the team.
“I had a picture of a guy on a bucking bronco with the spurs on it,” he said. “It's our last ride together. No team that I've ever been a part of has ever been the same, regardless of the record. That's just the National Football League. This is our last rodeo together. We're going to enjoy and embrace every single second of it and get obsessed with completion.”
