Colts owner Carlie Irsay-Gordon on Ballard, Steichen: 'It hasn't been good enough'
INDIANAPOLIS — The future of Colts general manager Chris Ballard and head coach Shane Steichen remains in the same place under Carlie Irsay-Gordon that Jim Irsay left it.
Irsay-Gordon has confidence in the abilities of Ballard and Steichen.
But the Colts need to be better than they have been in the first two years of their partnership.
Indianapolis is 17-17 in Steichen's first two seasons as head coach, extending a four-year drought without a playoff berth and a decade without an AFC South title for a franchise that used to dominate the division.
'Chris and Shane know that they have things they need to fix,' Irsay-Gordon said Tuesday in a news conference that introduced her and her sisters as the team's new owners. 'We have a standard here, and it hasn't been good enough. Winning is great, but I would even take it a step further and say we're really committed to being the best. If we're the best, we will win games. I think Chris and Shane are totally capable of doing that.'
Irsay-Gordon stopped short of saying that 2025 will be a make-or-break year for the Ballard-Steichen pairing.
There was no public ultimatum, no 'playoffs or else' decree.
Doyel: Jim Irsay loved his daughters, his Colts and his music. And Indianapolis
For Irsay-Gordon, who will serve as the principal owner and lead the football side of the organization while sharing ownership with her sisters, Casey Foyt and Kalen Jackson, the details of the season matter.
'Do you have a crystal ball?' Irsay-Gordon said. 'Because, yes, of course, things happen, and some of it is, we have to look at all the factors. We could have all these injuries decimate our team. We don't know. I'm just saying, there's so many different directions (it can go). That's part of why it's so fun to work in sports sometimes.'
Frustration with the team's futility boiled over in the fan base as the Colts stumbled to an 8-9 finish last year, prompting Irsay to release a statement at the end of the season acknowledging the disappointment while simultaneously reiterating his belief in his general manager and head coach.
Ballard has presided over a difficult period in the franchise's history. The Colts are 62-69-1 in Ballard's eight seasons as general manager, and Indianapolis has produced two playoff berths and no division titles. Hamstrung by the team's inability to find a franchise quarterback in the aftermath of Andrew Luck's shocking retirement in 2019, Ballard hired Steichen after the team hit rock bottom in 2022, in part because the Colts believed Steichen could develop the young quarterback the team planned to draft with the No. 4 pick.
Steichen has produced a 17-17 record in his first two seasons, but he has largely done it in spite of Anthony Richardson, the quarterback who has struggled thus far to live up to his draft position.
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Richardson's development has often been publicly speculated to be tied to the futures of Ballard and Steichen, who have long been believed to be tied together.
Irsay-Gordon stopped short of saying the team's head coach and general manager are tied together. As she mentioned before, Irsay-Gordon needs to see how this season plays out in real time, preferring to avoid hypotheticals.
'I can't answer that question right now,' Irsay-Gordon said. 'That relationship is really important, and I think that's why, in a lot of ways, as I've been more involved in the football side over the last 8-10 years, it's like in a marital argument, right? It takes two to tango, and they have a great relationship.'
Irsay-Gordon and her sisters repeatedly vowed that they will not micromanage their employees.
'Hiring good people in our organization and letting them do their jobs, letting them own their role,' Jackson said. 'We might be owners, but you own your role, and we will get out of the way, and we will be there for support.'
At the same time, the NFL is a business, and all three sisters have been intimately involved with the organization for decades at this point.
The goal, in Irsay-Gordon's words, is to be the best.
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