I come to praise Chris Ballard, not to bury him.

[rm1369]

Originally Posted by apballin

Ballard is solely making decisions, clearly Jim would intervene when he felt necessary and clearly he gives his coaching staff creative control based on players they like for whatever reason.

Certain moves have Ballards name written on them and you can tell, certain moves were specifically for a coach and at the time it was obvious, and then hiring a guy off ESPN set, obviously the owner.

I think Ballard does a good job of balancing it all

You can probably convince me Irsay added pressure to start AR. After year after year of reclamation projects I could see it taking its toll on Jim’s patience. It did with the majority of the fan base. I’m sure that played into the one thing we know was Irsay’s decision- hiring Saturday and tanking the season to actually be in a position to draft a QB. Everything else is Ballard. You likely can’t convince me otherwise. Signing an aging QB and doing a slow rebuild with the rest of the roster is exactly Ballard’s philosophy at work.

[apballin]

Originally Posted by rm1369

You can probably convince me Irsay added pressure to start AR. After year after year of reclamation projects I could see it taking its toll on Jim’s patience. It did with the majority of the fan base. I’m sure that played into the one thing we know was Irsay’s decision- hiring Saturday and tanking the season to actually be in a position to draft a QB. Everything else is Ballard. You likely can’t convince me otherwise. Signing an aging QB and doing a slow rebuild with the rest of the roster is exactly Ballard’s philosophy at work.

He’s 28 and I’m sure Steichen had a say in this. If Ballard just called shots and slammed the gavel we would have Jordan Love right now

[Oldcolt]

If I understand you Dam you're perfect for this team. You do not want to get rid of Ballard because there would be a chance we get someone worse. So let's play this safe and stay with proven mediocrity. The issue is that there are teams out there that don't play it safe. Yes, most of them fail (like this 'safe' team has the last decade) but every once in a while they hit, and when they do you cannot compete with them by being safe and mediocre. In addition Ballards philosophy has never worked and never will. He believes you buy physical talent and ignore how they play football. He believes his coaches can coach them up. They have failed miserably at that. So yes I want him gone (if he hit on one physically talented guy-AR for instance- I would change my mind, but he hasn't)

[rm1369]

Originally Posted by Oldcolt

If I understand you Dam you're perfect for this team. You do not want to get rid of Ballard because there would be a chance we get someone worse. So let's play this safe and stay with proven mediocrity. The issue is that there are teams out there that don't play it safe. Yes, most of them fail (like this 'safe' team has the last decade) but every once in a while they hit, and when they do you cannot compete with them by being safe and mediocre. In addition Ballards philosophy has never worked and never will. He believes you buy physical talent and ignore how they play football. He believes his coaches can coach them up. They have failed miserably at that. So yes I want him gone (if he hit on one physically talented guy-AR for instance- I would change my mind, but he hasn't)

The best thing that ever happened to Ballard was Grigson. It has allowed Ballard to be Teflon with certain portions of the fan base. Guys like Dam are scared to change because it could be worse. The crazy thing is that when you point out how other teams have rebuilt quicker that the Colts, they will point out (like Dam has) that they were able to do it because they had higher draft picks than the Colts have had. That’s the whole point! Ballard’s philosophy helps keep them in mediocrity. His conservatism limits their valleys but it also clips their peaks. And you don’t win without peaks. Evidenced by the constant 2nd and 3rd place division finishes in each year.

The other thing you notice is that when other teams make a move it was always that they got lucky. It’s never that they went and made something happen, it’s always that they are lucky. Now when Ballard hits a franchise LT in the 3rd it’s an example of his genius, not luck that bailed him out like other teams. But fuck it, what’s the saying- Better to be lucky than good. I guess I’d prefer a “lucky” GM then. According to his supporters he’s had the worst run of luck in the history of the NFL. Time to move on from Bad Luck Ballard.

[Oldcolt]

Racehorse not sure who you meant this for but for me I have supported Ballard until this year. I don't hate him and it is certainly not irrational to want change after 9 years of mediocrity. We have been mediocre so long that your dream scenario is us making the playoffs. It is a dream probably only possible in our division.

[Racehorse]

Originally Posted by Oldcolt

Racehorse not sure who you meant this for but for me I have supported Ballard until this year. I don't hate him and it is certainly not irrational to want change after 9 years of mediocrity. We have been mediocre so long that your dream scenario is us making the playoffs. It is a dream probably only possible in our division.

No, the ones who have been griping for the past 6 years.

[Oldcolt]

I think Ballards idea of drafting for physical talent and trying to coach them up was an interesting one and was worth the attempt. I supported him in trying this method. At some point I think most would have to admit it just doesn't work at this level.

[rm1369]

Originally Posted by Racehorse

No, the ones who have been griping for the past 6 years.

That would be me. Actually I’ve criticized him since his 2nd offseason when he cut vets, rolled out his long term rebuild plan with a franchise QB in place, made statements minimizing the importance of the QB (IMO), and started minimizing the importance of veteran leadership on a team (coaches job). None of my criticisms have been hindsight. I said then that his methods would lead to mediocrity. I went so far as to do an analysis of the turnover starters on SB winning rosters to show how the little continuity there actually is year to year in the NFL. What in the world has he done that has proven me wrong or should make me rethink my position?

I haven’t always wanted him fired. I even stated early that he needed time to fully prove out his philosophy. I recognize that starting down a path and switching quickly usually isn’t productive. I also constantly heard he’d flip a switch and become aggressive - next offseason. Season after season it didn’t happen and I heard all the excuses. This is the first offseason where maybe it’s true, but only because he’s finally about to be fired. IMO his philosophy has been proven out. It’s lead to exactly what I thought it would- a consistent record that doesn’t bottom out but never reaches anything higher either. Give Ballard a franchise QB and certainly the bar is raised some. But the team IMO would never peak due to his philosophy. I loved the Polian Colts, but Bill had a very similar philosophy that saw the greatest QB ever IMO win only one SB. I’ve seen a similar philosophy play out in GB with the same results. I’m simply not a fan even when paired with a historically great QB. Paired with mediocre QB play and it has me turning in my season tickets.

[ChaosTheory]

Originally Posted by rm1369

Guys like Dam are scared to change because it could be worse.

Not to speak for him, but I've read him say it, and I agree... It's not so much fear of something worse.

It's fear of booting a guy who puts out a good roster and THEN landing a QB. He's right. If we had one of those QB's listed, the Colts would run away with this division yearly.

[rm1369]

Originally Posted by apballin

He’s 28 and I’m sure Steichen had a say in this. If Ballard just called shots and slammed the gavel we would have Jordan Love right now

I’m talking about Rivers, not Jones. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a fan of the DJ decision, but I think it was a completely stupid move to sign rivers and not go all in with him. All Ballard’s supporters will point out (like Dam is) that Ballard hasn’t drafted high enough to get a franchise guy. The reason he hasn’t drafted high enough is because of moves like that. I would have been fine going all in for 1-2 years with Rivers origins with starting a complete scrub and bottoming out. I wasn’t fine with splitting the middle like Ballard did. Moves like that are why the team is where it is - the only team in the division to not have a division title in Ballard’s tenure.