Chris Ballard: 'Ultimately, it falls on my shoulders' ... even decisions made by Jim

[JAFF]

Chris Ballard: 'Ultimately, it falls on my shoulders' ... even decisions made by Jim Irsay

For those who love to scroll, you know WHO you are.

INDIANAPOLIS — For months now, the story surrounding the Colts’ collapse in 2022 has been as much about the team’s organizational structure and dysfunction as the freefall on the football field.

Colts owner Jim Irsay has been increasingly involved in the team’s football decisions over the past year, becoming the driving force in at least three moves: ending the Carson Wentz era, benching Matt Ryan to get Sam Ehlinger in the lineup and firing Frank Reich to hire Jeff Saturday as interim coach.

Indianapolis finished 4-12-1, prompting questions to general manager Chris Ballard about the team’s power structure and whether he’s been able to run the team the way he wants to run the Colts.

Colts news:In a results-based business, Jeff Saturday's results don't seem to matter


Ballard deflected just about all of those questions away from Irsay and onto himself.

“We’ve had some long talks, had a long talk Sunday,” Ballard said. “(Irsay has) got a good feel for this, and every decision that has been made, we’ve talked through. I don’t think it hurt us, no. Ultimately, it falls on my shoulders.”

But Ballard also acknowledged that Irsay has made football decisions that didn’t align with his general manager’s opinion, most notably outlining that he had reservations about the decision to hire Saturday, who took a 3-5-1 team that improbably still had a shot at an AFC South title and finished 1-7 in his eight-game audition.


“When he made the decision and we talked through Jeff, I voiced my concerns, which were: ‘Look, this is unprecedented, and we’re putting him into a really tough situation here, taking a team over midseason,'” Ballard said. “I wanted to make sure he understood that.”

The Colts had other interim options on the team’s staff — Indianapolis opened its head coaching search by interviewing special teams coordinator Bubba Ventrone on Wednesday, and two members of the defensive staff, Gus Bradley and John Fox, have had prior head coaching experience — but none of them were considered, according to

“It never really got to that point,” Ballard said. “The discussion was Jeff.”

NFL teams typically choose interim coaches within the existing staff, in large part because of their familiarity with the current team and the way it’s operated throughout the season, a factor that Saturday cited as an advantage for Panthers interim coach Steve Wilks, who took over a 1-4 team and sparked Carolina to a 6-6 record down the stretch despite trading away its best offensive weapons.


“I would tend to believe a guy coming in after nine weeks, walking into a room with a short offensive staff, and a guy who’s walking in and been together (with the staff) for however long they’ve been together, before and after, should have a different level of success,” Saturday said.

Irsay has traditionally allowed his head coach and general manager to handle football decisions.

But he has also said that he believes an owner’s role is to make sure the team has the right pieces in place at general manager, head coach and quarterback, the places he’s made executive decisions over the course of the past year.

Irsay holds the final say on the head coaching search the Colts are now conducting.

Colts news:Chris Ballard is leading Colts coaching search, but Jim Irsay will make final decision

“I’ll lead the search; ultimately, Mr. Irsay makes the final call,” Ballard said. “There’s 32 teams, 32 owners. They own the team. We give them our thoughts. Mr. Irsay’s a good listener, and ultimately, he’ll make the final call, but he’ll lean heavily on our work, and what we do to get the candidates in place.”

Ballard is obviously right about the NFL’s power structure.

By virtue of their position, owners hold the ultimate say, even over NFL commissioner Roger Goodell.


But it’s also true that there are owners who stand back and let their general managers run the football operation entirely, stepping into the fray only to provide input on the hiring the head coach, staying away from decisions on the starting lineup or the draft.

Irsay has always been more involved than that.

In the past couple of seasons, Irsay has encouraged Ballard to go get Jonathan Taylor in the draft, and he said at the owner’s meetings this spring that he told Ballard to make sure the Matt Ryan deal got done when the Colts and Falcons were still negotiating.

Ballard defended Irsay’s involvement in the franchise’s moves.

“I love working for him. He’s a good man, and a good owner, and he has a lot of experience in this league,” Ballard said. “We talk about everything. We don’t always agree. If we’re agreeing all the time, I’m not doing my job.”

Those conversations don’t always end with Ballard getting his way.

“I’m very honest with him about what I think, and he’s very honest and direct with me, and at the end of the day, there’s some decisions that I’ll make and he’ll say, ‘Good, Chris, I don’t completely agree with that, but let’s move forward,'” Ballard said. “There’s some decisions he’ll make that I’ll say, ‘Look, I don’t completely agree with that, but I’ll move forward.’ When we make one, we make it together, and we move forward. Mr. Irsay lets me do my job.”

Even if he has been involved more than ever before.