It's time for Jim Irsay to step down

[NewColtsFan]

1 minute ago, Moe said:

Jim Irsay inherited the Colts, wasn’t  like he was a good business man like his father. I’m just asking why is Jim a good owner? just seems like he got lucky with Peyton Manning.

Because for roughly a span of 20 years the Colts were the 4th winningest franchise in the NFL.  Irsay hired good people and let them do their jobs and they did their jobs well.   
 

If fans can blame owners for having badly run franchises, then fans can give credit for having well run franchises.   Irsay gets that credit.  For now. 
 

Whether that continues we won’t know for a while. 
 

 

[OLD FAN MAN]

11 hours ago, joeb said:

Well with that said it's all about making the right decisions. Jim has done well with some of his  past decisions but as of late , not so good. You can't blame him for Andrew Luck. The Rivers, Wentz, Ryan, Reich debacle has set this franchise back big time. I started a post about rebuild and I think its time.

ballard has been rebuilding for six years how is that working for us

 

[Yoshinator]

4 minutes ago, OLD FAN MAN said:

ballard has been rebuilding for six years how is that working for us

 

Well, 2018 was a good year, but beyond that yeah, I agree. Even though we didn't know we'd be without Luck in 2019, that was still a poor draft that year that didn't really benefit the team much.

[Moe]

2 minutes ago, NewColtsFan said:

Because for roughly a span of 20 years the Colts were the 4th winningest franchise in the NFL.  Irsay hired good people and let them do their jobs and they did their jobs well.   
 

If fans can blame owners for having badly run franchises, then fans can give credit for having well run franchises.   Irsay gets that credit.  For now. 
 

Whether that continues we won’t know for a while. 
 

 

I understand but, was this because Jim Bing a football guru Probably not he just got lucky kind of like when you pick heads or tails.

[NewColtsFan]

Just now, Moe said:

I understand but, was this because Jim Bing a football guru Probably not he just got lucky kind of like when you pick heads or tails.

I don’t think a track record of 20 years can be compared to the toss of a coin.  The Colts success over 20 years didn’t boil down to one decision.  It covers hundreds of decisions, more probably thousands of decisions.   When you have that much sustained success that’s not a coincidence.   Irsay gets the credit as the head of a very successful franchise. 

[joeb]

23 hours ago, OLD FAN MAN said:

ballard has been rebuilding for six years how is that working for us

 

I would think that Mr.Ballard would beg to differ. He might consider it building instead. Regardless, the state of this team in the past couple years is just awful.

[throwing BBZ]

On 1/27/2023 at 1:47 PM, twfish said:

I'll preface this by saying I love Jim. I think he's always been passionate and truly loves this team and football and isn't in it just for the $. Saying that however his meddling is setting this team back farther and farther. I believe he has been getting in the way of making crucial decisions. He has had his hand to involved the the QB situation for the absolute worst. Attempting to still be GM and controlling the hiring for the interim head coach and forcing Saturday.  Now the reports are stating he isn't a part of some of the early interviews but at the end will have the final say and is leaning towards Saturday when most others in the front office are against it. Just imagine all the meddling he is doing that we have no idea of. Kudos to everyone in the front office for dealing with him micro managing so much as of late. I don't trust him with future decisions in the organization any longer. It's time for the daughters to step up.

 

  He, along with we, had suffered long enough with Frank's mediocrity. He screwed up giving Frank the extension, he figured it out at the end of last season. Frank should have been sent packing then.
 Irsay is to be appreciated for having the strength of his convictions to take the heat and prepare to start over at HC.
 Yammer and complain to the end of your days, PLEASE GO follow one of the 3-4 teams that had the total package to get to this years SB.
 Irsay and his Colts will be fine without you. We are in a reset, TUFF LUCK!!

[gspdx]

On 1/28/2023 at 8:05 PM, Moe said:

Jim Irsay inherited the Colts, wasn’t  like he was a good business man like his father. I’m just asking why is Jim a good owner? just seems like he got lucky with Peyton Manning.

Couldn't I say that about anybody that rides on daddy's coat tails?  Happens all the time.  

 

As far as getting lucky with Manning,  I could say belichick got lucky with Brady.  Yet you don't build a consistent winner by just being lucky.   

 

Regardless,  it's not like we are going to impeach him.  He owns the team.  

[Moe]

10 hours ago, gspdx said:

Couldn't I say that about anybody that rides on daddy's coat tails?  Happens all the time.  

 

As far as getting lucky with Manning,  I could say belichick got lucky with Brady.  Yet you don't build a consistent winner by just being lucky.   

 

Regardless,  it's not like we are going to impeach him.  He owns the team.  

Robert Kraft is number one, and his greatest strength has been keeping his voice out of football discussions and allowing the people he’s hired to run the team. Jim Irsay isn’t in the upper quartile of NFL ownership, doesn’t mean he can’t turn things around.

[BeanDiasucci]

On 1/28/2023 at 11:33 PM, NewColtsFan said:

I don’t think a track record of 20 years can be compared to the toss of a coin.  The Colts success over 20 years didn’t boil down to one decision.  It covers hundreds of decisions, more probably thousands of decisions.   When you have that much sustained success that’s not a coincidence.   Irsay gets the credit as the head of a very successful franchise. 

He was better when he stayed out the way more. He seems to be getting away from what worked. I'm hopeful that what comes next won't be more of the same. 

[coming on strong]

On 1/28/2023 at 11:33 PM, NewColtsFan said:

I don’t think a track record of 20 years can be compared to the toss of a coin.  The Colts success over 20 years didn’t boil down to one decision.  It covers hundreds of decisions, more probably thousands of decisions.   When you have that much sustained success that’s not a coincidence.   Irsay gets the credit as the head of a very successful franchise. 

i 100 percent give him credit for hiring bill polian and backing off letting bill run the team .    what i fault him for is hiring the worst gm ever in grigson ......   he ruined lucks career and love for the game .  also i can fault him for being to hands on the last two years .  well see if he decides to back off because i looked up jims record as a gm and its not good at all so i dont want him being hands on for the sake of the team .  i completely understand being the final say on big decisions of course that makes sense but let the experts who have been grinding away for years do what they do .  forcing your gm to fire the head coach to install a former player mid season is crazy

[gspdx]

14 hours ago, Moe said:

Robert Kraft is number one, and his greatest strength has been keeping his voice out of football discussions and allowing the people he’s hired to run the team. Jim Irsay isn’t in the upper quartile of NFL ownership, doesn’t mean he can’t turn things around.

 

What if Brady hadn't come along?  Would we even be talking about Kraft and BB as great?  Before Brady the Pats were not a perennial winner and BB was not viewed as a genius head coach.  None of us have any idea how involved Kraft has been in meetings with his mgmt team on the direction of the team and the team's personnel.  As long as they had Brady he didn't need to get involved in the most important question facing any team today - how to find that next franchise QB.

 

I am not trying to just defend Irsay because he is a different guy, but when his team was winning he wasn't meddling, and even earlier in the Ballard era he wasn't meddling.  We can assume all we want about how involved he has been in the QB issues over the last few years but we really don't know what kind of conversations were had between Reich, Ballard and Irsay over the last 3-4 years.  And any who was watching what happened at the end of last year would know if this team didn't perform up to Jim's expectations that there was going to be problems.

[chad72]

10 minutes ago, gspdx said:

 

What if Brady hadn't come along?  Would we even be talking about Kraft and BB as great?  Before Brady the Pats were not a perennial winner and BB was not viewed as a genius head coach.  None of us have any idea how involved Kraft has been in meetings with his mgmt team on the direction of the team and the team's personnel.  As long as they had Brady he didn't need to get involved in the most important question facing any team today - how to find that next franchise QB.

 

I am not trying to just defend Irsay because he is a different guy, but when his team was winning he wasn't meddling, and even earlier in the Ballard era he wasn't meddling.  We can assume all we want about how involved he has been in the QB issues over the last few years but we really don't know what kind of conversations were had between Reich, Ballard and Irsay over the last 3-4 years.  And any who was watching what happened at the end of last year would know if this team didn't perform up to Jim's expectations that there was going to be problems.

 

Belichick was the genius DC still, the one that jammed the crap out of Jim Kelly's K-gun offense and his WRs, perplexing the Bills in their first SB, roughing up Joe Montana with the 49ers with his Giants D on the way to a SB win with Bill Parcells as HC in 1990. The Giants also blew out Elway and the Broncos in 1986 with Parcells as HC and Belichick as DC. He just didn't win SBs as a Head Coach till the QB came along. He is still a heck of a defensive mind that perplexed Peyton too.

[gspdx]

23 minutes ago, chad72 said:

 

Belichick was the genius DC still, the one that jammed the crap out of Jim Kelly's K-gun offense and his WRs, perplexing the Bills in their first SB, roughing up Joe Montana with the 49ers with his Giants D on the way to a SB win with Bill Parcells as HC in 1990. The Giants also blew out Elway and the Broncos in 1986 with Parcells as HC and Belichick as DC. He just didn't win SBs as a Head Coach till the QB came along. He is still a heck of a defensive mind that perplexed Peyton too.

 

I guess you missed my point a bit.  It was about Kraft being the #1 owner because he is hands off.  If Brady hadn't come along there is no indication that the Pats would have been a dynasty.  Giving Kraft kudos for being hands off when his team was winning and competing for the SB so consistently is a bit unfair to any other owner.  If the Pats had been average or worse would Kraft have been hands off?  

 

Not taking anything away for BB for being a great DC and being successful at that.  It was really more around how does Kraft react if the Brady/BB combo never materialized.

 

 

[chad72]

6 minutes ago, gspdx said:

 

I guess you missed my point a bit.  It was about Kraft being the #1 owner because he is hands off.  If Brady hadn't come along there is no indication that the Pats would have been a dynasty.  Giving Kraft kudos for being hands off when his team was winning and competing for the SB so consistently is a bit unfair to any other owner.  If the Pats had been average or worse would Kraft have been hands off?  

 

Not taking anything away for BB for being a great DC and being successful at that.  It was really more around how does Kraft react if the Brady/BB combo never materialized.

 

 

 

A lot of owners are hands off, even if they are not winning SBs. The Rooneys are an example too. Kraft would still be hands off if the Brady/BB combo never materialized. He let Belichick hire Matt Patricia for offensive coordinator and the offense was downright offensive, and then Belichick canned him and now hired Bill O' Brien. He trusts Belichick, and the Rooneys trust Mike Tomlin and their GM to let them work despite missing playoffs for several years.

[throwing BBZ]

13 hours ago, coming on strong said:

i 100 percent give him credit for hiring bill polian and backing off letting bill run the team .    what i fault him for is hiring the worst gm ever in grigson ......   he ruined lucks career and love for the game .  also i can fault him for being to hands on the last two years .  well see if he decides to back off because i looked up jims record as a gm and its not good at all so i dont want him being hands on for the sake of the team .  i completely understand being the final say on big decisions of course that makes sense but let the experts who have been grinding away for years do what they do .  forcing your gm to fire the head coach to install a former player mid season is crazy

 

  It was actually top notch.

 Jim had access to information you jokesters haven't a clue about.

Including Franks assessments regarding what he could do. Frank was a dumpster fire by the end of last season and i have little doubt if Irsay hadn't Extended his contract, that he would have Fired his ____ butt after last season.

 You have an opinion about Saturday that is yours, and the Owner knows what he knows. Saturday was the ONLY person he considered to intervene at that time, and several team leaders spoke up for him including Buckner and Leonard. 

 It is ridiculous and laughable when these naysayers point fingers at Jeff for how bad Gus's defense played at times. 

 Then they complain about Jeff's quarterback carosel. The players wanted Ryan so he did that. Then he went with the next veteran who was brought here to BE THE BACKUP. He stank, thank you Frank. Then we finished with a decent showing from the kid.

 The Absolutely GREAT thing was our LT improving by leaps and bounds, proving himself week after week against the leagues best. And we have many knowledgeable (haha) fans continuing to GM saying, well uh, we still need to get him some competition ya know. bla bla.

 It is useless trying to explain how successful Saturday was by coaching THE TEAM harder, reintroducing the accountabity that Frank had allowed to slip away. I think Frank sensed Irsay was sick of his nonsense and firing the OC was definitely a way to lessen the likelihood. lol

 In the end Irsay stepped up big and got Frank out of the building and gave his TEAM a firey leader to raise moral and to better hold them accountable.

 It was just what needed to happen under the Circumstances.
  And it is plain as day!

[coming on strong]

18 minutes ago, throwing BBZ said:

 

  It was actually top notch.

 Jim had access to information you jokesters haven't a clue about.

Including Franks assessments regarding what he could do. Frank was a dumpster fire by the end of last season and i have little doubt if Irsay hadn't Extended his contract, that he would have Fired his ____ butt after last season.

 You have an opinion about Saturday that is yours, and the Owner knows what he knows. Saturday was the ONLY person he considered to intervene at that time, and several team leaders spoke up for him including Buckner and Leonard. 

 It is ridiculous and laughable when these naysayers point fingers at Jeff for how bad Gus's defense played at times. 

 Then they complain about Jeff's quarterback carosel. The players wanted Ryan so he did that. Then he went with the next veteran who was brought here to BE THE BACKUP. He stank, thank you Frank. Then we finished with a decent showing from the kid.

 The Absolutely GREAT thing was our LT improving by leaps and bounds, proving himself week after week against the leagues best. And we have many knowledgeable (haha) fans continuing to GM saying, well uh, we still need to get him some competition ya know. bla bla.

 It is useless trying to explain how successful Saturday was by coaching THE TEAM harder, reintroducing the accountabity that Frank had allowed to slip away. I think Frank sensed Irsay was sick of his nonsense and firing the OC was definitely a way to lessen the likelihood. lol

 In the end Irsay stepped up big and got Frank out of the building and gave his TEAM a firey leader to raise moral and to better hold them accountable.

 It was just what needed to happen under the Circumstances.
  And it is plain as day!

The team went 1 and 7 at the end of the day it was a failure .  The team had no fire in them getting blown out in Dallas . It’s Gus Bradley’s fault when the defense struggles but Jeff gets the credit for a rookie getting better towards the end of the season ?   The team played worse under Jeff that is just facts . Ballard or any of the other front office staff didn’t want Jeff and they had access to the same information.  
 

you failed to give a reason why Jeff deserves to be a head coach . Only stating a rookie got better but the team played worse and had a worse record under Jeff .   Players are not gonna tell the media how they really feel .

[John Waylon]

The amount of ridiculous in this thread is too damn high. 

[chad72]

On 1/28/2023 at 11:10 PM, NewColtsFan said:

Because for roughly a span of 20 years the Colts were the 4th winningest franchise in the NFL.  Irsay hired good people and let them do their jobs and they did their jobs well.   
 

If fans can blame owners for having badly run franchises, then fans can give credit for having well run franchises.   Irsay gets that credit.  For now. 
 

Whether that continues we won’t know for a while. 
 

 

 

Hiring good people, like you inferred is one part of Irsay's job. Letting them do their job is the next part, and that is what we fans expect him to do. Hopefully that ends up being the case.

[chad72]

Have you guys read this?

 

https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/35481902/inside-jim-irsay-tumultuous-season-colts-owner

 

 

[RunTheBall]

6 hours ago, chad72 said:

Have you guys read this?

 

https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/35481902/inside-jim-irsay-tumultuous-season-colts-owner

 

 

That is another knock against Saturday.  He told Irsay that Ballard was a good choice.  I haven't slogged through the Ballard thread, but it seems like he has been Irsay's biggest problem.  The next GM has to be a hit.  He whiffed on Grigson too.  Third time better be a charm.  A good GM and some wins would sure bring the love back.

[tfunky14]

On 1/30/2023 at 7:54 PM, Moe said:

Robert Kraft is number one, and his greatest strength has been keeping his voice out of football discussions and allowing the people he’s hired to run the team. Jim Irsay isn’t in the upper quartile of NFL ownership, doesn’t mean he can’t turn things around.

Kraft #1 ?  He has his own issues as well.   

[DougDew]

14 hours ago, chad72 said:

Have you guys read this?

 

https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/35481902/inside-jim-irsay-tumultuous-season-colts-owner

 

 

Thanks for posting.  A couple of things interesting:

 

Holder is sure that Irsay is the one deciding to elevate Sam to QB2 and then to start, but Irsay claims that it wasn't "mandated".

 

Also, one prominent players says "Three years ago we were told that we were only a QB away."  "I've heard that for three years now".   

 

I wonder what the players themselves think/thought about the roster?

 

[chad72]

54 minutes ago, DougDew said:

Thanks for posting.  A couple of things interesting:

 

Holder is sure that Irsay is the one deciding to elevate Sam to QB2 and then to start, but Irsay claims that it wasn't "mandated".

 

Also, one prominent players says "Three years ago we were told that we were only a QB away."  "I've heard that for three years now".   

 

I wonder what the players themselves think/thought about the roster?

 

 

That is why I feel Ballard will only get a couple of years of rope with a rookie QB and if the roster doesn't make the playoffs in 2 years (teams have made bigger turnarounds with the right roster additions), Ballard's seat starts getting warmer.

[crazycolt1]

1 hour ago, chad72 said:

 

That is why I feel Ballard will only get a couple of years of rope with a rookie QB and if the roster doesn't make the playoffs in 2 years (teams have made bigger turnarounds with the right roster additions), Ballard's seat starts getting warmer.

I personally think if the Colts don't make the playoffs in 2 seasons Ballard seat will be empty.  

[Nickster]

On 1/28/2023 at 10:10 PM, NewColtsFan said:

Because for roughly a span of 20 years the Colts were the 4th winningest franchise in the NFL.  Irsay hired good people and let them do their jobs and they did their jobs well.   
 

If fans can blame owners for having badly run franchises, then fans can give credit for having well run franchises.   Irsay gets that credit.  For now. 
 

Whether that continues we won’t know for a while. 
 

 

Maybe NCF.  But there was only so bad the team could be with Manning and Luck.  And that good fortune was the result of being the worst team in the league at the exact right time twice.

 

I think Jim respected and was likely somewhat deferent to Polian and they won with Manning and Co.  Hopefully he finds someone he totally defers to because he’s no good as a de facto or actual GM at all.

 

ballard is possibly less responsible for this mess than I thought if he is undercut as much as it seems.

 

I would think the clown show here would dissuade some management and coaching talent from coming here.

 

hopefully Jim hits on the right HC and goes back into the Twitter verse.

[LJpalmbeacher2]

3 hours ago, Nickster said:

Maybe NCF.  But there was only so bad the team could be with Manning and Luck.  And that good fortune was the result of being the worst team in the league at the exact right time twice.

 

I think Jim respected and was likely somewhat deferent to Polian and they won with Manning and Co.  Hopefully he finds someone he totally defers to because he’s no good as a de facto or actual GM at all.

 

ballard is possibly less responsible for this mess than I thought if he is undercut as much as it seems.

 

I would think the clown show here would dissuade some management and coaching talent from coming here.

 

hopefully Jim hits on the right HC and goes back into the Twitter verse.

 

I wonder how good of a owner Irsay would be considered if Peyton came out the year prior when the Jets had the first pick??? Or if the colts had the #2 pick and had to draft Leaf instead?

[masterlock]

The whole "meddling" narrative is just that: narrative. People seize upon two recent, mostly anomalous, decisions by Irsay, as if this is some sort of long-standing pattern. But was it Jim Irsay's idea to being Cason Wentz to Indy? I think that one was on Frank Reich. And did Jim Irsay overrule anyone to bring Matt Ryan to Indy? I understand that he fired the head coach in mid-season, but would it have been any less "meddlesome had he waited until end-of-season, and if so, why? 

[Dark Superman]

I'm not confident enough in his daughters to do things better than Irsay.

[Yoshinator]

I'll just say this. It's looking like Irsay used Saturday to tank (as I said the day he got hired in the middle of the season), and now we are going to hire our real HC after the SB. Having said that, if this is true, then Irsay did his job to get us a franchise QB in the draft at either 4 or at a minimal trade-up cost. I'm going to assume this is true until we see in a week or so who we end up with.

 

The only way we get Saturday IMO is if Ballard misses out on Steichen due to Sirianni interfering in the process, and Irsay makes an emotional decision to hire Saturday or fire Ballard on the spot. In that case, this thread should be revisited. Until then, it looks like Irsay did his job to get the Colts a franchise QB and a new HC within the span of a few months, and Saturday was just the guy to make it look like we were trying and the 2nd interview was just an illusion to push that agenda forward so there's no suspicions later. 

[1959Colts]

 

[chickenMan]

On 1/27/2023 at 1:59 PM, RollerColt said:

True. Still waiting for Castellini to sell the Reds... And I'll be waiting for the rest of his life. 

Exactly. For everyone complaining about Irsay, try being a Reds fan; then you’ll know what it’s like to have an owner who could not care any less about winning. Decades of losing just to make more money. Jim isn’t perfect, but he’s so much better than someone like Castellini.

 

You could honestly make a whole list about owners in sports who very clearly prioritize money over winning, and it would be very long. I’m grateful Jim puts winning first.

[Boondoggle]

Irsay should cede the running of the team to his daughter.  Hopefully he has prepared her well and she is ready.  If not, then sell the team to someone who will run it well, as you owe that to the fans and city.

 

This last couple years have soured me greatly on Irsay.  Particularly last season.  He just strikes me as the old king who no longer is in possession of his faculties and when that happens it's the end for that particular reign.

 

But all that aside hopefully Steichen ends up being a great hire.  Keeping a DC who did a good job last season for us in place is not the worst thing to pair with the OC hire.  Maybe between the two of them they can field a playoff team, assuming the right pieces are added to the roster.

 

And that's the rub.  Good chance we'll have a rook QB next season which means non-playoffs.  Then pressure to perform year two because playoffs will be the expectation.  Future feels dicey, and this is particularly true due to Irsay not looking like he's got a full grasp like he used to.  But maybe he hits on Steichen and he does a great job.  I do have hope here, it's just a sliver though as it pertains to the next couple seasons.