Indianapolis Colts owner Carlie Irsay-Gordon is a rookie. That is a bit too easily forgotten. She basically spent decades at the hip of her father, long-time Indy owner Jim Irsay, and then was thrust into making the most important decisions for the team. Ultimately, she was like an offensive coordinator who suddenly became a head coach.
The new ownership group (at least, the group without Jim Irsay) decided to keep head coach Shane Steichen and general manager Chris Ballard after a season that started 7-1 and had the team lose its last seven games. Injuries were an issue, but coaching and executive moves played a part, too.
But in her year-end press conference (her first since her father passed), Carlie Irsay-Gordon, who is basically running the team though she and her sisters own the team, said almost nothing of note. She used the word "replicate" a lot, and she said the hope in keeping Steichen and Ballard was that they might have the kind of season-long performance that matched the first half of 2025.
Carlie Irsay-Gordon's year-end press conference doesn't go well for the Indianapolis Colts
She also admitted, "I wish I could hear what my dad would have said," in terms of the decisions the team has to make. That isn't to be unfair to her. She learned from her father, who sometimes saw the Colts as more successful than they were.
Irsay-Gordon also said "pissed" a lot. She wanted fans to understand that she sympathized with how they felt, but the truth is that she couldn't. Ownership in general cannot. Fans spend hard-earned money to buy tickets and merchandise that go straight into the pockets of a team owner. It's a complex relationship, and one is not equal to the other.
But, to be clear, Irsay-Gordon made mistakes. She said she needed to "stay in my lane" in regards to the future of failed 2023 draft pick Anthony Richardson. She owns the team. Everything is in her lane in regards to the Indianapolis Colts, and she has made it so. She stands on the sidelines or in the box office, constantly making notes. The team is hers long after Ballard and Steichen are gone.
She also gave very little reason to keep the general manager and head coach, other than to "replicate" what they did in the first half of this past season. She had every opportunity to make a real impact on the organization and make the necessary change of removing a general manager who has spent nine years on the job and hasn't won a division title. She failed.
Instead, she made the Cincinnati Bengals look good. Cincy has a terrible recent history of ownership decisions, but at least they sent out a memo that they were keeping their GM and head coach. Irsay-Gordon simply said in a press conference that the Bengals said in a memo. She looked as lost as the Indianapolis Colts as a whole.