Carlie Irsay-Gordon might have let a lot of fans down immediately after the season was over by announcing the Indianapolis Colts would be running it back again. General manager Chris Ballard and head coach Shane Steichen will still have their jobs at the beginning of the 2026 season.
Still, changes need to happen. Injuries certainly played a part in the team starting 7-1, but finishing 8-9. The team was sitting just outside of the playoff picture when quarterback Daniel Jones tore his Achilles tendon in Week 14, though. In other words, that one injury did not destroy a once-promising season.
But Irsay-Gordon could still make some front office changes that reset the team's culture a bit. She could, to use a word the owner used several times in her year-end press conference on Monday, replicate what the Atlanta Falcons did with Matt Ryan.
Indianapolis Colts should hire Andrew Luck to be President of Football Operations
Ryan is a former quarterback for the Colts, of course, but he will always be viewed much more as a Falcon because he was with the team so long and reached the Super Bowl in Atlanta. He is a smart guy, and the Falcons are hiring him to be the President of Football Operations.
Ryan will help oversee the hiring of a new head coach and general manager in Atlanta after the team fired coach Raheem Morris and GM Terry Fontenot. Someone holding the same role in Indy won't immediately have that same opportunity.
But Ballard is clearly doing things without much oversight, and he is doing them in a way that has seen only two Colts teams make the playoffs in his nine seasons with the team. Irsay-Gordon could hire her own President of Football Operations to assist her in running the team. That person should be Andrew Luck.
Luck was Indianapolis's quarterback for six seasons (he was on the team for another, but was injured) until he stunningly retired after the 2018 season. The quarterback simply didn't want to risk further injury. But he is an extremely bright person who knows the sports exceedingly well.
He is currently the general manager at Stanford, overseeing various aspects, including recruiting and roster management, as well as fundraising and NIL opportunities. His alma mater trusts him, of course, and so should Carlie Irsay-Gordon.
Of course, there is certainly no guarantee Andrew Luck would want to be the President of Football Operations with Indianapolis, but the question should be asked of him.
If Matt Ryan can do it, so can Luck. Maybe Chris Ballard would feel a bit more pressure to have a brilliant offseason if he knew he had a person above him willing to hold him to more account.