INDIANAPOLIS — Indianapolis Colts General Manager Chris Ballard didn’t mince words when he discussed his performance recently.
“I failed. Look, I’m not going to sit up here and make excuses. I failed a lot of people,” said Ballard at a Tuesday news conference.
The Colts finished the year 4-12-1 and didn’t make the playoffs. They ended the season on a 7-game losing streak. That is the franchise’s longest losing streak to finish a season since 1953 — the Colts’ 1st year of existence. During his time as GM, Ballard’s record is 45-61-1 and the team has won 1 playoff game.
The Colts are considering what to do about the head coaching position. Jeff Saturday went 1-7 in the last 8 games as the interim head coach.
“I’ll lead the search on that, but Jim Irsay (Colts owner) has the final call on that. And yes, Jeff is a candidate,” said Ballard. Saturday told reporters Monday that he wants the job and has a “plan of attack” as permanent head coach for the Indianapolis Colts. Saturday said it was a tough job because he was thrust into a position that was shaped and molded around a completely different team, and that he would have his own way of doing things.
When asked about having the 4th pick in the upcoming NFL Draft, Ballard said “look we earned it. I hate that we earned it, but we did.” Ballard said there would be no reason to be surprised if the Colts do not pick up a quarterback in the first round, but he says he will do everything he can to make the first pick a strong one.
Ballard pointed to the inconsistency at quarterback as one of many reasons why the blue and white have not hit a stride over the last few seasons.
