Stephen Holder
INDIANAPOLIS — Carlie Irsay-Gordon opened the new era of Indianapolis Colts ownership with a timely joke on Tuesday, quipping that she and her sisters considered showing up 30 minutes late to meet with reporters in honor of their late father, Jim Irsay, who famously moved to the beat of his own drum.
But it didn’t take long to become apparent that, for Irsay’s three daughters — who assumed control of the Colts this week following their father’s death last month — their stewardship of the team is no laughing matter.
“This is our business and we take it very seriously,” Irsay-Gordon, the team’s CEO and principal owner, said during a 30-minute joint news conference with her sisters. “As we discussed, we know we have some things to fix. But I think we’re just doubling down and we’re going to work tirelessly to make sure we continue the legacy.”
When asked specifically about general manager Chris Ballard and coach Shane Steichen, whose fates Jim Irsay carefully considered before retaining the pair in January, Irsay-Gordon sent a clear message.
“Chris and Shane know that they have things they need to fix,” she said. “We talked about not micromanaging people but, also, we have a standard here and it hasn’t been good enough. Winning is great. But I would even take it a step further and saying we’re really committed to being the best and if we’re the best, we will win games. And I think Chris and Shane are totally capable of doing that and we’re confident that they can.”
The Colts missed the playoffs last season for the fourth straight season and haven’t won the AFC South since 2014 — the only team in the division to have not won the division in that time frame.
Irsay-Gordon said she wasn’t prepared to say whether the futures of Ballard and Steichen are tied together (Ballard is entering his ninth season, Steichen his third), but that they remain good partners.
“They respect and trust each other and we feel really fortunate to have that kind of dynamic,” she said.
While their father was one of the NFL’s most public owners and embraced the attention that came with the job, his daughters — Irsay-Gordon, Casey Foyt and Kalen Jackson — have worked in numerous capacities in the background for many years.
But, according to Jackson, they were parties to most of the major decisions the franchise has made in recent years, part of their father’s deliberate effort to prepare them for the day they took over.
“We were exposed to every area you could possibly think of,” said Jackson, owner and chief brand officer. “He never cut us out of any areas of any kind. And I think that will help us in this transition.”
The sisters said no decisions had been reached about the structure of the team’s leadership moving forward. But Irsay-Gordon said chief operating officer Pete Ward, their father’s longtime lieutenant and a Colts employee since 1982, has promised to stay for the foreseeable future.
The shared ownership among the siblings raises questions about how they will reach a consensus when there is disagreement on sensitive matters. But the sisters said they have already navigated such scenarios during their years working together.
“We’re sisters, but we’re also business partners,” Jackson said. “And they always say your relationships with your siblings are probably the most important in life. They’re the people you’re with the most. The people that will most likely stay with you the longest. And we know our faults and our strengths and weaknesses probably better than most. And of course we’re going to disagree. But we’ve also learned, again, from our dad and just from life, we’re old enough to have learned how to handle those disagreements.”
Among the looming decisions that might require the sisters to reach a consensus is the future of quarterback Anthony Richardson, who remains sidelined for a second week after aggravating his surgically repaired right shoulder two weeks ago.
Richardson, the team’s fourth overall draft pick in 2023 who has struggled in his first two seasons, is in a battle with veteran Daniel Jones for the starting job this fall.
“We drafted Anthony for a reason and we believe in him,” Irsay-Gordon said. “He’s incredibly talented and sometimes, when you draft players, they have rough starts, they have injuries, they’ve got those things that they need to go through. But I think it’s way too early to tell.
“I think he has all the potential in the world and if he wants to prove it, he can. He will if he wants to.”
While the sisters emphasized they plan to hire reliable staff and let them work, Irsay-Gordon also acknowledged her own hands-on leadership style.
She, for instance, wears a headset during games to listen to playcalling and exchanges between the coaches. That, she said, helps her interpret what’s happening and allows her to accurately vet what she’s being told by others.
“I need to be able to say, ‘Is this person full of B.S.? Do they even know what they’re talking about?'” she said.
Irsay-Gordon, who, unlike her father in recent years, works full days at the team facility, added that her counterparts around the league might want to follow suit.
“I would suggest it for anyone else that has to pay coaches and GMs millions and millions of dollars,” she said. “It helps you make a less expensive mistake, potentially.”
