Colts owner Jim Irsay promises fans he'll do 'whatever it takes' after missing playoffs
After the Indianapolis Colts face-planted against the lowly Jackson Jaguars and saw their playoff hopes disappear, team owner Jim Irsay reportedly had a very lengthy sit-down with coach Frank Reich and GM Chris Ballard about what should come next.
Then on Wednesday, three days after the embarrassing end to the season, Irsay addressed fans and promised that things will turn around.
"The buck stops with me, and this experience makes me even more determined to bring Indiana a contending team," he said in part of an address posted to Twitter. "We are already working toward the future, and I'm going to do whatever it takes to put us in a position to win next year and for years to come."
That future Irsay is working toward apparently includes Reich and Ballard, who are signed to contracts through 2026.
"That was never in question," Irsay told Fox 59 News of letting either the coach or GM go. "As an owner, I can say I have the utmost faith in Frank and Chris."
Usually, "whatever it takes" means someone is going to get let go. This now gives Colts fans a long offseason — or at least until the opening of free agency in March — to wonder who will get the boot if Reich and Ballard are staying put.
At least one chunk of the fan base is rooting for "whatever it takes" to mean parting ways with Carson Wentz. The 29-year-old quarterback didn't live up to expectations in his first season in Indy, and Reich has stayed non-committal when asked if Wentz will be under center for the Colts in 2022.
Parting ways with Wentz won't solve all of Indy's problems in one fell swoop, which Irsay surely knows all too well.
It looks like we won't know until closer to next season what "whatever it takes" looks like.
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