Carlie Irsay-Gordon On State of Franchise: 'It Hasn't Been Good Enough'

The Indianapolis Colts have been underachievers for the last decade.

Long ago were the Peyton Manning glory days, and even the first few years of the Andrew Luck Era, when the Colts routinely found themselves in the postseason.

In the last 10 seasons, the Colts have finished with a record of .500 or below in six of them, only making the playoffs twice. The Colts have yet to win the AFC South title in this stretch. Meanwhile, the three other teams in the division have all won it at least twice.

General manager Chris Ballard has been in control of the roster in eight of those 10 seasons. His Colts are 62-69-1 in his time as GM, including finishing 8-9 in 2024, which resulted in the Colts missing the playoffs for the fourth consecutive season. Head coach Shane Steichen isn't blameless either -- he's 17-17 in his two seasons.

New Colts owners Carlie Irsay-Gordon, Casey Foyt, and Kalen Jackson were introduced in their new roles on Tuesday after the passing of their father, late Colts owner Jim Irsay. Among many things, the Irsays spoke about the state of the franchise.

While they are excited about the opportunity at hand and the direction of the team moving forward, they acknowledge that the Colts have not been good enough.

"We also want all Colts fans to know that we will continue to work tirelessly in living our mission statement – to entertain, inspire, and unite by winning the right way, as we do in an organization and on the field and in our community," Irsay-Gordon said in her opening remarks.

Here are some of the main takeaways of what they had to say about the state of the Colts franchise moving forward:

Irsay-Gordon on concerns that fans may have about new ownership:

"We come from a family that -- we didn't start a hedge fund or some other business, and do this, especially the generation we're in. This is our business, and we take it very seriously. 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 to continue the legacy. To pull a quote, my dad would say, who I think our PR person would say, ‘You say excited too much.’ But we couldn't be more excited about the team this year and our draft class. I mean, you talked about the QB position, but competition is good. I mean, competing – nothing is better. Nothing makes a team raise the water line more than having other people that are really good to keep them accountable. I can't wait for training camp. I'm really excited about it."

Irsay-Gordon on the confidence level in Ballard and Steichen to get things going in the right direction:

“We are very confident. Having said that, as my dad said before he passed, Chris and Shane know that they have things they need to fix. 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 in saying we're really committed to being the best. And if we're the best, we will win games. I think Chris and Shane are totally capable of doing that, and we're confident that they can.”

Irsay-Gordon on the confidence level in Anthony Richardson being the franchise quarterback:

“Well, we drafted Anthony for a reason, and we believe in him. He's incredibly talented. 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 just way too early to tell. I know Chris and Shane – they'll let us know as we go along. But I think he has all the potential in the world, and if he wants to prove it, he can, and he will if he wants to.”

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