Chris Ballard on Friday emphatically took responsibility for the current state of the Colts, opening his end-of-the-season press conference by listing off where his team has fallen short since he was hired as general manager in 2017.
"Just disappointed, extremely disappointed," Ballard said. "I hear the criticism, and it's warranted. It is. And a lot of that falls on my shoulders.
"Look, (in) four years we've not gone to the playoffs. We've not won a division since I've been here, not won a playoff game since 2018. I've got to own all that, I do. I'm not going to run from it, but I've definitely got to own it because it's real. It is the truth."
Since the Colts' 2024 season ended with an 8-9 record – punctuated by crushing defeats to the Denver Broncos in Week 15 and New York Giants in Week 17 – Ballard has spent time reflecting on his team-building approach. When asked if he felt like he let his philosophy become too rigid, he firmly replied: "Yeah, I did."
Specifically, Ballard echoed comments made on Monday by defensive tackle DeForest Buckner, who said players became complacent in 2024 due to a lack of team-wide competition for roles and playing time. After nearly winning the AFC South in 2023, the Colts re-signed several of their own free agents last offseason and only added two backups – quarterback Joe Flacco and defensive tackle Raekwon Davis – as outside free agents.
"I'm emotional and I care about our players, and I think sometimes I've let that bleed into how I built the team," Ballard said. "Coming off a year last year when we were 9-8, I thought the arrow – I thought we were playing really good football at the end of the season. We lost a tough game at the end to Houston, could have gone either way. I'm thinking, 'Okay, we're trending up.' Instead of really creating competition throughout and throwing new blood into the locker room, new players into the locker room, I said, 'You know what? We're going to run it back.' That was a mistake. It was.
"I think Buckner said it. Buckner had some comments that I thought were just excellent – about complacency, about ego. He's right. Buck is right – man enough to say it, one, which I love, and two, his assessment was right. That falls on me, it does. I bet on that we could bring players back, and they would be – they would be as upset about what happened at the end of the season last year that they'd want to rectify it. At the end of the day, we were not able to. I didn't do a good enough job creating enough competition throughout the roster, and keep everybody on edge.
"... I didn't create enough competition on the roster for it to want to achieve in the way it needed to achieve. There's got to be some stress. There has to be. There has to be real stress within that locker room, an uncomfortability that if I don't play well enough, my (butt) will not be on the field playing. That directly falls on my shoulders. I mean, it's a lesson. It's a crappy lesson that I learned.
"I do a pretty good job self-evaluating. Now I'm hardheaded, and I will talk myself way back into I was right. But this occurrence, I was wrong. I was wrong."
For Ballard, identifying the problem – again, a lack of competition throughout the roster – was the first step. How he goes about fixing the problem – through free agency, the NFL Draft, the trade market, etc. – will be more important; most important of all is if it works.
And Ballard's vision working isn't just about making the playoffs – it's about ending the AFC South drought and being a real player in January.
"I don't blame (fans) for being pissed and questioning," Ballard said. "They should. They should question – means they care, one, but that also means that they're not happy with our performance. But what I will tell them is that I'm very grateful that I'm given another opportunity to earn their trust back because I need to do that. I need to earn their trust back.
"Anything I say until we win, until we really win – and I'm not talking about just getting to the playoffs. I mean really win, really create something that – I don't want to just win. I mean, I want to win big. I mean until we do that, I get it. I understand and understand where the frustration comes from and why they would question, why they should question.
"But I'm still confident in my abilities. As hardheaded as I am, we're going to – and I've looked deeply of things I need to change and do, and the proof comes with your actions over time. That's what we're going to do."
On Anthony Richardson
Second-year quarterback Anthony Richardson in 2024 started 11 games and completed 47.7 percent of his passes for 1,814 yards with eight touchdowns, 12 interceptions and a passer rating of 61.6; he also rushed 86 times for 499 yards with six touchdowns.
Richardson missed two games due to an oblique injury (Weeks 5-6), two games due to being benched (Weeks 9-10) and two games due to back spasms (Weeks 17-18). He has played in 15 of 34 possible games since debuting in Week 1 of the 2023 season.
Those two things – Richardson's durability and accuracy – were what Ballard said the 2023 No. 4 overall pick needs to improve on in 2025. But Ballard added both are things he believes Richardson can fix as he heads into the offseason healthy, a marked change from last year, when he was still rehabbing from shoulder surgery.
"The No. 1 thing we have to figure out, and what Anthony's got to work through, is staying healthy," Ballard said. "He's got to be able to stay healthy. And that, to me, is probably the biggest question right now, because now we're going on two seasons in a row where he's dealt with injuries. So, that's the first thing.
"And then No. 2, being consistent, getting consistent down after down, play after play – consistency with him. And that just takes – that takes time. I think the one thing you can see with all – and look, we have zero patience as a league with quarterbacks. I mean, you're seeing it throughout the league, where guys fail one place and now all of a sudden they're doing really well somewhere else. Every quarterback's journey and developmental cycle is different. I wish I had a magic wand – that could wave it and get him to the top of the peak right away. But that's not realistic.
"The good news is, even with the back, which we think will be fine, he's going to go into the offseason healthy, which last season he didn't. He was rehabbing a lot, so that's going to give him a chance to work on some things going forward that we think will help going into next season."
But even though Ballard and the Colts believe Richardson can improve this offseason, he intimated the Colts could bring in competition for the 22-year-old quarterback this offseason. That competition, of course, would fit with the vision Ballard has for his entire roster in the next few months.
"We can't beat our head against the wall," Ballard said. "We've got to have competition at the position – just for one for the fact that competition makes everybody better. And then two, he's not proven he can play 17 games."
As for who that quarterback may be, it's too early in the offseason for any sweeping declarations.
"We'll bring who we think is the best guy we can bring in," Ballard said. "... I'm not ready to target where it'll come from or who it'll be or what age they'll be. I don't know that yet."
What's next at defensive coordinator
The Colts under defensive coordinator Gus Bradley, who the team parted ways with on Monday, finished bottom 10 in the NFL in points allowed in each of his three seasons as defensive coordinator:
- 2024: 24th (25.1 PPG)
- 2023: 28th (24.4 PPG)
- 2022: 29th (25.1 PPG)
There were some underlying numbers that showed the Colts' defense did some good things – they were 13th in EPA per play allowed, 13th in success rate allowed and sixth in takeaways – but ultimately, Bradley's defenses were done in by a rash of missed tackles (170, fourth-most in the NFL, per Pro Football Focus) and a lack of consistent pressure on opposing quarterbacks (28.9 percent pressure rate, fifth-lowest).
Those numbers contributed to the Colts allowing opposing offenses to gain 10 or more yards on a play 208 times, the fifth-highest total in the NFL.
"We've got to be a better tackling football team," Ballard said. "We do. That's where a lot of the explosives came from. When you look at it, a lot of missed tackles. We've got to be a better tackling football team."
While Ballard wouldn't go much further in commenting on the Colts' search for a new defensive coordinator – he deferred to head coach Shane Steichen, who will make the hire – he was asked if there's merit to needing to blitz more frequently to create more pressure. The Colts in 2024 blitzed on 21.5 percent of opponent dropbacks, the fourth-lowest rate in the NFL.
"I definitely think there is value," Ballard said. "You have to be able to affect the quarterback. You do."
