It’s Time For Chris Ballard To Put His Money Where His Mouth Is

Source: Kara Durrette / Getty

Chris Ballard sat before the gathered media Friday morning, taking accountability for the Colts failing to meet expectations and make the postseason for the 4th season in a row. He spoke of feeling “guilt”, of “not doing enough”, of how the blame ultimately fell on his shoulders. It was as good of a performance in front of the media as you will get from an NFL general manager. 

The problem is, we’ve all seen this song and dance from Ballard already. 

It’s no surprise that Ballard has mastered the art of going to the media, hat in hand, to explain why the Colts have once again missed the postseason; why they once again have fallen short of their goals. He’s had a lot of experience doing it, especially over the last several years. This time around, Ballard did admit that his philosophy of “running it back” was a mistake, alluding to the Colts potentially being more active in free agency this offseason, as well as maybe looking into running a more aggressive defensive scheme. That’s something, I guess.  

At this point however, Ballard’s words don’t really mean much. We’ve heard every possible iteration of him falling on the sword, every possible explanation for why things didn’t work out. The only thing that really matters is what he does. Will he actually be more active in free agency, as he hinted at, or was that just lip service? Will he actually consider adopting a more aggressive defensive scheme, or will they hire another coordinator that runs a basic, unaggressive scheme like Gus Bradley did? 

Basically, can an old dog learn new tricks? We will see. But don’t fault me, nor anybody else, if we aren’t entirely optimistic. 

During the Friday edition of The Ride With JMV, John spoke to James Boyd of The Athletic, as well as Mike Wells from ESPN Radio about Chris Ballard’s press conference. Find those conversations down below or wherever you get your podcasts, and tune into The Ride With JMV weekdays from 3-6pm on 93.5/107.5 The Fan! 

It’s Time For Chris Ballard To Put His Money Where His Mouth Is was originally published on 1075thefan.com