Pat McAfee is surprised that Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay retained general manager Chris Ballard and, to a lesser degree, coach Shane Steichen. McAfee senses another year of mediocrity in 2025. The Colts just finished an 8-9 season and haven’t been to the playoffs in four years. Ballard just completed his eighth season as Colts GM, and Steichen his second as coach.
“I believe it’s going to hard to change the things that you’ve got to change to be good, unless there was a new voice, a new face,” McAfee said Monday on his ESPN show.
“Chris Ballard is a good man. He’s always been good to us. Shane Steichen has good to us,” McAfee said. “If the building is seemingly broken, I don’t know how the people that have been living in it and calling the landlord for the last eight years are going to be able to see that and fix all the cracks.”
McAfee said he has taken some grief online for his recent Colts criticism, but he said his place in the organization − being in the building during a successful run that included a Super Bowl title − gives him a good read on NFL culture.
“There’s trends for how humans operate within a winning organization, and there’s trends for how humans operate in a losing operation,” he said. “It’s just very evident, I think, that the Colts have been in the losing program with a lot of different (stuff).”
Former Colts safety Darius Butler, a co-host with McAfee, said he gauged fan reaction online to the news.
“It was loud. A lot of responses,” Butler said, estimating that 98% were negative. “You have same leadership, same coach, you assume the same QB. As a Colts fan, all I can be is optimistic, be hopeful that they can figure some things out.”
McAfee acknowledged Ballard was “dealt a bad hand” when Andrew Luck retired in 2019, but that the Colts have used a lot quarterbacks since, none for the long term.
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