Chris Ballard has been let go, before he could take another massive swing in an attempt to reverse the Colts’ fortunes at the Nov. 10 trade deadline. The NFL’s firing season began Monday, with the first major change being a general manager and not a head coach.
Like the Dolphins’ firing of Chris Grier around this time last year, there are both optical reasons and practical reasons to make the decision now. Ballard got a decade to try to put his stamp on the organization, which included multiple attempts to replace Andrew Luck at quarterback. His lack of success in that department, specifically, and the subsequent attempts to make up for that decision, turned out to be his ultimate undoing. After a loss to the basement-dwelling Titans on Sunday, a move to pacify the fan base was necessary to prevent apathy and unrest. Ballard’s résumé, when compared to other general managers that have lasted for upwards of a decade or longer, should have set off alarm bells a long time ago. The Packers’ Brian Gutekunst and Bills’ Brandon Beane have both reached the conference title game twice in their tenures of comparable length. Ballard finished with a sub-.500 record (72-82-1), no division titles, two playoff appearances and no trips to the AFC championship game. Letting him go was, at this point, a no-brainer.
