Chris Ballard is out as Colts GM following 10 fruitless seasons in the role, with the final straw being Sunday's defeat to the previously winless Titans, and Pat McAfee has already offered his view
Pat McAfee
Pat McAfee has offered an unfiltered view of Chris Ballard's firing by the Colts
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ESPN personality Pat McAfee wasted no time in offering his unfiltered view of the firing of Indianapolis Colts general manager Chris Ballard on Monday, after the 57-year-old's disastrous 10-year reign was finally brought to an end.
The Colts have opted to pull the plug on Ballard's tenure at Lucas Oil Stadium in the wake of Sunday's defeat to the previously winless Tennessee Titans, with the result ultimately proving to be the final straw following years of stagnation and decline.
The Colts have failed to make the playoffs in the last five years and have not won an AFC South title since 2014, while their current season record stands at 2-4, which suggests neither of those embarrassing streaks will be snapped in the 2026 campaign.
Perhaps the most damning statistic is how, across Ballard's 10 seasons in Indianapolis, the Colts never won the AFC South while every other team in the division won it at least twice. The Colts also made a big swing for Sauce Gardner last year, which has not paid off.
In the immediate aftermath of Ballard's dismissal, McAfee, a former Colts kicker himself, took to social media with a 98-second video, reacting to the news, hammering home some hard truths about the former while revealing some eye-opening rumors about the day-to-day running of the franchise behind the scenes.
"We had so many different quarterbacks come in. So many different answers. [...] I mean, we haven't won in AFC South in f---ing forever," McAfee began.
"The culture seemed to be so soft with no accountability for a long time. There was rumors about people missing meetings and missing treatment, and there being no real repercussions.
"There's been coaches fired, there's been OC's fired, there's been DC's fired, there's been new people brought in, new players brought in, old players sent out. They were still a--."
McAfee then made it clear that, while he believed Ballard was "a good man," he ultimately never produced on the field, and a change had to be made.
"Chris Ballard is a good man. Good man. But f---, he never won with the Colts," McAfee continued. "And I don't think he was doing it in a manner in which you could win.
Former Colts GM Chris Ballard
Ballard, 57, has seen his 10-year reign as Colts GM come to an end(Image: Getty Images)
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"I think he liked his guys," McAfee said, invoking a Ballard accent, "which I appreciate and you should as a GM, but I think his guys really didn't have it."
McAfee then rounded out his video by reiterating that Ballard is a "good man" before saying he was excited to see what the next chapter brings as "a very, very, very, very high-paying season-ticket holder."
The Colts, who are next in action on the road at the 5-0 Minnesota Vikings on Sunday, Oct. 25, hired Ballard for the 2017 season, and they went 72-82-1 with him making the personnel calls, reaching the playoffs twice, but not since 2020.