Following the stunning and disappointing end of the 2021 season, Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay held a meeting with head coach Frank Reich and general manager Chris Ballard.
During his year-end press conference with the media on Monday, Reich didn’t go into detail about the finer points of the meeting. However, he did shine a small light on what went down between the three leaders of the Colts organization.
“Yeah, I did speak with Mr. Irsay [Sunday] night. Actually, when we got back he wanted to meet with Chris (Ballard) and I. So, we came back over here to the building last night and met with Mr. Irsay for a couple hours just reflecting on the game, on the season,” Reich said Monday. “He’s got a very unique perspective. I love his approach and how demanding and holding us all accountable, but also showing support as an owner that he wants to do whatever it takes to get our organization to the top, to get our team to the top. It was a good conversation, a supportive conversation, but also demanding and wanting answers and wanting to hold us accountable.”
It would shock no one if Irsay was visibly upset about the way the season ended. The embarrassing loss to a 2-14 team that also owns the No. 1 overall pick will be a stain on the organization for years to come. All the Colts had to do was beat the worst team in the NFL. Even so, they fell short.
With all of that said, though, it’s pretty clear that Reich’s opinions are still valued by Irsay. Even with plenty of voices on Twitter demanding a change at head coach, Reich isn’t going anywhere.
Reich left the meeting with a feeling that they can correct the ship this offseason and improve upon what turned out to be an incredibly disappointing campaign.
“Obviously, I know you’re not asking me to go into the details because you know that wouldn’t be appropriate, but I always walk out of there saying, that’s a good insight. That’s a good insight. I just learned something from that, it’s just giving me a different perspective on something. That’s without fail. That happens every time we go back there,” Reich said of the meeting. “So, Chris (Ballard) and I walked out of there with a resolve like we’re going to get better. We walked out of there saying we got a lot of the right pieces in place. A lot of the right pieces in place. My goodness. I love our players, respect our players and if I’m a Colts fan, I’m fired up. I’m incredibly disappointed about how this season ended but I understand that there’s some makings here of a very good football team.”
Changes are likely coming this offseason. Even though Reich and many of the main pieces are firmly entrenched, it wouldn’t be a shock if certain changes will be made to both the coaching staff and personnel in some way.
There are a lot of questions the Colts face this offseason and some of them will take time to answer.
But it’s pretty clear that Reich will be around as the Colts try to get the team moving back in the right direction after an unprecedented collapse to end the season.
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