Colts owner Jim Irsay: 'The responsibility for making us better ultimately falls on me'

INDIANAPOLIS — For months now, Colts owner Jim Irsay has been right in the middle of the biggest stories surrounding his franchise, often speaking publicly and directly to an Indianapolis fan base hungry for something to celebrate.

From the video last winter where he promised to be “all chips in” to a Monday Night Countdown interview on ESPN, Irsay has repeatedly tried to take his message directly to the fan base.

Five days after the end of a tumultuous 4-12-1 season that altered the franchise’s direction, Irsay reached out to the fan base Friday by releasing a letter to Colts fans apologizing for an ugly 2022, a season where the Colts were widely predicted, both locally and nationally, to be a playoff contender.

“The bottom line is we failed to live up to the hope and excitement we all felt at the start of the season,” Irsay wrote. “I share your frustration. I can’t stand losing, and I hate letting down our fans, and we had too much of both last year.”

Irsay laid down the gauntlet for his team at the owner’s meetings, saying then that the Colts had to beat the Tennessee Titans, win the AFC South and host a home playoff game.

When Indianapolis started off the season slow, Irsay started making changes, instigating the benching of veteran quarterback Matt Ryan in favor of Sam Ehlinger, then firing head coach Frank Reich two weeks later and replacing Reich with former Colt Jeff Saturday against the advice of general manager Chris Ballard, along with other top executives.

An Indianapolis team that started 3-2-1 ended up going 1-7 after Saturday took over and the dust settled.

“No one is more unsatisfied than I am, no one has higher expectations than I do,” Irsay wrote. “So as I’ve always said, the responsibility for making us better ultimately falls on me, and our offseason has already begun.”

'We put so much into it':Life inside a Colts locker room in a 2022 season unlike any other

Coaching carousel: Ranking NFL's five* open head coaching jobs from best to worst

NFL mock draft: Where might Georgia, TCU stars land in first round?

Irsay elected to keep Chris Ballard, who is conducting a wide-ranging search for the team’s next head coach. The Colts have already interviewed three coaching candidates, and that number is expected to expand on a daily basis.

Ballard will present his findings to Irsay, and the team’s owner will then make the final call on the next Colts head coach.

But that isn’t the only important work the Colts must do this offseason, a fact Irsay referenced in his letter. Once the head coach is hired, Indianapolis is almost certainly going to focus on finding its next franchise quarterback in the draft, something Irsay has wanted since Andrew Luck’s shocking retirement two weeks before the 2019 season.

Indianapolis fell off the map this season.

Irsay does not sound like a man who wants to spend a long time trying to fight his way back.

“As long as I’m owner, I can guarantee that winning championships will always be my goal, and I’ll be doing everything I can to help get us there,” Irsay wrote. “That’s what you deserve, and that’s we’ll be working hard to deliver.”

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Jim Irsay: Responsibility for improving Colts 'ultimately falls on me'