Just a week ago, the Indianapolis Colts head coach Shane Steichen admitted he did not sit down and discuss his future with owner and CEO Carlie Irsay-Gordon. However, after the last game of the regular season, the tone around the Circle City shifted fast. The ownership believes their 8-2 start to the season still carries weight inside the building.

“Colts general manager Chris Ballard and head coach Shane Steichen will return for the 2026 season,” the team announced. “Colts Owner and CEO Carlie Irsay-Gordon will hold a press conference Monday afternoon.

“Steichen will hold his usual end-of-season press conference Monday morning, while Ballard will hold a press conference later this week on a to-be-determined day.”

That message landed loudly across the Indy. Now, let’s look at some of the numbers that matter:

• Steichen sits at 25-26 through three seasons.
• Each of the last two ended at 8-9.
• However, in his three years with the Colts, they made no playoff appearances.

Meanwhile, Ballard has led the front office since 2017. The Colts went 70-78-1 in that span. That includes only two playoff trips came in 2018 and 2020. The AFC South banner remains untouched.

Coach Steichen is under contract through the 2028 season, and Ballard’s contract will run through the 2026 season. That means they will be paired together for the fourth consecutive season and their chase of glory. Regardless, Steichen has shown signs of growth. He has managed unstable quarterback situations and still stayed competitive. His 25-26 mark shows fight, not comfort.

For many in the Circle City, hope exists, but frustration still lingers. But what does the head coach feel about his future in Indy?

Shane Steichen talks about his future with the Colts

After the regular season finale, Shane Steichen finally addressed the noise. The Colts’ head coach did not dodge it. Instead, he leaned into honesty. “Well, that’s not for me to decide. What I will say is I love this team, I love this organization, and I love the city. I love the fans,” he said.

For most of the year, the Horseshoe looked dangerous. Early on, Indianapolis did not resemble a fringe team. They looked legit. An 8-2 start changed expectations fast. Wins piled up. Confidence followed. Even better, some of those victories came against serious competition. One of them was against the Broncos, a team now pushing for the No. 1 seed in the AFC. At that point, Lucas Oil Stadium felt alive again.

However, soon after, the momentum changed. Losses to the Chiefs and Texans slowed the train. After that, the season took a brutal turn, as quarterback Daniel Jones went down with a torn Achilles tendon. The breakout year ended instantly, and from there, the collapse felt unavoidable.

As a result, Indianapolis spiraled with seven straight losses that closed the season.

Are the Colts making a mistake by bringing back Chris Ballard?

While the general manager will be under contract next season, many believe it is time for Irsay-Gordon and her sisters, Kalen Jackson and Casey Foyt, to part ways with the executive their late father, Jim Irsay, once called a “blue-chip general manager”. After all, Ballard has hardly accomplished enough in the past few years.

It looks like Indianapolis remained mostly rudderless under his leadership.

Here’s the thing: their last playoff victory came in 2018 with Andrew Luck. But the former quarterback moved on to become a general manager at his alma mater, Stanford. So, Luck’s retirement before the 2019 season surely made things difficult for Ballard, but seven seasons should have been more than enough time to get back out of the rut.

And despite signing Philip Rivers to a one-year deal in 2020 and reaching the playoffs, the team simply hasn’t performed up to the mark. What makes matters worse is that the general manager had the chance to find a long-term solution.

“We are going to work together as an organization to build a winning culture that is competing for championships year in and year out,” Ballard said during his introductory news conference in January 2017.

However, none of that has happened yet. If anything, the Colts missed the playoffs for five straight seasons, which is their longest drought in over 30 years. But now that the franchise has decided to retain Ballard, it will be interesting to see what changes he makes during the offseason. What do you think?