The reins of the Indianapolis Colts have remained within the Irsay family ever since Bob Irsay acquired the franchise in 1972. In 2025, Carlie Irsay-Gordon stepped up as the Colts owner after the death of her father, the late Jim Irsay. Ever since then, she has been a subject of debate for NFL fans because of her sideline moments.
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It’s not every day that you see a team owner, armed with clipboards and stats of all kinds, walking the sidelines and talking with coaches. Irsay-Gordon gave some insight into this task she has taken upon herself as the team owner.
“I like to say on a good day I have like a fifth-grade reading level understanding of the game and just the basic concepts of what we’re trying to do, depending on the week and depending on our opponent and depending on the situation,” she told Bridget Condon of Front Office Sports Tonight. “But I think, then, it just helps to understand and to ask questions because I think one of the things, in my opinion, like being a good leader is about listening, really to understand. And I think that’s what the best teams do.”
Irsay-Gordon’s reply came after a video went viral. She appeared confused after going through a sheet, and calmly went and approached a coach to talk about it. Sports media personality Bill Simmons also took notice of it and addressed it during The Bill Simmons Podcast.
“I’m not going to tiptoe around this anymore, right? And I know it’s been a topic the last couple weeks. I think the owner on the sidelines taking notes is f—ing nuts. I think it’s nuts. … I think it’s crackers,” he said. “I can’t believe she does this, and I can’t believe people in her life haven’t talked her out of it.
“If a male owner was doing this, we would be ridiculing this guy till the cows came home. If some, you know, rich guy, male owner, was on the sideline with a notebook, like coming over and giving advice to the coach, we would be like, ‘This guy?’ Even Jerry Jones wouldn’t do that. Why are we making excuses for how weird this is?”
However, fans missed a key detail pointed out by NBC’s Kylen Mills. The footage was shot pregame, and not during the game. Gordon-Irsay was not interfering with anything at the time.
“Glad you clarified this. It was sorely needed! So many people want to be outraged first then find out why they’re outraged second,” CNN’s Shawn Reynolds wrote.
Right now, Irsay-Gordon is under the microscope as the Colts navigate a rough patch, standing at 2-2. However, the two wins came back-to-back, and the last one against the Commanders was a dominant 30-13 victory.
But while Irsay-Gordon’s actions have been labelled as “performative,” support also poured in from within the Colts’ staff.
Jim Bob Cooter, the Colts’ offensive coordinator, disagreed with those criticisms. In his view, Irsay-Gordon is trying hard to understand why her employees succeed or struggle and what they need to sustain their performance.
“Carlie’s in charge, and she has – and this has been publicized – but she’s sat in a bunch of meetings over the years, whether it’s an offensive meeting or an offensive line meeting for training camp, where she’s intricately involved in what we’re doing,” Cooter said. “Whether she’s asking questions or just sorta, shoot, maybe she’s seeing how are we presenting information or how are we teaching the players, or how are the players learning?
“Are there ways we can improve that? Like any boss or CEO out there, they wanna be intricately involved in the details of their organization, and there’s a lot to be learned from what’s said on the headsets.”
Carlie Irsay-Gordon has been with the franchise for decades. She joined the team in 2008, while still pursuing her doctoral degree in clinical psychology. She has been representing the team at NFL owners’ meetings since 2004.
At 45, she ranks as the NFL’s second-youngest controlling owner, only three weeks older than San Francisco 49ers owner Jed York. However, her age does little to lessen the scrutiny surrounding her role, which is ultimately tied to how well her team performs.
Perhaps the scrutiny about her presence on the sidelines is a bit too much. She’s just there on the field to learn about the team, perhaps try to make it better with whatever she’s gathered.