INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The Indianapolis Colts missed the playoffs five straight years and missed out on finding their next franchise quarterback in the 2023 NFL draft.

On Monday, general manager Chris Ballard paid the price for both.

Team co-owner Carlie Irsay-Gordon announced she had fired Ballard, who had been making the personnel decisions since 2017. The move comes one day after the hometown fans booed resoundingly throughout the second half of Sunday's game, chanted “Fire Ballard” and left early as the Colts blew a 13-point halftime lead and lost 26-20 to previously winless Tennessee.

Irsay-Gordon issued a statement, saying the decision couldn't wait until the offseason.

“Our standard is to compete for championships, and I believe a change in leadership is necessary to meet that standard,” she said. “Making this change during the season was a deliberate decision. Waiting would only delay the important work that needs to begin now.”

She said a “thorough search” for Ballard's successor has already begun.

Irsay-Gordon made her position clear in January when she declined to fire Ballard and coach Shane Steichen as fans clamored for their ousters.

Instead, she said she understood the fans' desire to field a championship-caliber team but brought both back, acknowledging the urgency to make the playoffs could not be higher.

Indy (2-4) has not won the AFC South since 2014, the longest title drought in the division. In fact, each of the other three teams has won at least two division crowns since the Colts won their last one.

But the early results didn't produce much of a difference.

Ballard spent the offseason overhauling the defense and then watched it open the season by allowing 1,029 yards, the second-highest two-game total in league history. Indy lost both games. Victories over the then-winless Houston Texans and a Washington Commanders squad playing with a backup quarterback briefly quieted the outside calls for changes.

Another poor defensive performance at Pittsburgh and Sunday's debacle — blowing a 13-0 halftime lead as the Titans special teams unit scored one TD and set up another, and Indy generating only one score in the second half — only turned up the heat inside the organization.

And it was notably different following the game.

“We’ve got to give them something to cheer about,” a feistier than usual Steichen said. “I don’t blame them for booing one freaking bit.”

The usually even-keeled Pro Bowl defensive tackle DeForest Buckner also showed his frustration.

“I’m sick and tired of the same song and dance every year,” the team captain said.

Apparently, that was enough to compel Irsay-Gordon to pull the plug on Ballard.

The next steps remain unclear. Steichen was asked Sunday about whether suddenly turnover-prone quarterback Daniel Jones would keep his job and whether he would make any changes on his staff. While Steichen said the Colts need to clean up the turnovers, he didn't promise any personnel changes.

Steichen is scheduled to speak with reporters later Monday.

Indy (2-4) visits unbeaten Minnesota (5-0) next weekend, then travels to AFC South-leading Jacksonville (4-2) the following week. Their next home game is Nov. 8 against Dallas.

Ballard presided over some strange twists and turns not necessarily of his own volition — the sudden retirement of Andrew Luck in August 2019, starting seven straight season-openers with a different quarterback, the midseason firing of coach Frank Reich and subsequent hiring of Jeff Saturday in 2022, and a nasty contract dispute involving Irsay and Jonathan Taylor in 2023.

Then last year, in need of a veteran quarterback trying to salvage a quickly unraveling season, Ballard brought Philip Rivers out of retirement just after he was named a Pro Football Hall of Fame semifinalist.

Ballard also presided over a team that always seemed to be on the cusp of contending.

Indy ended a three-year playoff absence in 2018 when Luck led them to a wild-card round win at Houston before falling in the divisional round at Kansas City, where Ballard worked prior to being hired by Irsay-Gordon's late father, Jim. Rivers led the Colts to their last postseason appearance in 2020, losing 27-24 at Buffalo.

Indy also was eliminated on the final weekend twice since then.

But it was the decision to select quarterback Anthony Richardson with the No. 4 overall pick in 2023 that ultimately may have cost Ballard his job. Richardson's inaccuracy, inconsistency and injury history prompted the Colts to bring in Jones last season.

Jones wound up winning the battle to play, and as he led the Colts offense to a historic start in 2025, Richardson continued to sit and watch as the Colts went 8-2. But a broken bone in Jones' left leg derailed the season, and he suffered a season-ending torn right Achilles tendon in December. Indy finished the season by losing its final seven games.

This season's poor start, apparently, was the final straw for Irsay-Gordon.

“I also want to be clear: this decision does not change our goals for the season," Irsay-Gordon said. "We have a lot of football in front of us, and I expect us to compete, improve, and win football games.”

Ballard, a Texan who played college football at Wisconsin, also worked in the Chicago Bears front office from 2001-11 and coached at Texas A&M-Kingsville from 1994-99.

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