As the losses pile up and team drama builds, so does the focus on Indianapolis Colts principal owner and CEO Carlie Irsay-Gordon stemming from her unprecedented habit of spending games pacing the sidelines while wearing a coach’s headset and taking “detailed” notes. It’s like the CEO of Best Buy hanging out in the electronics section all day observing workers and writing stuff down.
The Indianapolis Colts are 0-2 after getting stomped by the Baltimore Ravens 41-23 in Week 1 and getting out maneuvered by Patrick Mahomes’ Kansas City Chiefs 33-30 on Sunday.
While it’s common for owners to watch from private luxury suites, Irsay-Gordon — who took over team operations following the death of her father, Jim Irsay — has implemented a hands-on approach. The backlash spiked significantly following the Colts’ tight overtime loss to the Chiefs, where cameras frequently caught her pacing the sidelines.
Ryen Russillo Says Colts Owner Carlie Irsay-Gordon is Performing On Sidelines
Barstool NFL radio host Ryen Russillo wants Irsay-Gordon to turn over some of those notes as eivdence that she’s not just putting on a show for the fans.
“I want to see Carlie Irsay’s notes. I want to see what they are. It’s very performative for me. I think the announcement is performative to the Colts fans who want her to be a hero for a team that’s going through a disappointing run. People can say that I’m only saying it because she’s a woman, but it would be bullsh-t because Boston made fun of Robert Kraft forever,” for walking around at practice timing people with a stopwatch.
Russillo’s co-host says Irsay-Gordon is the owner and can do what she wants but he would also be very interested in at least understanding what she’s looking for and if she’s identifying plays correctly and things of that nature. More important, he’d like to know if what she’s doing is performative as Russillo suggested or actual analysis.
“I hate owners on the sideline.” Russillo’s co-host said. To which, Russillo replied, “That’s why I have to see the notes.”
Fans chimed in on Russillo’s take, with many standing by the efforts of their owner.
“hey buddy she is paying for the god d-mn headseat she can do we she pleases dont owe u a thing n she prob evaluating the coach to see how hes progressed love an owner that seems involved makes ballsy trades (sauce) need more of her in nfl,” one Irsay-Gordon defender commented.
“This is dumb. It’s her team. She wants to learn. We praise Elon for being hands on with his product. Why knock her?” another fan expressed.
“Unless you own part of the team it’s none of your business. She is a business owner taking notes that is all you are entitled to know,” a netizen informed one of Irsay-Gordon’s critics.
“She can do what she wants. People thought it was cool what she did when the Colts were winning. Then, when they collapsed end of last year and 0-2 to start this year, they think it’s a problem lol,” a user commented on X.
Another Colts fan offered more perspective to the criticism by noting that Irsay-Gordon does not make final calls on personnel – yet.
“She’s been around with Jim for years,” the fan commented.” She did not make the offseason decisions… (GM) Ballard did as we know. Just her presence puts pressure on the team. I don’t think notes refer to specific plays but how players perform. Simple solution: ask her.”
Irsay-Gordon hasn’t paid much attention to the backlash, defending her sideline presence by explaining that she listens to play calls to develop a professional understanding of the flow of the game, track what works, and make highly informed executive decisions regarding staff, roster construction, and general operations
“I think one of the things that I learned in going through, even as back as when we hired Chuck Pagano (in 2012), is that sort of accelerated my, ‘I need to learn more about this,'” Irsay-Gordon said when she first arrived on the Colts sideline. “‘I need to be able to say, is this person full of BS? Do they even know what they’re talking about?’
“And I think one of the things that being on the headset has really helped me learn is to the question earlier, it’s such a complex organism of football team and how it operates.”
With an understanding of how all aspects of her team works, especially down in the trenches, she believes that gives her a better understanding of what she can do as an owner to improve her team.
“You could say, ‘Oh, that person ran that route wrong,'” Irsay-Gordon said. “When you learn to find, ‘Oh, someone tagged the wrong wide receiver, and it wasn’t really the player’s fault – it was the person that called it.’ I think that’s been very valuable, because it also helps us be able to know where do we need to make tweaks, what resources do we need, what do we need to fix.
“So much of it comes down to just how we operate and how things work and the headsets – I would suggest it for anyone else that has to pay coaches and GMs millions and millions of dollars. It helps you make a less expensive mistake potentially,” she added.
Russillo’s comments aren’t much different than others she’s received throughout the NFL community.
Most analysts felt that having the team owner “hovering” on the sideline during moments of extreme pressure is counterproductive, and places undue pressure on players and coaches who are trying to focus on execution.
Media analysts like Damien Woody have called for her to return to the suite, suggesting that her close proximity and access to the coaches’ audio feeds crosses the line into micromanaging head coach Shane Steichen and disrupting game strategy.
Anyone who’s come to a Colts game has noticed Irsay-Gordon stalking the sidelines with a headset on, a call sheet and pen in her hands. She insists she’s not doing it to micromanage coaches, but to gain a hands-on, deeper understanding of the numerous intricacies that comprise a single NFL play. It’s not something she can learn overnight, but her efforts to be in sync with everyone else in the organization as the dominant voice up the power chain has endeared her to Steichen.
“As far as football, she’s around and she understands it,” Steichen said last January when Gordon first started emerging on the sidelines. “When you talk football with her, she gets it. She understands it. She goes over the defensive stuff, the offensive stuff. She’s been involved since I’ve been here from Day One, very hands on and she’s been tremendous. I think she’s going to do a phenomenal job.”
The results say otherwise right now, but Irsay-Gordon will own this team for decades to come, so the players need to get used to it, and so does the NFL.