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Chris Ballard (American football)

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Chris Ballard
refer to caption
Ballard in 2020
Indianapolis Colts
Position:General manager
Personal information
Born: (1969-06-24) June 24, 1969 (age 55)[1][2]
Galveston, Texas, U.S.
Career information
College:University of Wisconsin–Madison
Career history
As a coach:
  • Texas A&M-Kingsville (1994)
    Wide receivers coach
  • Texas A&M-Kingsville (1995–1998)
    Secondary coach
  • Texas A&M–Kingsville (1999)
    Defensive coordinator & secondary coach
As an executive:
Career highlights and awards
  • PFWA Executive of the Year (2018)
Executive profile at Pro Football Reference

Christopher R. Ballard (born June 24, 1969) is an American professional football executive who is the general manager for the Indianapolis Colts of the National Football League (NFL). Before joining the Colts, Ballard was an executive for the Kansas City Chiefs, where he most recently served as the director of football operations,[3][4] was a scout for the Chicago Bears, and served in various coaching roles at Texas A&M University–Kingsville.[5][6]

Early life

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Ballard was born in Galveston, Texas. Growing up a severe asthmatic in Texas, as well as Wisconsin, Ballard's parents reluctantly let him play football at a young age. He was a star quarterback in high school at Texas City High School.[7] Ballard's favorite NFL team was once the Pittsburgh Steelers; his favorite player was Terry Bradshaw.[8]

Ballard attended the University of Wisconsin–Madison and switched his position to wide receiver as a freshman.[7] He suffered knee injuries and was forced to retire from playing during his senior year at Wisconsin, working as a student assistant in the aftermath.[9] He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1993.[9]

Career

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Early career

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After college, Ballard became a history teacher for Hitchcock Junior High while also contributing to their football program. After a referral from Hitchcock's head coach, Ballard joined the Texas A&M–Kingsville Javelinas football team coaching wide receivers in 1994.[7] He would remain for seven seasons on the staff of Javelinas head coach Ron Harms, taking over as secondary coach in 1995 and mentoring future NFL players Floyd Young and Al Harris.[9]

Chicago Bears

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In 2001, Ballard joined the Chicago Bears' scouting department. It was during this time that he declined a job offer to run first-year coach Art Briles' secondary at the University of Houston.[7] Ballard contributed to Chicago's success in the twelve years he was there. In 2012, he received a promotion to director of pro scouting. Ballard would only remain in this position for one season before moving to the Kansas City Chiefs.[7] During his time with the Bears, he was said to be involved with many acquisitions such as Matt Forte, Johnny Knox, Brandon Marshall, and Martellus Bennett.[10]

Kansas City Chiefs

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Prior to the 2013 season, Ballard joined the Kansas City Chiefs as director of player personnel, the position he remained in until the conclusion of the 2014 season in which he received a promotion to become the director of football operations.[7] He remained with the Chiefs until the conclusion of the 2016 regular season. While with the Kansas City Chiefs, Ballard was involved in drafting Pro-Bowlers Travis Kelce, Tyreek Hill, and Marcus Peters.[10]

Indianapolis Colts

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In the midst of the 2016 NFL Playoffs, Ballard was introduced as the new general manager of the Indianapolis Colts.[10] The Colts would have a losing record in Ballard's first season as their GM.[7] Prior to his second season, the Colts fired head coach Chuck Pagano. Despite the Colts announcing that they had signed New England Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, McDaniels unexpectedly withdrew from the agreement in principle.[11] On February 11, 2018, the Colts announced Frank Reich as their new head coach.[12]

The Colts finished the season with a 10-6 record, and two of Ballard's 2018 draft choices, Quenton Nelson and Shaquille Leonard were named to the AP All-Pro First Team, becoming the first set of rookie teammates to be named First Team All-Pro since 1965 and only the second in NFL history.[13] Additionally, Leonard was named the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year.[14] Ballard was named the NFL Executive of the Year by the Pro Football Writers of America in 2018.[15] In August 2021, Ballard signed a five-year contract extension with the Colts.[16]

Personal life

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Ballard and his wife, Kristin, have three children and adopted two more in 2012.[17]

References

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  1. ^ "Birth reference results for Christopher (Rob) Ballard". FamilySearch.org. Retrieved January 20, 2018.
  2. ^ Birth reference data from intelus.com|access-date=January 20, 2018}}
  3. ^ "Chiefs Announce Player Personnel Staff Promotions". Kansas City Chiefs. May 29, 2015. Archived from the original on February 2, 2017. Retrieved January 30, 2017.
  4. ^ Paylor, Terez A. (January 29, 2017). "Chiefs' Chris Ballard leaving to become Colts' GM". Kansas City Star. Retrieved January 30, 2017.
  5. ^ Newell, Nat (January 29, 2017). "5 things to know about new Colts GM Chris Ballard". Indy Star. Retrieved January 30, 2017.
  6. ^ Ferrin, Reid (May 7, 2013). "Chris Ballard Hired as Director of Player Personnel". Kansas City Chiefs. Archived from the original on January 29, 2017. Retrieved January 30, 2017.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g "The making of Chris Ballard". Indianapolis Star. Retrieved November 11, 2017.
  8. ^ Goldstein, Steven. "8 things you should know about Chris Ballard". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved November 11, 2017.
  9. ^ a b c Hayden Clark, et al., (eds.), 2024 Media Guide. Indianapolis, IN: Indianapolis Colts, Inc., 2024; unpaginated [p. 17].
  10. ^ a b c O'Keefe, PJ (January 30, 2017). "Colts hire Chris Ballard as new General Manager". RTV6. Retrieved November 11, 2017.
  11. ^ McCann, Michael. "Will There Be Any Legal Fallout for Josh McDaniels, Colts?". Sports Illustrated.
  12. ^ @Colts (February 11, 2018). "It's official Colts fans! Frank Reich is your new head coach:" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  13. ^ "Colts' rookie duo makes historic appearance on All-Pro team". USA TODAY.
  14. ^ "Colts' Darius Leonard wins Defensive Rookie of Year". NFL.com.
  15. ^ "Chris Ballard Voted As PFWA's 2018 NFL Executive Of The Year". www.colts.com.
  16. ^ "Colts extend Reich, Ballard deals through 2026". August 11, 2021.
  17. ^ "KRAVITZ: On Father's Day, Chris Ballard talks about adopting two children: 'Better than winning any Super Bowl...'". 13 WTHR Indianapolis. June 18, 2017. Archived from the original on November 11, 2017. Retrieved November 11, 2017.
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