Insider: Colts owner Jim Irsay a big draw for top front-office talent

BLOOMINGTON, Minn. – Tony Dungy has had such high-level experience dealing with complex individuals that he’s something of an expert on the subject.

As the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ coach in the late 1990s and early 2000s, the soft-spoken, mild-mannered, even-keeled Dungy commanded unwavering respect from and forged a unique bond with loud-mouthed, trash-talking, ruckus-bringing defensive lineman Warren Sapp.

They had little in common, save for a deep love of football. But that was enough to bring together two men who, above all, wanted the same thing: To win.

Dungy encountered a bit of a similar situation when he joined forces with Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay in his next job. In Irsay, the scripture-quoting Dungy found an eccentric, rock-and-roll loving billionaire with a history of substance abuse. Yet, Dungy will tell you to this day, Irsay is one of the best men he’s ever dealt with in his 40 years of association with the NFL.

“I know the national media and the outside world think, ‘Gosh, he’d be a tough guy to work for,’” Dungy said this week in between his NBC analyst duties here at Super Bowl LII. “Well, Jim Irsay was the best. I can’t even emphasize how good he was to work for.”

It’s a timely topic given that Irsay’s football team is about to experience a major shift for the second consecutive year. Josh McDaniels, the New England Patriots’ offensive coordinator and, arguably, the most sought-after coaching candidate in the league this winter, is poised to become the Colts’ new coach after Sunday’s Super Bowl. This comes exactly one year after Irsay landed General Manager Chris Ballard, perhaps the most in-demand GM candidate in 2017, to fill the opening created by Ryan Grigson’s firing.

Some might see a contradiction if looking only from afar. How can an owner who in 2014 was arrested for driving while intoxicated, one who rambles on about expectations of winning multiple Super Bowls and whose news conferences can be painful to watch, also consistently manage to land the finest job candidates and be considered one of the top owners in the NFL by those who’ve worked for him?

Dungy put it this way.

“I didn’t ask for much, but anything I asked for – whatever you need – you’ve got it,” he said of Irsay. “He’s so empathetic to the players. He does things in the city and with the team that no one knows about. He’s just a special guy. And if I would go back to work for anybody, it would be Jim Irsay. I think Chris Ballard is going to be tremendous and I think Josh is going to be tremendous.

“I think they’re going to put something together like we had for eight or 10 years, like when I was there.”

You might have concerns about the state of the franchise, but the Colts’ Super Bowl-winning coach clearly does not share them.

That said, Irsay is an easy target. He can be inarticulate, creating a public perception that he’s a raving, over-the-top owner. Certainly, if you saw him hype up the crowd back in that 2016 pep rally in downtown London, before the Colts’ International Series game against Jacksonville, you might naturally have had questions.

And when you consider his DWI arrest and noted history of struggles with addiction, you’re bound to wonder. Irsay was suspended six games and fined $500,000 by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell after the incident. He talked about his issues with IndyStar in 2014, saying, “These diseases, both alcoholism and addiction, much like bipolar or depression and different illnesses, are still not seen as real diseases. People shy away from seeking help because it's viewed as being somewhat morally off the path, that they've lost their way. I really think the disease aspect gets lost when you're talking about alcoholism and addiction.”

Likewise, Irsay’s best qualities get lost when the conversation turns to his complexities. Rarely does anyone acknowledge what those who have dealt with him directly – the people whose opinions matter most – have to say.

Take Ballard, for instance. After his hiring last year, he was asked what prompted him to take the Colts job when he had been so selective about pursuing opportunities with other teams. He mentioned Indianapolis being a good fit for his family, but then Ballard added another variable: “Very loyal ownership. They’ve had two GMs in the last 20 years.”

That matters to prospective employees.

So, too, does Irsay’s knowledge of the game. In a league where owners come from a variety of backgrounds — everything from real estate to technology— Irsay is a football man through and through. It’s all he’s ever known, having grown up watching his father, Bob, run the team for many years. The younger Irsay certainly picked up a few things along the way.

It might not come through in his news conferences, but you can’t spend considerable time around Irsay without picking up his impressive level of football acumen. That made life easier for Dungy and former team president Bill Polian. It ensured that football decisions always remained, well, football decisions.

“You can talk about things very quickly and concisely, and that was always a big help,” Dungy said. “He always left (decisions) up to the coaches.”

Never was this more evident than the time the Colts made the difficult choice to move on from running back Edgerrin James after the 2005 season, forcing Irsay to part ways with a player for whom he always had a soft spot.

“It broke his heart when we were trying to decide whether to do another contract with Edgerrin,” Dungy said. “Jim knew all the things that Edgerrin brought – the blocking and pass receiving and the locker room, the presence that he was there. He was really Jim’s favorite player. And (Polian) said, ‘We can sign him, but we’ll end up losing Dallas Clark and probably Reggie (Wayne) and maybe Dwight (Freeney). Or, we can let Edgerrin go, which will be tough, and in the draft we’ll get Maurice Jones-Drew or Joseph Addai and we’ll be able to sign those other guys.’

“Well, Jim processed that in 30 seconds. He said, ‘As much as I want Edgerrin to be here, I understand. Let’s move forward and bite the bullet.’ Those were the kinds of conversations you could have.”

Every coach or executive wants to work for an owner who “gets it.” In Jim Irsay, men such as Tony Dungy, Bill Polian, Chris Ballard and, now, Josh McDaniels, seem to have found just that.

Follow Colts Insider Stephen Holder on Twitter: @HolderStephen.