Report: Colts request to interview Chris Ballard for GM opening

As the Colts’ general manager search gets underway, we’ve heard about several candidates the Colts want to speak to about the opening. According to the USA Today’s Tom Pelissero, we can add another one to that list in Chris Ballard, the Chiefs’ director of football operations.

Ballard has been the Chiefs’ director of football operations for the past two seasons, before which he was the Chiefs’ director of player personnel for two years. He came with GM John Dorsey and head coach Andy Reid to Kansas City in 2013, but before that he spent twelve years with the Chicago Bears, first as the southwest area scout for eleven years (2001-2011) and then as the director of pro scouting for one year (2012). During his time in Chicago, he helped in the drafting of Matt Forte and Charles Tillman, among others. While in Kansas City, he has been instrumental in adding quite a bit of talent, such as recent first round pick Marcus Peters, among others.

He was a candidate for the GM opening with the 49ers, but the Chiefs blocked him from interviewing since Kansas City was still playing at the time. Now that Kansas City is done playing, however, it would make a lot of sense for the Colts to want to talk with Ballard, as he’s viewed as one of the top personnel guys in football.

At this point, we’ve heard of the Colts wanting to interview Jimmy Raye III, Trent Kirchner, Scott Fitterer, George Paton, Eliot Wolf, and Chris Ballard for their GM opening. That’s a pretty fantastic list of candidates that Jim Irsay has put together.