Colts confirm six general manager candidates

Over the past few days we’ve been hearing reports about different people Jim Irsay wants to interview for the Colts’ general manager opening, and we’ve also heard reports of which of those candidates accepted interviews.

Now, Colts.com has officially confirmed that there are currently six candidates for the general manager opening. They are as follows:

Jimmy Raye III, Colts’ VP of football operations

Trent Kirchner, Seahawks’ co-director of player personnel

Scott Fitterer, Seahawks’ co-director of player personnel

George Paton, Vikings’ assistant general manager

Eliot Wolf, Packers’ director of football operations

Chris Ballard, Chiefs’ director of football operations

This means that the other person we heard connected to the Colts, the Ravens’ Eric DeCosta, must have turned down the interview request - which is no surprise, given he’s done that to a lot of teams over the years. These six guys are the guys the Colts currently are looking at for the GM opening, however, and it’s a very strong list of personnel guys.

Earlier today, we put together a tentative schedule of when the interviews are expected to take place over the next few days based on reports, and it sounds like most (if not all) of them will take place during Senior Bowl week. Jim Irsay is in Mobile as is most of the NFL’s scouting and personnel world, so it’s a perfect time for the Colts’ owner to speak with several candidates. It also helps the process move along more quickly, which is a good thing.

The fact that guys like Chris Ballard and Eliot Wolf are interviewing with the Colts in the first place is great news for the franchise, and it sounds like there is plenty of interest in the team’s GM job like most expected. The Indianapolis Star’s Stephen Holder has spoken with some of the candidates and Holder said they are “salivating over this job” while Chuck Pagano’s status won’t be a “deterrent.”