Report: Colts fire VP of football operations Jimmy Raye

With the draft coming to a close, Chris Ballard is revamping his scouting and personnel department with the Indianapolis Colts, something that shouldn’t come as any surprise.

Yesterday it was reported that the Colts have fired director of college scouting T.J. McCreight, along with others. But there are more changes, too. According to the MMQB’s Albert Breer, the Colts have fired VP of football operations Jimmy Raye III as well. Breer added that the move was as “amicable as it could be” as Ballard is simply bringing in his own guys. The Indianapolis Star’s Stephen Holder said that he was told by one source that Ballard cleaned house.

Raye’s future with the Colts was up in the air ever since Ballard got the job, just like with everyone else in the personnel department. Raye is a very respected personnel guy and interviewed for the Colts’ GM job, also serving as the unofficial interim GM while Jim Irsay conducted his search for Ryan Grigson’s replacement. Raye was the right-hand man for Grigson over the last four years as he served as the VP of football operations and had a role in a number of areas, including roster moves, salary cap details, and free agent signings - but especially in the draft, where he helped with draft prep and also was in charge of the UDFA signings. He spent a long time with the Chargers before arriving in Indianapolis, as he was a scout for four years, the director of college scouting for eight years, and the director of player personnel for five years before he left for Indy.

This is the most significant name from the Colts’ personnel department and with the firing of Raye it means that sweeping changes are in fact coming for the Colts. But that was expected all along, since new GMs typically like to bring in scouts and personnel guys they’re familiar with. Those moves almost always happen right after the draft, since in January (when GMs are normally hired) the scouts and personnel guys are already in the thick of draft prep.

Ballard has been widely expected to put together a very strong scouting staff in Indy, so we’ll have to see what hires he makes. One name that we’ve seen multiple reports about is Seattle’s Ed Dodds, as it sounds like Ballard might be interested in bringing Dodds in. With Raye now gone, it’s possible that Dodds’ job could be the VP of football operations with the Colts if in fact he is hired.