ORLANDO, Fla. _ One of the main cogs in the Chiefs' front office will no longer be a part of the mix.
On Sunday evening, shortly before the Pro Bowl, the Indianapolis Colts announced they have hired Chris Ballard, the Chiefs' director of football operations, to be their new general manager.
Ballard will replace Ryan Grigson, who was recently relieved of his duties after posting a 49-31 regular-season record the last five years.
Since his arrival in Kansas City in 2013 _ along with coach Andy Reid and general manager John Dorsey _ Ballard has helped the Chiefs put together a 43-21 regular-season record and reach the playoffs three times.
Ballard has interviewed for several general manager jobs over the last three years, including Tennessee's, Tampa Bay's and Chicago's. The San Francisco 49ers also wanted to interview Ballard earlier this month, but according to Pro Football Talk, the Chiefs denied the 49ers permission to interview Ballard. Now that the season is over, Ballard was free to interview wherever he chose.
He interviewed for the Colts' opening this week, and it was reported over the weekend that he was due to receive a second interview _ the first candidate to get that opportunity.
Ballard was among six candidates for the job, along with Scott Fitterer and Trent Kirchner of Seattle, Minnesota's George Paton, Indianapolis' Jimmy Raye III and Green Bay's Eliot Wolf.
That second interview must have gone very well, since Ballard will now have an opportunity to run his own organization, and Dorsey will have to find a replacement.
Ballard, who joined the team as director of player personnel in 2013 after spending 11 seasons as a Southwest area scout and one as the director of pro scouting with the Bears, was promoted in May 2015 to director of football operations under John Dorsey.
Since Dorsey's arrival in 2013, the Chiefs have received contributions from all four of their first picks _ Eric Fisher, Dee Ford, Marcus Peters and Chris Jones _ and also unearthed a number of contributors in the middle and later rounds.
With the Chiefs, Ballard played a role in the selection of Peters in the first round of the 2015 NFL draft. Peters was dismissed from the University of Washington during his junior season after repeated clashes with the new coaching staff and was considered a draft risk by many. The Chiefs sent Ballard to Oakland, Calif., to spend a little time with Peters prior to the draft.
Peters recorded eight interceptions during a rookie season that ended with him being chosen the NFL's defensive rookie of the year. He added six more interceptions this season.
Before the Chiefs' divisional-round loss to Pittsburgh, team president Mark Donovan cited Ballard as an an example of a front-office executive "who's a team player."
"You look at our entire organization, you look at everybody across the board on the football side, ops side, coaching side, players, and I'd like to say business side as well _ we're all in this together," Donovan said. "Chris is one of those guys."
