Carlie Irsay-Gordon has established herself as one of the few women in the NFL to hold a leadership role at a franchise. She became the owner and CEO of the Indianapolis Colts after inheriting the team from her late father, Jim Irsay. She co-owns the Colts with her sisters, Casey Fot and Kalen Jackson. She recently reached a unique milestone in the league, and a viral video now shows the extent of her leadership on and off the field.
The Colts had a poor start to the 2026 NFL season with a loss to the Baltimore Ravens in the Week 1 opening game. The Colts lost by a 23-41 score margin and struggled to control the game despite an early touchdown. Irsay-Gordon, however, went viral after the game because of her presence on the field.
A video clip that has gone viral on social media shows the team owner on the field. She is standing on the sideline with the rest of the players. She is seen listening to the play calls on a headset and writing down detailed notes on a notepad. It is not an uncommon feature, as the 45-year-old has done it previously. She is also known to attend player meetings and be present in the gym with the players.
In a previous interview, she explained why she is so involved with her team. “I think one of the things that I learned in going through, even as back as when we hired Chuck Pagano (in 2012), is that sort of accelerated my, ‘I need to learn more about this. I need to be able to say, is this person full of BS? Do they even know what they’re talking about?'” she said. She added, “And I think one of the things that being on the headset has really helped me learn is to the question earlier, it’s such a complex organism of football team and how it operates.” While she listens to the play calls, Irsay-Gordon does not intervene in the game.
Still, many fans did not appreciate her recent appearance on the field. While Irsay-Gordon likes to involve herself in her team, some fans felt she was doing too much. One fan said, “Disaster written all over this. The coaches are always gonna be looking over their shoulders. You can’t work like that.” Another user explained, “And this is why Indy won’t win anything. Coaches and players can’t be effective looking over their shoulder all the time.” A fifth added, “Geez literally have the boss stand over your shoulder while you work.”
Daniel Jones and Shane Steichen both like Irsay-Gordon’s leadership of the organization. “It’s neat for sure,” Jones told Fox News during the 2025 season. “Just her attention to detail, her interest in how hard she works in understanding every facet of the organization. Obviously, the play on the field, the game plan, the scheme, kind of all that goes into that. She takes a lot of time and makes a lot of effort to get to know that, really, really understand it. I know she’s said stuff in the past and how important it is for her to understand all of it as she leads the organization. But, yeah, I think for all of us players it sets a great example seeing the owner on the sideline like that. I think that carries a lot of weight.”
Steichen doesn’t mind having her on the sideline. “As far as football, she’s around and she understands it,” head coach Shane Steichen said in 2025. “When you talk football with her, she gets it. She understands it. She goes over the defensive stuff, the offensive stuff. She’s been involved since I’ve been here from Day One, very hands on and she’s been tremendous. I think she’s going to do a phenomenal job.”
Irsay-Gordon sometimes has a play sheet down there, too. If she is going to be able to hear the headset, she wants to be able to connect the dots. In a story on the Colts’ official website, she explained, “You could say, ‘Oh, that person ran that route wrong.’ When you learn to find, ‘Oh, someone tagged the wrong wide receiver, and it wasn’t really the player’s fault – it was the person that called it.’ I think that’s been very valuable, because it also helps us be able to know where do we need to make tweaks, what resources do we need, what do we need to fix. So much of it comes down to just how we operate and how things work and the headsets – I would suggest it for anyone else that has to pay coaches and GMs millions and millions of dollars. It helps you make a less expensive mistake potentially.”
The Colts had a promising start to Irsay-Gordon’s first year at the helm before injuries hurt them down the stretch. As the 2026 season gets underway, they will try to bounce back from that, and Irsay-Gordon will be right there helping lead while also learning along the way. Carlie Irsay-Gordon and the Colts will move on from the first loss of the season and focus on the next game against the Kansas City Chiefs.
