More of the same: Irsay stays the course, brings back Ballard so he can run it back -- again

In the end, it's a vote for complacency and mediocrity. The man had eight years. Eight. The longest leash in football. And yet, here we are.

Here was Chris Ballard in August.

“Either you believe in something or you believe nothing,” he said boldly. “It’s easy to vacillate and go with what the world wants you to do. You either believe in something or you don’t. This is what we believe. It gets me fired, so be it.”

Without question, Ballard has done it his way, stacking draft picks, signing his own guys, treating free agency like it’s the plague. And he’s 62-69-1 after eight mostly moribund years, his team having reached the playoffs twice and won just one playoff game.

Sunday night, Jim Irsay voted for complacency and mediocrity.

He opted to bring back Chris Ballard.

Welcome to Groundhog Day.

There is only one way this makes any little bit of sense, and here it is: Irsay absolutely, positively has got to loosen the purse strings and mandate that Ballard be active in free agency. This whole “I like my guys” nonsense has got to stop. It hasn’t worked. It won’t work. It’s been eight years, for crying out loud. Does Chris have incriminating photos? How do you explain this level of loyalty to someone who hasn’t done the job, whose team hasn’t won a weak AFC South in 10 years?