Colts Add Bright, Young DC to Head Coach Search
The Indianapolis Colts are in the early stages of one of their most important offseasons in recent memory.
They fired head coach Frank Reich during the season and replaced him with the ill-experienced Jeff Saturday. The latter is a candidate to earn the job in full, but the Colts are already casting an impressive net to land their next leader.
According to NFL Network's Tom Pelissero, the Colts have requested to interview Denver Broncos defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero to fill their vacancy.
"The #Colts requested an interview with #Broncos DC Ejiro Evero for their head coaching job, per source," Pelissero tweeted. "Evero is interviewing with Denver today and also got a request from the #Texans. A hot candidate."
Evero just concluded his first season with the Broncos after previously coaching in the pros with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2007-09), San Francisco 49ers (2011-15), Green Bay Packers (2016), and Los Angeles Rams (2017-21).
The Broncos and Colts were generally similar in 2022, coming into the season with high expectations that the defense largely fulfilled while the offense failed, leading to each team's downfall. Like the Colts, the Broncos also fired their head coach, Nathaniel Hackett, during the season. Evero was offered the interim job but elected to stay put as the defensive coordinator
Evero's Broncos defense was stout, ranking 2nd on third downs (34.1%), 7th overall (320.0 YPG), 7th in red zone scoring (51.1%), 10th against the run (109.8 YPG), tied-10th in sacks (44), 12th against the pass (210.2 YPG), tied-14th in scoring (21.1 PPG), tied-14th in takeaways (23), and tied-23rd in sacks (36).
His group's success throughout the year given what we saw happen to the Colts' defense down the stretch while matched by an inept offense is quite impressive.
So far, the Colts have also reportedly requested permission to interview Detroit Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn and offensive coordinator Ben Johnson, Rams defensive coordinator Raheem Morris, and Philadelphia Eagles offensive coordinator Shane Steichen. Saturday is also going to be interviewed while there are also rumors of Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh being a candidate as well.
Evero is also reportedly set to interview with the Broncos and Houston Texans.
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