Report: Colts Have Their New Offensive Line Coach
Last season, the Indianapolis Colts saw the play of their offensive line derail their season, which significantly contributed to the dramatics that occurred during the 2022-2023 season. This made hiring the team’s next offensive line coach the second most important hire after the head coach position.
Monday morning, the first report of who would be taking over as the team's offensive line coach would come from Art Stapleton, who covers the New York Giants for The Record Sports.
Getting to Know Tony Sparano Jr.
Tony Sparano Jr. is 36 years old and the son of former Miami Dolphins head coach Tony Sparano. Sparano Jr. has been coaching in the NFL ranks since 2011 when he was an offensive quality control coach under his father with the Dolphins.
Since then, he has spent time with multiple franchises in different roles before getting into the groove of working solely with offensive line groups since 2017:
- 2011: Offensive Quality Control for Miami Dolphins
- 2012-2013: Intern for New York Jets
- 2014: Offensive Assistant for New York Jets
- 2015-2016: Tight End Coach for Buffalo Bills
- 2017-2020: Assistant Offensive Line for Jacksonville Jaguars
- 2021: Assistant Offensive Line for Carolina Panthers
- 2022: Assistant Offensive Line for New York Giants
In Sparano’s first season as an assistant offensive line coach with the Jaguars, the team led the league in rushing with 141.4 yds per game. Now a seven-year vet in the league, running back Leonard Fournette would have both of his career 1,000-yard seasons during Sparano’s tenure with the team, with his career-high coming in 2019 when he rushed for 1,152 yards.
To pair with the rushing success, Jacksonville only allowed 24 sacks during the 2017 season, which tied for 3rd fewest in the league. That success would lead to the team advancing to the AFC Championship round, losing to the New England Patriots.
Since his stint with the Jaguars, Sparano is coming off two one-year stints as an assistant offensive line coach with the Panthers and Giants. It's important to note that with both, Sparano would see young offensive linemen be integrated into the starting lineups during the season.
With the Panthers in 2021, rookie tackle Brady Christensen would start six games and by the year's end, his solid play would elevate him into a full-time starter role for the following season in 2022.
Last season, Sparano would move on to work with the Giants under head coach Brian Daboll where the team had a third-year tackle, Andrew Thomas, slated to start at the team's left tackle position, and after a solid year two that put him in high regard across the league. Thomas' improvement and jump in year three would put him in many people's minds as one of, if not the best, tackle in the NFL. That year three jump came during Sparano’s first and last with the team.
