The Colts' Tall Task of Replacing Bubba Ventrone

After five seasons together, the Indianapolis Colts and special teams coordinator Bubba Ventrone seem to be approaching the end of his tenure in Indianapolis.

Following a rumor-filled couple of days, Ventrone's interview with the Cleveland Browns occurred Wednesday and the first report of a deal being expected to come out of the interview came the very same day on Wednesday evening from Jonathan Jones of NFL on CBS.

The Browns are expected to hire Colts special teams coordinator Bubba Ventrone for the same position, sources say.
— Jonathan Jones (@jjones9) February 23, 2023

Replacing Ventrone is a tall task and one many didn’t believe new head coach Shane Steichen would have to do. But that is now the reality the Colts have to face after NFL Network's Tom Pelissero’s reported that the Browns finalized the deal to make Ventrone their new special teams coordinator as well as assistant head coach.

The #Browns are hiring Bubba Ventrone as their assistant head coach/special teams coordinator, per sources.

Ventrone, 40, played four seasons in Cleveland (2009-12). Now, he returns on Kevin Stefanski’s staff after building one of the NFL’s top units in Indianapolis. A big hire. pic.twitter.com/qdI4aSRxL1
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) February 23, 2023

Now on top of filling out his offensive staff that still currently at the time of this article only has hired Jim Bob Cooter as the offensive coordinator, the team is now in the market for a special teams coordinator. Who makes sense for Steichen and the Colts to consider for the opening?

Joe Hastings, Assistant Special Teams Coach, Indianapolis Colts

Hastings is 35 years old and has been with the Colts since 2021. He has worked under Ventrone for the past two years, helping to build one of the most respected special teams groups in the NFL. Like Ventrone, Hastings is a former NFL wide receiver who signed with the San Francisco 49ers as an undrafted free agent in 2011 after completing his college career at Washburn. His playing career didn't last long, as after the 2013 season and being on the Miami Dolphins practice squad, he decided to move on from his playing career.

Hastings wouldn't stay away from the game of football long, though, as he would become a graduate assistant at the University of Michigan in 2015. While at Michigan, he would move up the ranks to becoming an offensive assistant in 2017. He would get his first position group coaching job in 2018 with Indiana State as their wide receivers coach and would add the responsibility of pass game coordinator as well. And in his final move before coming to the Colts, Hastings would take a job with the University of Mississippi as their senior player personnel analyst.

Promoting from within isn't normally received well by fans, but it could be the option most comfortable to the Colts brass. As mentioned earlier, their special teams unit is well respected across the league, and a big reason why are the players buying into Ventrone’s method and mindset. After working closely with Ventrone for the past two seasons, hiring Hastings could be an attempt by the team to keep the solid relationships and overall culture Ventrone built. This hire would be seen as safe to many, but maybe Hastings would also be the pick to replace Ventrone by the players in the building.

Joe Pannunzio, Assistant Special Teams Coordinator, Philadelphia Eagles

Pannunzio has been around the sport of football for the majority of his 63 years on this earth. Even in just a coaching/front office capacity, Pannunzio has 42 years of experience, with his first coaching position coming in 1981 as the wide receivers coach at his alma mater, Southern Colorado. After multiple different college stints, Pannunzio accepted the position to become the head coach of Murray State in 2000 and remained with the program until 2005.

In 2006, Pannunzio would move on to become the tight ends and special teams coordinator at the Miami (FL), where he would coach the likes of Jimmy Graham and Greg Olsen. He would also go on to the University of Alabama, where in two separate stints would hold roles such as the Director of Personnel Operations, running backs coach, tight ends coach, and special teams coordinator working with all-time great Nick Saban.

To add to his impressive college resume, Pannunzio has been around the Philadelphia Eagles organization since as early as 2015 as the team's Director of Player Personnel Operations for two seasons. He would come back to the Eagles in 2019 as the Director of Team Development for another two seasons before becoming the team's assistant special teams coordinator in 2021, which also happens to be the season that now-Colts head coach Steichen became the Eagles offensive coordinator.

Pannunzio’s recent working relationship with Steichen could bode well for the Colts to land a coach with such extensive experience in so many different areas across the game of football. The Colts would be able to offer him a promotion from his current role by making him the special teams coordinator. And maybe the best candidate suited to fill the hole that Ventrone filled by helping the Colts scout and advocate drafting multiple day-three prospects over his tenure with the team.

Keith Burns, Special Teams Coordinator/Defensive Specialist, Tennessee State

Burns is similar to Hastings and Ventrone as a former player. One whose career in the NFL lasted longer than both Hastings and Ventrone combined at 15 years. Burns played the majority of his career as a linebacker and standout special teams player for the Denver Broncos but also played for the Chicago Bears and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

He wouldn't stay away from the game long after his playing career ended in 2006, Burns joined the Broncos coaching staff as a special teams coach in 2007. He would remain in that role up until 2013 when he would get a promotion to become the special teams coordinator for the then-Washington Redskins. Unfortunately, Burns' first, and to date only, NFL coordinator job wouldn't go as planned as after the 2013 season, the team would move on from head coach Mike Shanahan and hire Jay Gruden the following year, who elected to hire his own special teams coordinator, leaving Burns without a job.

That would keep him out of the NFL ranks for five seasons before he would return with the Los Angeles Chargers as the team's assistant special teams coach. There he would work alongside Steichen, who at the time was the team’s quarterback coach. The two would work together with the Chargers together until Anthony Lynn’s firing at the end of that season, which would lead to both moving on in different directions. Burns would land with Tennessee State as the special teams coordinator under head coach former NFL running back and Hall-of-Famer Eddie George.

Burns’ fit with the Colts staff largely comes from his past working relationship with Steichen but also would give the team a candidate whose resume looks similar to that of Ventrone when the team brought him on, just with more experience as both a player and as a coach. Burns could be the best external candidate fit to build off of the impressive work Ventrone has already done because of their career similarities and his already-built relationship with Steichen.

Rich Bisaccia, Special Teams Coordinator, Green Bay Packers

Bisaccia has been coaching in the NFL since 2002 when he began with the Buccaneers as a special teams coach. Unlike most coaches across the NFL who have to move across multiple different titles during their coaching career, Bisaccia has always held a special teams coaching title even while also coaching running backs for two years of his career. He would get his first special teams coordinator job with the Buccaneers in 2006 and by 2008, would add on the title of associate head coach because of how highly renowned he was already becoming as a coach. He would later move on with the at the time Chargers as a special teams coach in 2011, where he would again gain the associate head coach title by year two with the team.

After the 2012 season, the Chargers fired their head coach Norv Turner, which led to Bisaccia deciding to take a lateral move to become the special teams coordinator for the Dallas Cowboys in 2013. To be able to keep Biasaccia on staff, the Cowboys would give him the title of assistant head coach in 2015. After remaining with the Cowboys through the 2017 season, Bisaccia would take a job with the then-Oakland Raiders to become their special teams coordinator and assistant head coach in 2018 under Jon Gruden.

He would remain in that title with the team until 2021, where for the final 12 games of that season, he would become the interim head coach after the firing of Gruden. During what many would call a toxic situation that led up to the firing of Gruden, Bisaccia was able to take control of the Raiders and lead the team to the playoffs as the interim head coach. Many in and out of the building believed he earned the full-time head coaching job, but after going through the process, the team would elect to go in a different direction. Which would lead Bisaccia to where he is now as the special teams coordinator for the Green Bay Packers.

His work with the Raiders in 2021 has raised his already impeccable reputation across the league and to most fan bases. It's also known how respected Bisaccia is inside the Colts building, specifically after the team interviewed Bisaccia for their head coach opening this cycle. He would go on through Round 2 of the team's search before they would end up electing to hire Steichen. It’s possible that after going through the search, a solid enough relationship has been built that the Colts could turn to Bisaccia to fill the departure of Ventrone. It would be a huge swing by the Colts and one that probably isn't very likely because the Packers currently employ him as their special teams coordinator.

It would almost certainly take a promotion where the Colts would have to offer him the assistant head coach title on top of his special teams coordinator job. But would the Packers let Bisaccia leave before offering the same promotion to keep him around? Only time will tell.

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