Indianapolis Colts Rumors & News - Pro Football Rumors

Colts To Interview Leslie Frazier

February 8th, 2018 at 4:21pm CST by Sam Robinson

Leslie Frazier will meet with the Colts about their HC vacancy on Saturday, Josina Anderson of ESPN.com tweets.

This will be the third confirmed interview of the team’s second search process, with the Bills’ DC joining Saints tight ends coach Dan Campbell and Eagles OC Frank Reich.

Frazier’s last head-coaching job came with the Vikings from 2011-13. He spent last season with the Bills and has been a defensive coordinator for four teams. The 58-year-old assistant also has Colts history, having spent the 2005 and ’06 seasons working for the Jim Irsay-owned franchise. The owner is reportedly fond of the former Indianapolis assistant head coach, who collected a Super Bowl ring for his Colts work.

As the only defensive-minded candidate among the three early interviewees, Frazier would bring a different style to the Colts — who were obviously all set to hire an offensively geared HC prior to the Josh McDaniels snafu. Counting six games as the Vikings’ interim HC in 2010, Frazier went 21-32 in his time leading the Vikes in the early 2010s.

Bears Questioned McDaniels Leaving Pats

February 8th, 2018 at 12:35pm CST by Zachary Links

Before Josh McDaniels flip-flopped on the Colts, he was in the running for other head coaching gigs, including the Bears. The Bears ultimately settled on Matt Nagy as their HC, in part because the team questioned whether McDaniels was actually willing to leave the Patriots, Adam L. Jahns of the Chicago Sun-Times writes.

Before the Super Bowl, McDaniels spoke glowingly of the Bears and Ryan Pace, using adjectives like ‘‘tremendous’’ and ‘‘very well-prepared’’ to describe the GM. However, it seems that Pace & Co. picked up on McDaniels’ very real trepidation in leaving New England. The Colts had a funny feeling about McDaniels waffling days before they announced his hire, but they surely wish that they had a sense for his cold feet before settling on him and passing on runner-up Mike Vrabel.

Now that Vrabel and other top names are off the board, the Colts will be forced to start from square one with a whole new cast of candidates. As of this writing, the team has interviews scheduled with Saints assistant Dan Campbell and Eagles offensive coordinator Frank Reich while an interview request has been put in for Bills defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier. Chiefs special teams coach Dave Toub may also be in consideration.

Colts Request Interview With Leslie Frazier

February 8th, 2018 at 9:34am CST by Zachary Links

The Colts have officially requested an interview with Bills defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier for their vacant head coaching position, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter). Rapoport hears that owner Jim Irsay is a big fan and he is of the belief that Frazier might restore normalcy in Indianapolis following the bizarre chain of events that have taken place.

Frazier is now the third confirmed candidate for the Colts’ head coaching job. On Wednesday, the Colts lined up interviews with Saints assistant Dan Campbell and Eagles offensive coordinator Frank Reich. Campbell will interview with the team on Thursday while Reich’s meeting will take place on Friday.

Frazier previously served as the Vikings’ head coach and just wrapped up his first season as the Bills’ defensive coordinator. He also offers familiarity with the organization thanks to two years as a Colts staffer.

The Bills’ D didn’t light the world on fire, but the unit did okay considering that they traded away core players such as cornerback Ronald Darby and defensive tackle Marcell Dareus.

Colts To Interview Dan Campbell, Frank Reich This Week

February 7th, 2018 at 6:45pm CST by Dallas Robinson

The Colts have received permission to interview Saints tight ends coach Dan Campbell and Eagles offensive coordinator Frank Reich, and will do so later this week, tweets Mike Chappell of CBS4. Indianapolis will meet with Campbell on Thursday before speaking with Reich on Friday, per Chappell. The Colts, of course, were forced to restart their head coaching search on Tuesday after Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels backed out of his agreement to take over the role. Campbell and Reich were actually part of Indianapolis’ original list of possible interviewees, but their team’s playoff runs prevented meetings, reports Stephen Holder of the Indianapolis Star. So far, Campbell and Reich are the only candidates known to have scheduled interviews with Indy, but Chiefs special teams coordinator Dave Toub and Bills defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier are also viewed as possible contenders

Latest On Colts, Josh McDaniels

February 7th, 2018 at 12:51pm CST by Zachary Links

On Wednesday morning, GM Chris Ballard faced the media in the wake of Josh McDaniels‘ shocking decision to back out on becoming the team’s next head coach. Here’s a look at the highlights plus other news on McDaniels’ flip-flop:

McDaniels’ agent, Bob LaMonte, told him that he’s making perhaps the biggest professional mistake of his career by backing out of this Colts job at this point, according to sources who spoke with Mike Garafolo of NFL.com (Twitter link). On Wednesday afternoon, LaMonte terminated his relationship with McDaniels, a source tells Dan Graziano of ESPN.com (on Twitter). LaMonte is forfeiting a potentially large commission down the road should McDaniels become a head coach again, but he is also protecting future business by distancing himself from the Patriots OC.
Colts were going to pay McDaniels “fabulously,” a source tells Tom Pelissero of NFL.com (on Twitter), so money was not the issue in Indianapolis. Pelissero hears that the coach also wasn’t warded off by Andrew Luck’s injured shoulder, owner Jim Irsay, or Ballard. At the end of the day, the Patriots just convinced him to stay. There’s no new contract in place for McDaniels yet, but Pelissero expects that to happen soon.
Ballard says two doctors who looked at Luck after the season have determined that he does not need surgery (Twitter link via Pelissero). Luck’s arm strength is good, the GM says, but he is now working on motion and arm speed. He has yet to pick up a football, but the team will not rush him or skip any steps.
The GM confirmed that none of the coaches from the initial wave of interviews will be in the mix, meaning that Kris Richard and Matt Rhule will not be considered (Twitter link via Pelissero).
There were other candidates the Colts wanted to interview, Ballard said, but the playoffs got in the way (Twitter link via Stephen Holder of ESPN.com). The Colts are expected to request an interview with Eagles OC Frank Reich and he fits the bill as a coach who was tied up during the playoffs. Of course, the same could be said of McDaniels and that did not stop Indy from interviewing him.
The Colts will honor the contract of defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus and others who have already signed their deals. That’s not an issue for Ballard who explained that he knew Eberflus well through Rod Marinelli. The former Dallas assistant was already a guy he wanted to run his defense.
The Colts got an uneasy feeling a week ago that something could be stalling with McDaniels, despite moving forward with his contract (Twitter link via Jay Glazer of FOX Sports).
McDaniels arrived at Gillette Stadium on Tuesday with the intention of cleaning out his office, but Bill Belichick‘s willingness to take his mentorship to a higher level played a big part in McDaniels reversing course, sources tell ESPN.com’s Mike Reiss. Belichick told McDaniels that he would spend more time with him on the inner workings of the team, including roster construction and salary-cap management, which was viewed as “extremely valuable” to McDaniels. That could be part of a succession plan for Belichick in the future, but no assurances have been made to McDaniels.

Colts Eyeing Frank Reich, Dan Campbell

February 7th, 2018 at 12:36pm CST by Zachary Links

The Colts’ head coaching search is on. Again. This time, the Colts are expected to start by requesting permission to speak with Eagles offensive coordinator Frank Reich and Saints assistant head coach Dan Campbell, sources tell Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (on Twitter).

Reich was a hot name at the beginning of this year’s coaching cycle which makes sense considering how effective the Eagles’ offense was in 2017. However, over time, quarterbacks coach John DeFilippo wound up garnering more attention from teams with HC vacancies for his role in Carson Wentz‘s development. His candidacy may also have been hurt by the fact that Doug Pederson is the play caller in Philadelphia.

Last season, the Philly offense ranked third in scoring, seventh in yards, and eighth in DVOA. The 56-year-old has worked as an NFL coach since 2008 and is perhaps best known for leading the Bills offense back from a 32-point deficit in a 1993 playoff game, After spending time with the Colts and Cardinals, Reich was the Chargers’ offensive coordinator from 2014-15 before joining the Eagles the following year.

The 41-year-old Campbell has served only as a tight ends coach or an interim head coach in his seven-year tenure as a full-time NFL assistant. Still, he was one of 12 head coaching candidates recommended by the NFL’s Career Development Advisory Panel late last year and he was a candidate for the Vikings’ OC opening. The Dolphins also interviewed him in early 2016 for their HC job before settling on Adam Gase.

Other names linked to the job include Bills defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier and Chiefs special teams coach Dave Toub.

Colts To Keep Matt Eberflus

February 7th, 2018 at 10:26am CST by Zachary Links

Josh McDaniels bailed on the Colts, but the Colts are not bailing on his would-be assistants. At least, not the ones that have already signed contracts. On Wednesday morning, GM Chris Ballard confirmed that defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus and other coaches who inked deals with the team will be staying on board.

In addition to Eberflus, Dave DeGuglielmo (offensive line) and Mike Phair (defensive line) have also inked deals, so they’ll still have a place on the staff. That still leaves some key openings, like offensive coordinator, so the Colts’ next coach can at least choose some of his own assistants.

Prior to the McDaniels debacle, it was reported that the team was pushing for Darrell Bevell to be the new offensive coordinator while McDaniels was pushing for Raiders quarterbacks coach Jake Peetz. The Colts may still try to bring Bevell into the mix, but they may also leave it up to the next coach given that he’ll be made to work with McDaniels’ hires.

Colts Could Consider Leslie Frazier For HC?

February 6th, 2018 at 8:13pm CST by Dallas Robinson

As the Colts restart their head coaching search in the wake of Josh McDaniels‘ rejection, one name that “could come up” is that of Bills defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link).

As Rapoport notes, Frazier has worked in Indianapolis before, as he served as the club’s assistant head coach/defensive backs from 2005-06, winning a Super Bowl title in the process. As such, Frazier enjoys a close relationship with Colts owner Jim Irsay, and would help Indianapolis “return to normalcy” following the McDaniels debacle. Frazier, 58, also offers the benefit of having been a head coach before, as he led the Vikings from 2010-13.

In 2017, Frazier spent his first season as the Bills’ defensive coordinator under head coach Sean McDermott, and helped the unit finish middle of the pack in most defensive statistics despite the club having traded away key players such as cornerback Ronald Darby and defensive tackle Marcell Dareus. In addition to Buffalo, Minnesota, and Indianapolis, Frazier has also worked in Philadelphia, Cincinnati, Tampa Bay, and Baltimore.

Details On Josh McDaniels’ Rejection Of Colts HC Job

February 6th, 2018 at 7:47pm CST by Dallas Robinson

In a move not seen since Bill Belichick resigned as “HC of the NYJ” in 2000, Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels decided not to accept the Colts’ head coaching position after the club had already formally announced his hire. Adam Schefter of ESPN.com, who originally reported the McDaniels story, has since offered more details on the New England play-caller’s decision:

While McDaniels’ decision to remain with the Patriots may lead many to speculate that Belichick is close to retirement, that may not be the case, per Schefter. In fact, had Belichick made it clear that he was about to leave New England, McDaniels would have been more inclined to accept a head coaching offer. As Schefter reported earlier, Patriots owner Robert Kraft “sweetened” McDaniels’ contract over the past few days — had that overture started sooner, McDaniels may not have taken any head coaching interviews, at all.
Although McDaniels ultimately decided to reject the Colts’ offer, his decision was not based on money, according to Schefter. Instead, McDaniels had concerns about moving his family away from the New England area (the same worries he reportedly had while considering the 49ers’ job a year ago). His unease with leaving the Patriots lead to the Colts having McDaniels in for a second interview. While Indy formally announced McDaniels as its new head coach earlier today, McDaniels had never officially signed a contract, per Schefter.
Despite rejecting this present opportunity, McDaniels would still like to become a head coach again, per Schefter. It seems incredibly unlikely that any team will trust McDaniels with a head coaching job in the near future given his decision to bail on the Colts, but — clearly — he does have some interest in becoming the next Patriots’ head coach when Belichick retires.
McDaniels was reportedly offering jobs to assistants earlier today, tweets Ian Rapoport of NFL.com. Some coaches, such as Matt Eberflus (defensive coordinator), Dave DeGuglielmo (offensive line), and Mike Phair (defensive line) have already signed contracts with the Colts, and they’ll be offered roles under the new Indianapolis head coach, whomever that may be, per Albert Breer of TheMMQB.com (Twitter link).
Kraft’s decision to put the full-court press on McDaniels may have deeper roots, as one source texted Schefter (Twitter link): “That’s Kraft putting it to the Colts again. He will forever try and (expletive) that place ever since DeflateGate.”

Colts To Restart Head Coach Search Within 24-48 Hours

February 6th, 2018 at 7:15pm CST by Dallas Robinson

After Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels rejected the Colts’ head coaching job in order to remain with New England, Indianapolis is restarting its search. The Colts “had a feeling” McDaniels could back of out his agreement, and the club now has three candidates ready to be interviewed within the next two days, according to Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk (Twitter link).

While none of the new contenders for the position have yet been identified, it’s difficult to imagine Chiefs special teams coordinator Dave Toub is not among them. Toub worked with Colts general manager Chris Ballard in Kansas City and has been viewed as a “contingency plan” for Indianapolis if McDaniels bowed out. Indeed, Mike Garafolo of NFL.com (Twitter link) calls Toub a “strong candidate” for the newly-created Colts vacancy.

The other finalist for the Colts’ head coaching job (during the first search) was ex-Texans defensive coordinator Mike Vrabel, but he’s already found another position as the Titans head coach. Likewise, other candidates such as Matt Nagy and Kris Richard have landed gigs with the Bears and Cowboys, respectively, while Baylor head coach Matt Rhule removed his name from consideration during the original hunt.

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