Colts Hire Nick Sirianni As OC
It’s official. The Colts have hired Chargers wide receivers coach Nick Sirianni as their new offensive coordinator, according to a team press release. 
Before Josh McDaniels backed out of the Colts’ head coaching job, it appeared that the team would hire either former Seahawks play caller Darrell Bevell or Raiders quarterbacks coach Jake Peetz as OC. New head coach Frank Reich inherited several assistants from McDaniels’ would-be staff, but he had some say in this choice and the team landed on Sirianni as his right-hand man on offense.
Reich and Sirianni spent multiple seasons together in San Diego. Reich was the Bolts’ quarterbacks coach in 2013 before graduating to offensive coordinator in 2014 and 2015. Sirianni was an offensive quality control coach in ’13 before advancing to QB coach when Reich was promoted.
Reich did not have the opportunity to call plays when he worked under Doug Pederson in Philadelphia, so it stands to reason that he will call the plays in Indianapolis. Still, this is a big step up for the 36-year-old Sirianni.
Colts Hire Bubba Ventrone
Josh McDaniels‘ decision to break his agreement to become the Colts’ next head coach could hypothetically push the NFL to change its hiring rules, as Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk writes. Currently, teams aren’t allowed to formally hire coaches who are still employed by playoff clubs, but that hadn’t been an impediment given that no presumptive head coach had backed out of a reported deal. Had McDaniels been able to be officially offered the Indianapolis job several weeks ago, the Colts may have been aware of his wariness at the time. The NFL discussed a possible hiring rule change in 2017, but tabled the discussion, per Florio.
- Former Patriots assistant Ray “Bubba” Ventrone will be hired as the Colts‘ new special teams coordinator, according to Alex Marvez of the Sporting News. Ventrone, who played for four NFL teams, had been a New England staffer since 2015, but this will be his first run as a coordinator. Indianapolis is also expected to hire ex-Lions defensive backs coach Alan Williams for the same role, per Marvez, while Field Yates of ESPN.com reports (Twitter link) former Buccaneers assistant Dave Borgonzi will become the Colts’ next linebackers coach.
Colts Expected To Hire Nick Sirianni As OC?
After reports that the Colts were expected hire Chargers quarterbacks coach Shane Steichen for their vacant offensive coordinator role, ESPN’s Field Yates reports (Twitter link) that the team will in fact hire the Chargers wide receivers coach Nick Sirianni for the post.
The Colts requested permission to interview Sirianni on Sunday and moved fast to make him the team’s new offensive coordinator. Yates noted in a followup tweet that Sirianni is highly thought of with an extremely sharp mind and has the makings of a future NFL head coach.
The confusion is only par for the course for this Colts offseason. The team expected to hire Josh McDaniels as its new head coach following Super Bowl LII, but the Patriots offensive coordinator backed out at the last minute after several assistants had already signed contracts. The Colts then swooped in for Frank Reich, the Eagles offensive coordinator, and signed him to a deal on Sunday.
Sirianni received his first job in the NFL as an offensive quality control coach with the Chiefs in 2009. He served in that position until being named the team’s receivers coach in 2012. In 2010, he worked with the team’s quarterbacks and helped Matt Cassel earn his lone Pro Bowl selection. He became the Chargers quarterbacks coach in 2014 and transitioned to receivers coach in 2016.
Colts To Hire Shane Steichen As Offensive Coordinator
The Colts are expected to hire Chargers quarterbacks coach Shane Steichen as the team’s new offensive coordinator, sources told CBS Sports’ Jason La Canfora (Twitter link). 
In 2017, Steichen completed his second season as the Chargers’ quarterbacks coach, helping Philip Rivers throw for 8,901 yards and 61 touchdowns in those two campaigns. He replaces Rob Chudzinski, who held the position in Indianapolis since 2015.
In 2013, Steichen worked as an offensive quality control assistant with the Browns, working with the quarterbacks. That season, three different Cleveland signal-callers threw for 300 yards in a game. That led to a move to the Chargers, where he again served as an offensive quality control coach before being promoted to quarterbacks coach in 2016.
His work with Rivers surely played a role in catching the Colts’ eye. That experience with a veteran quarterback should help Steichen reintegrate Andrew Luck back into the offense after missing a season. That is, if he is fully healthy in 2018.
With Luck out of the lineup in 2017, the Colts ranked 30th in passing yards, 31st in passing touchdowns and 31st in total offense.
Colts Expected To Pursue Anthony Hitchens
After the hiring of former Cowboys linebackers coach Matt Eberflus as the team’s new defensive coordinator, the Colts are expected to make a play for Dallas linebacker Anthony Hitchens once free agency opens, Ed Werder speculates (Twitter link). 
Werder goes on to say Eberflus values him as a high-quality player who can help others learn the system. Though Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones has made re-signing Hitchens one of the team’s top priorities in free agency, the team isn’t expected to have much cap room to work with assuming it works out a deal or places the franchise tag on defensive end Demarcus Lawrence.
Though it is just speculation, the move makes plenty of sense and Werder is among the most well-connected reporters working around the Cowboys. No one should be better at setting Hitchens’ value than the Colts new defensive coordinator, who coached the linebacker since he entered the league in 2014.
Hitchens has started 48 of his 60 career games, with the majority coming at middle linebacker. He is versatile, however, and is capable of playing just about anywhere in Eberflus’ 4-3 scheme. Despite missing four games in 2017, Hitchens made 84 tackles.
Vontae Davis Gains Medical Clearance
Back in November, the Colts released former Pro Bowler Vontae Davis as he was dealing with a core injury. Months later, Davis has been cleared following core injury surgery, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (on Twitter). 
Davis, an unrestricted free agent, should draw interest in March if he can demonstrate that he is healthy. When Davis was at his best, he was one of the top players at his position. In 2014 – the first of two back-to-back Pro Bowl seasons – Davis earned an excellent 95.1 overall score from Pro Football Focus. In the following year, he turned in a strong 81.9 mark, which still painted him as an above-average starter.
However, there has been a serious dropoff over the last two years, due in part to his injury. In 2016, Davis was one of the ten worst qualified corners in the league, per PFF. And, at the time of his release in 2017, he rated as the NFL’s No. 94 cornerback out of 117 qualifiers.
In his final year with the Colts, there were rumblings that Davis did not take well to his demotion from the starting lineup. As he looks for employment in 2018, Davis may have to be more realistic about where he is at this stage of his career.
The former first round pick will turn 30 in late May.
Colts Exploring Trade-Down Options
- Neither the Giants nor the Colts are committed to staying at Nos. 2 and 3 in the draft. Both picks are for sale, Miller notes. The likely scenario coming out of last season was a Giants quarterback pick, since they have not held a top-five choice in 14 years, but new management has come out with effusive Eli Manning praise. The Giants trading out of a possible franchise-quarterback spot would be interesting given Manning’s age and their rare opportunity atop a draft. The Colts would make more sense as a trade-down team, with numerous needs after a season that saw them rank 31st on offense and 30th on defense. Andrew Luck‘s murky timeline notwithstanding, Indianapolis is not a threat to take a first-round quarterback and could well leverage other teams who are interested in doing so.
Reich Targeting Ex-Colts DBs Coach For Job?
- Frank Reich has been contacting coaches about joining his first Colts staff over the past few days, Albert Breer of SI.com tweets, and former Lions defensive backs coach (and ex-Vikings DC) Alan Williams is a candidate to join Reich in Indianapolis. If hired, Williams would be returning to Indianapolis, along with Reich. Williams served as Colts DBs coach throughout the Tony Dungy and Jim Caldwell tenures, which spanned 10 years from 2002-11. Reich was on Caldwell’s three Colts staffs. Matt Patricia did not retain any Lions defensive coaches upon taking the job in Detroit.
Colts Request OC Interview With Chargers’ Nick Sirianni
The Colts have participated in one of the strangest coaching searches in recent memory, but they concluded the process of identifying a head coach upon hiring Frank Reich earlier on Sunday. Now, they’re moving on to addressing key assistant positions.
Reich is targeting Chargers wide receivers coach Nick Sirianni for his offensive coordinator post, with Albert Breer of SI.com reporting (on Twitter) the Colts have submitted a request to meet with Sirianni.
The Chargers will grant this request, Breer reports (on Twitter).
Reich has a history working with Sirianni. The Bolts’ OC from 2014-15, Reich oversaw Sirianni’s work as San Diego’s quarterbacks coach. Over the past two seasons, Sirianni has worked with the Chargers’ wideouts.
The Colts have gone through some names in this complex search. Initially, the would-be Josh McDaniels-led staff was thought to feature former Raiders assistant Jake Peetz as OC. The franchise also has Darrell Bevell on its radar, repeatedly bringing up the ex-Seahawks OC’s name during interviews. Bevell is a coaching free agent, and although he’s linked to the Giants’ job as well, he would not require any permission to interview.
However, Reich’s history with the 36-year-old Sirianni probably shouldn’t be underestimated. Sirianni worked with the Chiefs during Scott Pioli‘s four years in Kansas City, serving as assistant QBs coach in 2010, before relocating to San Diego prior to the 2013 season.
This is, however, the first time Sirianni’s name has come up in a coordinator search. He was on the quality control level as recently as the 2013 season, when Reich was the Chargers’ QBs coach during a 9-7 campaign that doubled as the franchise’s most recent playoff appearance.
Colts Hire Frank Reich As Head Coach
The Colts have hired Eagles offensive coordinator Frank Reich as their new head coach, the club announced today. It will be a five-year deal for Reich, according to Mike Garafolo of NFL.com (Twitter link), who first reported Reich had agreed to terms with Indianapolis. Chris Mortensen and Adam Schefter of ESPN.com indicated earlier today that Reich was the favorite for the Colts’ vacancy.
Indianapolis, of course, was forced to restart its head coaching search last week after Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels — who’d already been announced as the club’s choice — rejected the Colts’ offer. Reich was one of three candidates interviewed by general manager Chris Ballard, who also met with Saints tight ends coach Dan Campbell and Bills defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier. Chiefs special teams coordinator Dave Toub was expected to be a candidate for the Colts, but was never interviewed.
Reich will reportedly utilize several of McDaniels’ staff choices as his assistants, as the Colts are expected to honor their contracts for defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus, offensive line coach Dave DeGuglielmo, and defensive line coach Matt Phair, all of whom inked deals with Indy before McDaniels spurned the club. On the offensive side of the ball, the Colts are high on ex-Seahawks OC Darrell Bevell, but it’s unclear if Reich will hire the free agent play-caller.
After helping lead a Philadelphia offense which ranked third in scoring, seventh in yards, and eighth in DVOA, Reich was expected to garner head coaching interest this offseason, but he didn’t receive a single interview request until the Colts called. It was a similar story last year, when Reich was thought to have a meeting lined up regarding the Bills open HC job, but never formally spoke with the club. Reich last interviewed for head coaching vacancies in 2015 when he met with both Buffalo and New York.
The 56-year-old Reich, who is perhaps best known for leading the Bills offense back from a 32-point deficit in a 1993 playoff game, has worked as an NFL coach since 2008. After spending time with the Colts and Cardinals, Reich was the Chargers’ offensive coordinator from 2014-15 before joining the Eagles the following year.
Philadelphia has now lost its top two offensive assistants from its Super Bowl-winning staff, as quarterbacks coach John DeFilippo is now the Vikings’ offensive coordinator. Running backs coach Duce Staley could be the favorite to take over as the Eagles’ OC, as Philadelphia is not expected to allow the division-rival Giants interview Staley for the same role on their staff.