Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - Indianapolis Colts: Bittersweet Coaching Shakeups

Starting point is 00:00:00 The Colts are experiencing some bittersweet changes on their coaching staff this week. Let's get into it. You are Locked On Colts, your daily Indianapolis Colts podcast. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. you guys are already spicing up the chat man all right thanks for tuning in and making us your first listen of the day. This is your daily podcast covering your Indianapolis Colts, part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Today's show is brought to you by FanDuel Sportsbook,

Starting point is 00:00:55 official sportsbook of the NFL. Make every moment more. Visit FanDuel.com slash Locked On today to get started. I'm Jake Arthur. He is Zach Hicks. And you know the two of us from HorseshoeHuduel.com slash locked on today to get started. I'm Jake Arthur. He is Zach Hicks. And you know the two of us from HorseshoeHuddle.com. So following the hiring of new head coach Shane Steichen, we're starting to hear more about some of these coaching staff shakeups as more and more developments take place.

Starting point is 00:01:22 Today, we're going to discuss the reportedly inevitable loss of Bubba Ventrona, special teams coordinator. But first, the additions of potential Titans coach Tom Manning and potential offensive coordinator Jim Bob Cooter, who belongs on the all-name team in the NFL. So some of you guys were probably already pretty familiar with Cooter. He was with the Colts previously from 2009 to 11. He was an offensive assistant.

Starting point is 00:01:51 He's honestly got a pretty impressive resume. He was offensive coordinator with the Lions for a while. He has served under head coaches Jim Caldwell, Doug Peterson, and he was with Steichen. So he's been around some really good offensive minds. Quarterbacks, he's had Peyton Manning, Matthew Stafford, had Trevor Lawrence last year with the Jaguars. Just kind of rolling through some of the players and the accomplishments he's had some more. So in his time with the Colts, he had one MVP, obviously Peyton Manning, four All-Pros and seven

Starting point is 00:02:21 Pro Bowlers. In 2013 with the Bron Broncos again had Payton for an MVP season three all pros four pro bowlers with the Lions that obviously takes a dip no MVPs there but he did have five pro bowlers and then with the Jaguars Trevor Lawrence pro bowler so he's been around some really good players some really good quarterbacks and, you know, coaches, players, he's, he's got a nice resume. Zach, what did you think about this one? Man, before I jump into it, this chat is insane right now. You guys are, you guys are on one tonight. I don't know if you guys, you know, started drinking a little early. It's a Tuesday, so maybe it's a tough little week. I'm with you guys. Let's go. Yeah. Jake's with you guys with you guys unofficially of course this is a family show here but no I didn't say it wasn't root here

Starting point is 00:03:10 there you go there you go but no Jim Bob Cooter I think it's a very interesting hire I know that this is a guy where like I think the general opinion of him as a play caller is not great which for good reason you know his one stint as a play caller was not great, which for good reason, you know, his one stint as a play caller was not perfect. You know, 2016 was a very average year for the Detroit lions. 2017 was phenomenal. You know, Matthew Stafford was top five in yards per attempt top five and, and, uh, passes. I think he was actually number one in, uh, passes with an average depth of target past 20 yards down the field so it was a very very downfield heavy offense there with Jim Bob Cooter there in 2017 and then everything kind of

Starting point is 00:03:51 bottomed out there in uh 2018 which led to his firing and Jim Caldwell's firing as well but when you look at Jim Bob Cooter you look at the grand scheme of offensive coordinators that could have landed for this for this role right here I think this is one of the better hires you can make. A guy with connections to Jim Caldwell, connections to Doug Peterson, obviously connections to Shane Steichen and Nick Sirianni, and a guy who's worked with a lot of passing offenses and a lot of passing games in general.

Starting point is 00:04:17 So yeah, I think Jim Bob Cooter is a good hire. I don't think it's anything to do jumping jacks for. I know that's becoming my catchphrase here recently on here, but I think it's a good hire, and I think it shows their devotion to the passing game. They could have easily gone with an Anthony Lynn type to be their offensive coordinator, a guy who's familiar with running backs and the running game,

Starting point is 00:04:39 but they went with Jim Bob Cooter coming from that Jacksonville Jaguars team, working with Doug Peterson, coming from a pass-heavy background being a passing game corner from for most of his career so yeah this shows kind of that emphasis there on the passing game so I like it yeah that's definitely been his specialty in the past I do think he had a brief stint as a running backs coach at one point if I remember that I saw that correctly but no passing has always been kind of his thing. And again, guys, as offensive coordinator, when your head coach Shane Steichen is calling the plays, you're really looking for someone who's more of a teacher, can digest the game plan and give it straight to the players in a way that they can, you know, take it easily and move on. But also someone who can kind of

Starting point is 00:05:23 help with the X's and O's and build a game plan. And as far as we know, he's able to do that. So, you know, there's not as much emphasis on nailing the hire when they're not the play caller. So I really don't have much reason to believe this won't be, you know, at least a decent hire. Like I just don't have any issues with it. Yeah. And at the end of the day, you know, I actually decent hire like I just don't have any issues with it yeah and at the end of the day that you know I actually wrote an article about this where it was you know with this offense coordinator hire it wasn't necessarily about getting just an echo board you know you want someone who maybe has worked with Shane Steichen but you want someone who's going to

Starting point is 00:05:58 bring something a little bit different and that Doug Peterson offense there in Jacksonville was very different from what Shane Steichen has run in his career. That Jim Caldwell offense, you know, back with the Detroit Lions was very, very different from what Shane Steichen has typically done in his career. So he is bringing in a guy that he has experience with, a guy that he has worked with there in Philly back in 2021, but also a guy who brings just a different set of eyes to the passing game, which that, you know, something that Shane Steichen definitely needs. So yeah, I'm all for it.

Starting point is 00:06:27 I don't have any issues with Jim Bob Cooter, obviously. And, you know, we're going to have so many great memes about this that like I can't complain whatsoever. I mean, Jim Bob Cooter is such a great name. So yeah, I'm a big, big fan of it. I love Jim Bob Cooter's name, obviously. And I like his experience, too. The experience is king. And I really like his experience coming here to Indy.

Starting point is 00:06:50 Yeah, not to make any predictions or anything, not to overreact, but could he turn Alec Pearson to the next Calvin Johnson? Up next. Obviously. No, the next Marvin Jones. That's what we're looking for. Yeah. Honestly, that'd be, I'd be, that'd be pretty sick. I'd be okay. It'd be fine. Before we move on to talk more about another familiar face returning as the tight ends coach, let's talk about the squad over at built bar looking for a delicious treat, but don't want all the fat and the calories.

Starting point is 00:07:19 Then you've got to try a built bar. What makes built bar so good? Well, for starters, they're covered in 100% real chocolate, which is always nice. And they come in unbelievable flavors like churro, peanut butter, brownie, and coconut almond. I'm not sure how Bilt does it, but these bars taste like a candy bar while maintaining amazing macros. And what's even better is that they're healthy. Only 130 calories and four grams of sugar with a whopping 17 grams of protein. Head to Walmart or Sam's Club today to buy a box.

Starting point is 00:07:53 All right, so this other familiar face that we're looking at, honestly, I'm going to say it's even more intriguing because last week I said, you know, the offensive line coach is obviously the one you really want to get right. That's what you've been talking about. But I want to see who they bring in at tight ends, coach. They got some really good talent there. I just want to see if they can bring someone to bring it out of them some more. So Tom Manning, who was with the Colts in 2018, for a season we may not see again for a while.

Starting point is 00:08:23 You know, that was the Eric Ebron 14 touchdown season. Ebron and Doyle were both pro bowlers. They also had Mo Alleycox, Ross Travis. Eric Swope was on that team. Ryan Hewitt did really well as a fullback, but tight end was technically his home position. That group set the NFL record with 22 touchdowns for a tight end group, which I don't think has been duplicated to this point.

Starting point is 00:08:47 You look at it now, Mo Alleycox is still there, and I know you're going to have some little tidbits on that as well. But Jelani Woods, who we all know is a freak and has potential through the roof, Kylan Granson, there's still more that he can do. Drew Ogletree, his rookie season got snatched away from him, had a great training camp and preseason, but of course had the ACL. So Tom Manning, he's only had the one year in the NFL, but his group did awesome. And he's got a really talented group ahead of him. So I'm very intrigued by this one. Yeah. And that's the thing. Like

Starting point is 00:09:21 some guys are just better as position coaches are better in smaller roles than in bigger roles. And Tom Manning, if you're looking at his history and what he's done as a coach, he's a guy who has typically thrived as a position coach and obviously did not work out as well at the college level as an offensive coordinator or something like that. But yeah, no, I really liked what Tom Manning did with this tight end group back in 2018. Obviously it was a great season because they had Andrew Luck and Frank Reich was, was at the top of his game back then as well. But you know, Tom Manning did a lot of good things. You know, they brought Mo Alley Cox, a guy who was a basketball player, practice squad guy, and he got some serious run that season and ended up making some really nice plays.

Starting point is 00:10:02 Eric Ebron is a guy who was a bust, a guy who the Colts were just taking a chance on and ended up making some really nice plays. Eric Ebron is a guy who was a bust, a guy who the Colts were just taking a chance on and ended up being a pro bowler and one of the better tight ends in football that year. So yeah, a lot of really good things happened when Tom Manning was the tight end coach last time in Indy. So excited about this. I'm excited that Tom Manning is back. I don't know how they lured him away from being an offensive coordinator at Cincinnati. Like he was there for like a week and then he's coming back up here to Indy. So they must've opened up the checkbook a little bit there, but yeah, I'm excited to have Tom Manning back. Just another smart,

Starting point is 00:10:32 just smart guy there in the room and a guy who can do a lot of good things with this young tight end group. Yeah. We obviously don't, we don't know a ton about what he can bring. Cause again, we just have that one season in the NFL. He spent time at Iowa state as well. Like we, we just, you know, there, there's more of a resume there to be built basically. But just kind of looking at the tight end group in general,

Starting point is 00:10:56 do you think bringing in a new head coach or a new tight ends coach who's had experience with kind of a diverse group of tight ends. Do you see this group getting more specialized now? And obviously, you know, Mo Alleycox, Manning is a big fan of his. Do you see him, Mo Alleycox is staying now, don't you think? I don't know, because on one side, yes, Tom Manning is a big fan of Molly Cox. He was a big fan of a lot of those tight ends back from 2018. I know for a fact from talking to I think the tight ends name was Dylan Soner there at Iowa State.

Starting point is 00:11:34 I talked to him his draft year. Big guy who was kind of like Molly Cox, where he was like a bigger, strong, fast guy, but just didn't really look it when he was on the field. You know, he kind of looked like he was labored in his moving, but he was actually pretty fast. He said that Tom Manning used to show a lot of film of all those guys, you know, to his guys there at Iowa State. They ran a lot of 13 personnel. So they were showing a lot of 13 personnel there at Iowa State of guys like Jack Doyle, Eric Ebron, and even Mo'Ali Cox.

Starting point is 00:12:00 So, yeah, Tom Manning is a fan of Mo'Ali Cox. He was a fan of Jack Doyle, obviously, as well. But at the end of the day, how much say does a tight end coach have? You know, like, I don't think, I don't know if Tom Manning is going to come in there and be like, look, I need to keep Mo Ali Cox. I don't care what you do with the other guys. Mo Ali Cox, I'm like, I don't know how much say he really has in that unless he got it in his contract that he gets to pick one player to make the roster no matter what well it could have been a selling point to him you know because like you said like

Starting point is 00:12:29 it probably took a lot to lure him away from an offensive coordinator job right i just man at this point i just think that i don't want to say because i really like molly cox and i think he's he's got a lot of talent but at at some point, we got to get to the point where we're probably past the time for Morley Cox to turn it around. You know, I think he's going to be 28 this year. You know, and he's had some decent seasons and some moments where he's looked like he'd be really good, but it's just not enough.

Starting point is 00:12:59 And you can save a good amount of money if you cut him with very, very little dead cap. So I don't know. I still think the Colts end up moving on from him. And I think the more of the appeal for Tom Manning was, hey, look what we have right here. We have this 6'7", 253-pound freak of nature who ran a 4'6", jumped like 37 inches.

Starting point is 00:13:20 He had a strong rookie season, you know, in one of the worst offenses in the league. He had still had a pretty decent rookie season. Like, see what you can do with this kid. You know, I think that was more of the appeal than, hey, come work with, you know, this tight end pushing 30 that you worked with a couple years ago. You know, I really think it was more of the Jelani Woods effect. You know, what can you do with Jelani Woods? Can you do any of what you did with Eric Ebron back in 2018 with Jelani Woods? Because we will pay you whatever it takes to get that here.

Starting point is 00:13:50 So I think more of the appeal was Jelani Woods because Jelani Woods has so much potential. And we could see it in just very little flashes last season, like everything in this offense. Everything that was good in the offense last year, we saw in the most minute flashes ever. I think Jelani Woods is more of the appeal though and i think there is promise for him going forward with the right coaching tom manning and shane steichen and if they get the quarterback position right oh absolutely i mean which perspective tight end coach would not want to work with a guy who has literally like perfect measurable so i don't know right yeah yeah i just i don't know i again it's not a huge hire these are just kind of position coaches but i'm liking the direction

Starting point is 00:14:33 of them so far again tom manning i like him coming back i like jim bog cooter coming here to indy so i can't really complain so far about about these things uh right now but coming up guys we're going to talk about something not as exciting, more bittersweet, a potential coach leaving the Colts. But first, the midway point of the NBA season is here, and now is the perfect time to download FanDuel because new customers get a no-sweat first bet up to $1,000. That's bonus bets back if your first bet doesn't win.

Starting point is 00:15:02 Just download the FanDuel Sportsbook app. It's safe, secure, and super easy to use. Then you can bet on everything from the money line to point scores, Betting is a process of creating a new game. thousand dollars in bonus bets when you go to fanduel.com slash locked on that's fanduel.com slash locked on to learn more make every moment more with fanduel an official sportsbook partner of the nba all right jake so we have some bittersweet news to cover here uh it's kind of sweet because you know i'm happy for i'm happy for the guy if he's getting a pay raise if he's getting you know an increase in role. I can't complain too much about it. But Bubba Ventrone, special teams coordinator, is interviewing with the Browns. And one thing we can kind of say about this, just to say that it's likely going to happen, is the Browns literally fired their current special teams coordinator right before they put this request in for Bubba Ventrone.

Starting point is 00:16:03 I don't think they're doing that unless they're very, very sure that they're going to be landing Bubba Ventrone. So I think it's pretty much a done deal to say, hey, Bubba Ventrone is leaving the Colts and going to the Cleveland Browns. It's unfortunate, but he's going back to a place where he did play four seasons, a place that he had a decent amount of his career there. So it's unfortunate. But Jake, what do you think? Bubba Ventro leaving Indy. Yeah, it's a bummer because, I mean, he's a bright coach. He's a sharp guy.

Starting point is 00:16:37 The Colts special teams have always been really good under his direction. They've always graded out really well by pro football focus and football outsiders. Even when you have things like Adam Benetary's disastrous 2019 you had Matt Hawks punting last year like those units still get really good marks overall it's not backbreaking because I mean at the end of the day it's it's a special teams coach it'll be fine but when the Colts have played as bad as they played at times in the last two years that special teams has been the biggest X factor. Like you're getting a special teams touchdown from a block punt or something

Starting point is 00:17:10 out of nowhere. And it winds up being a huge difference in the game. I'm not going to pretend to know a ton about special teams coordinators around the league. Cause I just don't maybe they replace him with someone who's, who's pretty good as well. But as far as what I know about Bubba is they're going to be losing a guy who is very highly respected in the locker room and in the building overall. Players love him.

Starting point is 00:17:37 He's one of those young guys with a lot of energy who holds guys accountable. Kind of reminds me a lot of Nick Sirianni, to be honest with you. But no, they'll recover. They'll be fine. But it is a bummer just because he's good at what he does. Yeah, and one thing I will say, again, this isn't the end of the world. At the end of the day, it's a special teams coach.

Starting point is 00:17:59 So it's not like they're losing a star quarterback or a star receiver or they're firing a head coach. So it's nothing like that. But one way, one place that this really hurts is day three drafting. You know, Bubba Ventrone has had a huge hand in drafting some of our favorite players here in Indy. Isaiah Rogers Sr. would not be here if it weren't for Bubba Ventrone. He would not be in Indy whatsoever. He like he doesn't even fit Chris Ballard's measurables whatsoever at corner.

Starting point is 00:18:23 He's only here because Bubba and Darius Smith who's also not here anymore were pounding the table to take him there in in round six other guys EJ Speed EJ Speed would probably not be here for for Bubba Ventrone um Rodney Thomas potentially would not be here because I know they drafted him for special teams too I mean Bubba Ventrone's had a very very heavy hand in picking those special teams guys who later became impact players on defense for the Colts. Zyre Franklin. Would Zyre Franklin be here without Boba Ventron? I don't know. I don't think so. Maybe. He does kind of fit Chris Ballard's mold, but that's another one where, you know, Boba Ventron has a heavy hand in picking these guys on day three. Now, will the next special teams coach have that same type of hand or will he be able to replicate

Starting point is 00:19:05 what bubba ventrons they've been able to do perhaps perhaps i mean you know we can't really say for sure but it is kind of a loss in that regard on top of that the colts did actually lose somebody else which we'll throw here in this last segment uh george lee i believe their game managing uh like analytics guy yeah i think he was their their lead analytics guy yeah well him and john park were kind of like yeah like two separate heads of the analytics department sort of my was my understanding yeah so george lee is going with frank reich down to carolina i think this is a bigger loss than brian decker was but you know as long as they have an analytics element in the front office you know assuming john park is still going to be here,

Starting point is 00:19:47 and if they replace George Lee with another analytics-minded guy, I don't think it's a huge loss overall. But again, it's that shuffle, man. When you make changes in season or after the season, a lot of changes happen after the year as well, and you kind of lose a lot of the coaches and players that you kind of got close to and stuff like that. So, yeah, George Lee's gone.

Starting point is 00:20:08 Bubba Ventrone's gone. It doesn't mean it's the end of the world. The Colts will definitely replace them, but it's definitely showing it's the new era here in Indy. And now Roy Istvan watches in day what, like 14? I don't know. But, no, it's been further, uh, further announced that Chris Drosser is with the Texans. I know, like, I don't think either has either team officially announced

Starting point is 00:20:31 it. Uh, Aaron Wilson reported it. I know. I know Aaron Wilson did. Yeah. He knows everything that's going on with the Texans. So like it's, it's done. Uh, I just don't think it's been officially announced, but yeah, the search is officially on for a new offensive line coach. Yep. So Roy Estvon is the most likely one, extremely likely, I would say. George Warhop, I think is kind of in there still too, but I feel like it's going to be Roy Estvon. Like I just want it to be announced already so we could say it's for sure, but I feel pretty comfortable saying it's going to be Roy Estvon, which we've been saying for the last week though so come on Colts let's let's get this thing finished up let's do it yeah and both of us kind of expect the Colts aren't going to announce any coaching changes until they have the staff complete so what they do every offseason is

Starting point is 00:21:20 they'll put out a press release of all their coaching changes including like promotions from within it'll all come out together otherwise it's just going to be little leaks from the media here or there that's how we'll find out about a lot of it but yeah there won't be any big announcements coming until they're they're all the inks dry on all of them so man i don't know you have any other housekeeping on this one? I hope you guys in the chat have a blessed night. I hope you guys sleep well. Hopefully you burnt out all your anger and frustration here in the chat and you can just go back to having uneventful and whatever. You can have a more relaxing night. I've been having some fun there in the chat again i hope you guys burnt through it all here in the chat and had some fun

Starting point is 00:22:10 but yeah that's all i have jake uh fun to get back in the live stream here yeah no we i don't know if you saw but we had a guy unhinged on our reviews on apple as well. So that was, that was good. I'll have to have you check that out after a bit. So as much as we hate to cut off you guys fun, I think that's it for us tonight. We'll be back with you tomorrow. Zach put out a project on Monday over at horseshoe huddle,

Starting point is 00:22:38 where he's kind of profiling each of these top four quarterback prospects and how they fit with Shane Steichen. And Bryce young is up next. One of the more polarizing options for Colts fans. Brian, we did not call you unhinged. He was calling some comment on Apple. We were not talking about you there at all. No, not you, Brian. Not you, Brian.

Starting point is 00:22:57 Unless it was you. I don't know. Yeah, yeah. You go have fun though, Brian. You keep having fun in the chat there. But yeah, make sure you guys are following us here on social media at lock dog colts at jake arthur nfl and at zach hicks too on twitter also subscribe to lock dog colts podcast on youtube wherever you listen to your podcast we love your ratings and reviews maybe not your comments

Starting point is 00:23:18 because again you guys are on one tonight but But yeah, we love the interaction, guys. You guys keep it up. Just keep it respectful. You know, I don't care if you want to be angry and salty about the team, but just continue to keep it respectful. I don't think anyone crossed too many lines here tonight, but I'll have to check through it. But yeah, you guys have a good night,

Starting point is 00:23:37 and we'll see you guys bright and early tomorrow morning with some Bryce Young talk. That'll be fun.

Your Ad Here

Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - Indianapolis Colts: Bittersweet Coaching Shakeups

There aren't comments yet for this episode. Click on any sentence in the transcript to leave a comment.