Colts to Start DC Search With Two Strong Candidates

The Indianapolis Colts' defensive coordinator hunt is officially underway.

Cincinnati Bengals defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo takes the field as the Bengals warm up before facing the Dallas Cowboys for Monday Night Football at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas on Monday, December 9, 2024. / Cara Owsley/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Indianapolis Colts have kicked off their defensive coordinator hunt on Thursday. The team is expected to bring in two appealing names around the league for an interview next week.

According to Tom Pelissero of NFL Network, the Colts are set to interview former Cincinnati Bengals defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo, and former head coach Steve Wilks to start their defensive coordinator search.

The #Colts have begun their defensive coordinator search, with former #Bengals DC Lou Anarumo and longtime NFL coach Steve Wilks among those expected to interview next week, per sources.

— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) January 9, 2025

Anarumo spent his past six seasons with the Bengals as their defensive coordinator before being let go this past week. During his time in Cincinnati, he led one top-ten scoring defense back in 2022, while the past two years have seen a bit more turbulence, ranked outside of the top 20 in both 2023 and 2024.

For Wilks, he was most recently the defensive coordinator for the San Francisco 49ers in 2023, helping lead that unit to a top-three scoring defense in the NFL. He also has two years of head coaching experience-- one season with the Arizona Cardinals in 2018, and one with the Carolina Panthers in 2022, where he stepped in as the interim during the team's final six games.

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The Colts are seemingly not wasting any time to get some traction on their defensive coordinator search, which officially gets underway after parting ways with Gus Bradley following three seasons. In 2024, Indianapolis ranked 24th in scoring defense and were bottom-four in yards allowed-- marking a necessary need for change on that side of the ball.

Expect the Colts to continue filing in names as potential suitors for the role in the coming days and weeks to help aid a struggling Indianapolis defense, and hopefully return to a similar form we saw during their 2020 and 2021 campaigns.

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