List of Indianapolis Colts head coaches

The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis, Indiana. They are a member of the South Division of the American Football Conference (AFC) in the National Football League (NFL). In 1953, a Baltimore-based group led by Carroll Rosenbloom won the rights to a new Baltimore franchise. Rosenbloom was granted an NFL team, and was awarded the holdings of the defunct Dallas Texans organization. The team was known as the Baltimore Colts for 31 seasons before moving to Indianapolis in March 1984.[1]

Tony Dungy is a former head coach of the Colts. He led them to their second Super Bowl victory in Miami (XLI).

There have been 19[a] head coaches for the Colts franchise. Keith Molesworth became the first coach of the Baltimore Colts in 1953, but he was reassigned to a different position with the team following the season.[2] In terms of tenure, Weeb Ewbank has led the team for more games (112) and more complete seasons (nine) than any other head coach. He led the team to two of their NFL championships. Four Colts head coaches; Ewbank, Don Shula (3), Ted Marchibroda, and Tony Dungy have been named coach of the year by at least one major news organization. Ewbank, Shula, and Dungy are members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, having been inducted in 1978, 1997, and 2016 respectively.[3][4]

Six times in Colts history there were interim head coaches. In 1972, Don McCafferty was fired five games into the season.[2] John Sandusky was named as the interim head coach for the rest of the season, during which he led the Colts to a 4–5 record, but he was not made the permanent coach the next year. In 1974, head coach Howard Schnellenberger started off the season 0–3 and was fired. Joe Thomas assumed the duties of head coach and finished the season at 2–12.[2] In 1991, the Colts started off 0–5 and Ron Meyer was fired as head coach. Rick Venturi was named as the interim for the final 11 games.[5] In 2005 Tony Dungy was forced to miss one game due to personal issues. Jim Caldwell was named as the one game interim.[6] In 2012 offensive coordinator Bruce Arians was named as the interim head coach indefinitely after Chuck Pagano was diagnosed with leukemia four weeks into the 2012 NFL season.[7] Arians led the Colts to a 9–3 record – the record being credited to Pagano – and made the playoffs.Following a 3–5–1 start, Frank Reich was fired and on November 7, 2022, the Indianapolis Colts named Jeff Saturday as the team's interim coach for the rest of the season, during which he led the Colts to a 1–7 record. He was not made the permanent coach the next year.

Key

#Number of coaches
GCGames coached
WWins
LLosses
TTies
Win%Winning percentage
00*Elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame
00^Elected into the Pro Football Hall of Fame as a player
00Spent entire professional NFL head coaching career with the Colts

Coaches

Note: Statistics are accurate through the end of the 2023 NFL season.
#ImageNameTermRegular seasonPlayoffsAwardsReference
GCWLTWin%GCWL
Baltimore Colts
1Keith Molesworth195312390.333[8]
2 Weeb Ewbank*1954196211259521.527220AP NFL Coach of the Year (1958)[9]
UPI NFL Coach of the Year (1958)[9]
[10]
3 Don Shula*196319699871234.725523AP NFL Coach of the Year (1964, 1968)[9]
Sporting News NFL Coach of the Year (1964, 1968)[9]
Pro Football Weekly NFL Coach of the Year (1968)[9]
[11]
4Don McCafferty197019723322101.667541[12]
5 John Sandusky1972[b]9450.444[13]
6 Howard Schnellenberger19731974174130.235[14]
7Joe Thomas1974[c]11290.182[15]
8 Ted Marchibroda197519797441330.554303AP NFL Coach of the Year (1975)[9]
Sporting News NFL Coach of the Year (1975)[9]
Pro Football Weekly NFL Coach of the Year (1975)[9]
UPI NFL Coach of the Year (1975)[9]
[16]
9 Mike McCormack^19801981329230.281[17]
10Frank Kush19821983257171.300[18]
Indianapolis Colts
Frank Kush1984154110.267[18]
11Hal Hunter1984[d]1010.000[19]
12Rod Dowhower19851986295240.172[20]
13Ron Meyer19861991[e]7136350.507202UPI NFL Coach of the Year (1987)[9][21]
14Rick Venturi1991[f]111100.100[22]
Ted Marchibroda199219956430340.469321[16]
15Lindy Infante199619973212200.375101[23]
16 Jim Mora199820016432320.500202[24]
17 Tony Dungy*2002200811285270.7591376Sporting News NFL Coach of the Year (2005)[9]
Maxwell Football Club NFL Coach of the Year (2005)[9]
[25]
18 Jim Caldwell200920114826220.542422[26]
19 Chuck Pagano20122017[g]9653430.552633[27]
20 Frank Reich20182022[h]7440331.547312[28]
21 Shane Steichen2023–present17980.529[29]

Notes

References

General
  • "Indianapolis Colts History". CBS Sportsline. Retrieved June 19, 2008.
  • "Hall of Famers by Franchise". Pro Football Hall of Fame Official website. Archived from the original on June 17, 2008. Retrieved June 19, 2008.
  • "Indianapolis Colts Coaching Records and History". DatabaseFootball.com. Archived from the original on April 10, 2007. Retrieved June 19, 2008.
Specific