The Indianapolis Colts have officially made their first significant change of the offseason.
The team announced that they are parting ways with defensive coordinator Gus Bradley.
This opens the door for head coach Shane Steichen to hire his own DC for the first time in his career. Below is a list of candidates that not only do I think the Colts should target, but they are realistic options as well.
Realistic candidates the Colts should target to replace Gus Bradley as their defensive coordinator
Dennis Allen
Most recent role: New Orleans Saints Head Coach (2022-2024)
I think the highest-profile hire the Colts could realistically be in the running for is someone like Dennis Allen. Allen is a two-time head coach with the Saints and Las Vegas Raiders who isn’t remembered fondly as a head coach. But his success as a defensive coordinator speaks for itself. His most recent stretch as the Saints DC included back-to-back years of the team’s defense, finishing in the top ten in yards allowed (4th and 7th) and in the top five in points allowed (5th and 4th) in 2020 and 2021. And with all the questions circling around the leadership from the Colts coaching staff bringing on someone who has vast experience as a defensive coordinator and multiple stints as a head coach might be a better fit than someone who would be taking on the role for the first time.
Jim Leonhard
Current role: Denver Broncos Defensive Backs Coach/Pass Game Coordinator (2024)
Jim Leonhard is a former NFL player who played for the Buffalo Bills, Baltimore Ravens, New York Jets, Denver Broncos, and Cleveland Browns during his 10-year NFL career. Leonhard was a safety during his playing days, and he’s been able to have a successful start to his coaching career. He spent one season as a senior football analyst at the University of Illinois in 2023 after a seven-year run at the University of Wisconsin, first as their defensive backs coach in 2016 and added the defensive coordinator title in 2017. He ended his tenure there as the team’s interim head coach for the final seven games of the 2022 season, where he led them to a 4-3 record after the University fired head coach Paul Chryst after the first five games.
He made the jump to the NFL in 2024 as he joined the Broncos staff as their pass game coordinator and defensive backs coach. The work he’s done with the Broncos this year is well-respected across the NFL, and many believe he will be a defensive coordinator one day. The Colts have the chance to make that happen now, even if it’s faster than expected around the league. I’m sure it doesn’t hurt his case that Leonahrd had a long stint at Colts general manager Chris Ballard’s alma mater of Wisconsin.
Joe Cullen
Current role: Kansas City Chiefs Defensive line coach (2022-2024)
Joe Cullen has been the Chiefs defensive line coach for the past three seasons after his one year as the Jacksonville Jaguars defensive coordinator. If the Chiefs were ever to lose defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo, Cullen is believed to be a top in-house candidate to replace him. He’s done tremendous work with the Chiefs defensive line and is viewed as an incredible leader of men type of coach. If hired, he would also hopefully bring a version of Spagnulou’s innovative defensive scheme to Indianapolis. Before his stints with the Chiefs and Jaguars, Cullen also served as the defensive line coach for the Ravens, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Browns, Jaguars, and Lions dating back to 2006.
Chris Harris
Current role: Tennessee Titans Defensive Passing Game Coordinator/Cornerbacks coach (2023-2024)
Chris Harris is someone the Colts seriously looked at the last time they were looking for a defensive coordinator, but the team elected to go with Gus Bradley instead. The first time around his connection to Colts GM Chris Ballard stood out, as Harris was drafted by and played for the Bears when Ballard was working in their front office. But with Steichen now in charge he also has a past working relationship with him. The two both worked on the Los Angeles Chargers (and in San Diego for one year) from 2016 to 2019, where Harris served as the assistant defensive backs coach.
Since then, he has been given control of his own defensive back room with the Washington Commanders from 2020-2022 and moved on to the Tennessee Titans in 2023, where he was named their defensive pass game coordinator and cornerbacks coach. There could be some warranted worry that if Harris was the hire that, he could run a defense similar to Bradley’s. He served under Bradley, who was his DC with the Chargers from 2017 to 2019. But Harris has also now served under Dennard Wilson and Ron Rivera, which has gives him multiple great defensive minds he could pull from when building his own defense for the first time.
Steve Wilks
Most recent role: San Francisco 49ers Defensive Coordinator (2023)
Steve Wilks is the only candidate on this list that isn’t working in the NFL for the 2024 season. He was let go by the 49ers following the 2023 season, but it seems pretty important to share that their defense took a reasonably large step back in the first year after his exit. In 2023, the 49ers’ defense ranked eighth in yards allowed and third in points allowed. In 2024, they were able to remain at eight in points allowed but allowed the 29th most points in the NFL.
Wilks’s resume includes him being a head coach for one year with the Arizona Cardinals and having a successful tenure as the Carolina Panthers interim head coach in 2022, where many wanted him to be offered the full-time gig. On top of his stint with the 49ers, Wilks also spent time with the Browns and Panthers as a defensive coordinator, among other roles. He also spent time with the Chargers and Bears. In 2011, Wilks was the Chargers assistant head coach and secondary coach, where he coached with Shane Steichen, who at the time was a defensive assistant coach. He also was on staff with Colts GM Chris Ballard during his time with the Bears. Wilks served as the Bears defensive backs coach, and Ballard served as their southwest area scout.