The Indianapolis Colts are hiring ex-Cincinnati Bengals defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo as their defensive coordinator, according to multiple reports.
Lou Anarumo joins head coach Shane Steichen’s staff in Indianapolis after six years on the job in Cincinnati. The Bengals fired Anarumo on Jan. 6 after fielding the NFL’s 25th ranked defense (348.3 yards allowed per game) and missing the playoffs.
The Colts fired defensive coordinator Gus Bradley the next day, creating the job opening. Bradley had been on the job for three seasons.
The Colts ranked 29th in the NFL defense (361.2 yards per game allowed) last season and gave up 45 points in a loss to a 3-14 Giants team in Week 17 with a playoff berth still at stake. Drew Lock, New York’s third starting quarterback of the season, threw for 309 yards and four touchdowns that day.
Anarumo has spent 13 season on NFL sidelines. Before joining the Bengals, he was defensive backs coach for the Miami Dolphins and New York Giants.
Anarumo oversaw the Bengals defense that allowed 20.5 points per game in the 2021 postseason as Cincinnati advanced from the wild-card round to the Super Bowl. Those Bengals intercepted Patrick Mahomes twice in Cincinnati’s AFC championship game victory.
Amid player attrition, the Bengals defense fell to 31st in yards allowed (374.6 yards per game) in 2023 before this year’s unit struggled alongside an elite offense led by Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase en route to a 9-8 finish and out of the playoffs.
Steichen and the Colts are surely counting on Cincinnati’s defensive struggles in recent seasons being a product of the talent on the field rather than Anarumo’s scheme and play-calling.
