Colts interviewing special teams coordinator Bubba Ventrone for head coach position

INDIANAPOLIS — Jeff Saturday is not the only in-house candidate the Colts are considering for their head coaching job.

The Colts are interviewing special teams coordinator Bubba Ventrone for the job on Wednesday, the team confirmed.

Ventrone, who has been in Indianapolis since joining Frank Reich’s initial staff in 2018, has been an excellent special teams coordinator for the Colts for five seasons, and he’s long been considered a coach with the potential to be a head coach in his career.

“I do aspire to be a head coach at some point, whenever the time is right, in the right situation, wherever that may be,” Ventrone said last month.

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Ventrone, 40, spent 10 seasons in the NFL as a special teams ace, then immediately headed into the coaching ranks after his playing career ended, cutting his teeth for three years under Bill Belichick in New England.

When Reich was hired in Indianapolis, he asked Eagles special teams coordinator Dave Fipp for recommendations to fill the same spot on his staff with the Colts.

“Frank,” Fipp told Reich, “I’d put all my money on Bubba.”

The bet has paid off handsomely. While the Colts have been through some uncertainty at the kicker position since the decline and retirement of Adam Vinatieri — uncertainty that settled this season due to the big leg of Chase McLaughlin — Indianapolis has routinely been excellent in all other phases of special teams, making big plays in coverage units, blocking kicks and the return game.

More importantly, Ventrone has spent the past eight games serving as a valuable resource for Saturday on the sidelines, helping Saturday learn everything that goes into being a head coach in the NFL.

“I know he did a lot with Bubba, too, just about in-game, some of the game management,” defensive coordinator Gus Bradley said shortly after Saturday’s first game with the team.

The road from special teams coordinator to head coach is not an easy one, but it’s also not impassable, and there have been a few successful examples of special teams coordinators turning in excellent performances as head coaches. Baltimore’s John Harbaugh was a special teams coordinator in Philadelphia for nine seasons before taking over the Ravens, and Harbaugh now has a 147-95 record and a Super Bowl ring as a head coach.

Rich Bisaccia took over the Raiders in 2021 after Jon Gruden’s firing and led Las Vegas to the playoffs, although he didn’t get the head coaching job permanently.

“Rich is a leader of men, he was great, but the advantage of that was he was the special teams coach, so offensively, defensively, he knew every player,” said Bradley, who was the defensive coordinator on that Raiders team. “They knew how he was going to be in the room.”

The same is true for Ventrone, who has been in Indianapolis long enough to know every player, know general manager Chris Ballard’s philosophy and the lay of the land. Colts players have long lauded Ventrone’s ability to connect and coach.

“I feel like I’m in tune with both the offense and the defense,” Ventrone said. “I know all the personnel. I know all the players pretty well. They are in my meetings every week, I have pretty good relationships with all those players.”

Ventrone has also spent time preparing for his shot, knowing he wants a chance to be a head coach eventually.

“I’ve done a number of things with people outside the building,” Ventrone said. “I have an agent, and I’ve talked to guys like Bill Polian, things like that.”

Ventrone declined to get into the rest of his career preparations earlier this season, saying that he was focused on the task at hand, but it’s clear the Colts believe in Ventrone’s potential enough to give him an interview at the start of the coaching search.

Ventrone’s interview is likely the first of many.

Saturday is a candidate, and the Colts have already submitted five requests for interviews with external candidates — Eagles offensive coordinator Shane Steichen, Rams defensive coordinator Raheem Morris, Broncos defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero and the Lions’ tandem of Ben Johnson (offense) and Aaron Glenn (defense).

There will likely be more.

Ballard is leading the search, and he vowed Tuesday that the search would be wide-ranging and thorough.

“Be patient and take your time, make sure we have a thorough interview with everybody,” Ballard said. “I don’t care if it takes to mid-February to hire the head coach. It’s about getting it right.”

Ventrone gets the first shot.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Colts coaching interviews: Special teams coordinator Bubba Ventrone