Colts reportedly hire Tony Sparano Jr. as offensive line coach

INDIANAPOLIS — Arguably the most important hire of Shane Steichen’s offensive staff has reportedly been made.

And Steichen is betting on a young coach with a famous name and a lot of years in the NFL spent working his way up the ladder.

Giants assistant Tony Sparano Jr. has accepted the Colts offensive line coaching job, according to a report by The Bergen Record, taking over a unit that desperately needs to play closer to its reputation if Steichen’s offense is going to reach its potential.

No matter who Indianapolis decides to start at quarterback.

The Colts learned that lesson the hard way a year ago. Indianapolis general manager Chris Ballard has long preached the wisdom of building his teams from the inside out, focusing on the offensive and defensive lines, and the Colts entered the 2022 season with the NFL’s highest-paid offensive line.

But the risks Ballard took in replacing two starters — the Colts bet heavily on depth pieces developing into starters, promoting Matt Pryor at left tackle and Danny Pinter at right guard with little immediate competition — served as the kindling for the fire that consumed the Indianapolis franchise last season, ultimately leading to the firing of former head coach Frank Reich and a 4-12-1 overall record.

“That’s where our struggles occurred early, and we just never really recovered from them,” Ballard said. “I probably underestimated that. I thought, we’ve been so good up front for the last few years, I thought with the three really good players we had coming back in Braden (Smith), Ryan Kelly and Quenton (Nelson), that we would absorb those other positions, and they would come up to speed right away. It just didn’t occur that way, and that’s a mistake.”

Ballard’s task this offseason is to make sure the Colts are never that thin on the offensive line again.

Sparano, Jr., has to make sure the offensive line reaches its ceiling. Nelson, the five-time Pro Bowler, believes he didn’t play up to his standards last season, Kelly’s play continued to fall off and Smith went through a rough patch early in the season before settling in late.

The development of second-year left tackle Bernhard Raimann is likely Sparano, Jr.’s most important task in his first chance to be a full-time offensive line coach after a decade spent cutting his teeth as an assistant.

Raimann, a third-round pick, gave up nine sacks in 405 pass blocking chances, according to Sports Info Solutions.

But the Colts believed Raimann played much better down the stretch, well enough that he still has a chance to be the team’s left tackle of the future.

“Encouraged by him, very encouraged. Early was rough, as it is for most left tackles,” Ballard said. “To the kid’s credit, he battled his (expletive) off. He got better each week. Sure, he’s got some things he’s got to work on. He’s got to get a little bit bigger, little bit stronger, but we thought he performed at a winning level the last seven, eight weeks of the season.”

The man Steichen is hiring to help Raimann reach his potential has been working a long time toward this goal.

Sparano, Jr., still only 36, is the son of legendary offensive line coach Tony Sparano, who served as head coach in Miami for four seasons. Sparano, Jr. got his NFL start on his dad’s staff in 2011, and he’s now coached for five organizations, serving as a position coach just once, in two seasons with the Buffalo Bills in 2015 and 2016.

Interestingly, Sparano, Jr. has never worked with Steichen.

Sparano, Jr., has spent his time after coaching in Buffalo polishing his offensive line credentials. Sparano, Jr., spent four seasons in Jacksonville, then a season each in Carolina and New York before reportedly agreeing to take the full promotion in Indianapolis.

By the time he landed the job his dad made his own, Sparano, Jr. has already been coaching in the NFL for a dozen years.

His reward is trying to restore reputation of a Colts offensive line that failed to live up to any of its expectations last season.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Colts reportedly hire Tony Sparano Jr. as offensive line coach