List of Indianapolis Colts head coaches

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

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]

There have been 19^{[lower-alpha 1]} 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. Three Colts head coaches; Ewbank, Don Shula (3), and Ted Marchibroda, have been named coach of the year by at least one major news organization. Ewbank and Shula are members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, having been inducted in 1978 and 1997 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.

Key

#	Number of coaches
GC	Games coached
W	Wins
L	Losses
T	Ties
Win%	Winning percentage
00*	Elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame
00^	Elected into the Pro Football Hall of Fame as a player
00†	Spent entire professional NFL head coaching career with the Colts

Coaches

Note: Statistics correct as of the end of the 2015 NFL season.

#	Name	Term	Regular season					Playoffs			Awards	Reference
			GC	W	L	T	Win%	GC	W	L
Baltimore Colts
1	Keith Molesworth†	1953	12	3	9	0	.333	–	–	–		[8]
2	Weeb Ewbank*	1954–1962	112	59	52	1	.527	2	2	0	AP NFL Coach of the Year (1958)[9] UPI NFL Coach of the Year (1958)[9]	[10]
3	Don Shula*	1963–1969	98	71	23	4	.725	5	2	3	AP 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]
4	Don McCafferty	1970–1972	33	22	10	1	.667	5	4	1		[12]
5	John Sandusky†	1972[lower-alpha 2]	9	4	5	0	.444	–	–	–		[13]
6	Howard Schnellenberger†	1973–1974	17	4	13	0	.235	–	–	–		[14]
7	Joe Thomas†	1974[lower-alpha 3]	11	2	9	0	.182	–	–	–		[15]
8	Ted Marchibroda	1975–1979	74	41	33	0	.554	3	0	3	AP 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^	1980–1981	32	9	23	0	.281	–	–	–		[17]
10	Frank Kush†	1982–1983	25	7	17	1	.300	–	–	–		[18]
Indianapolis Colts
—	Frank Kush†	1984	15	4	11	0	.267	–	–	–		[18]
11	Hal Hunter†	1984[lower-alpha 4]	1	0	1	0	.000	–	–	–		[19]
12	Rod Dowhower†	1985–1986	29	5	24	0	.172	–	–	–		[20]
13	Ron Meyer	1986–1991[lower-alpha 5]	71	36	35	0	.507	2	0	2	UPI NFL Coach of the Year (1987)[9]	[21]
14	Rick Venturi	1991[lower-alpha 6]	11	1	10	0	.100	–	–	–		[22]
—	Ted Marchibroda	1992–1995	64	30	34	0	.469	3	2	1		[16]
15	Lindy Infante	1996–1997	32	12	20	0	.375	1	0	1		[23]
16	Jim Mora	1998–2001	64	32	32	0	.500	2	0	2		[24]
17	Tony Dungy	2002–2008	112	85	27	0	.759	13	7	6	Sporting News NFL Coach of the Year (2005)[9] Maxwell Football Club NFL Coach of the Year (2005)[9]	[25]
18	Jim Caldwell	2009–2011	48	26	22	0	.542	4	2	2		[26]
19	Chuck Pagano†	2012–[lower-alpha 7]	64	41	23	0	.641	6	3	3		[27]

Notes

1. Although Bruce Arians was named as interim head coach during the 2012 season, he was not credited with the team's record while in charge.
2. John Sandusky was the interim head coach for nine games during the 1972 season.
3. Joe Thomas was the interim head coach for 11 games during the 1974 season.
4. Hal Hunter was the interim head coach for the final game of the 1984 season.
5. Ron Meyer was the interim head coach for three games during the 1986 season.
6. Rick Venturi was the interim head coach for 11 games during the 1991 season.
7. During the 2012 season, Chuck Pagano was diagnosed with leukemia. Bruce Arians was the interim head coach for 12 games, while Pagano underwent treatment. Arians led the team to a 9–3 record and won the AP NFL Coach of the Year for 2012. However, the record was credited to Pagano.

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. Retrieved June 19, 2008.

Specific

1. "Indianapolis Colts". Pro Football Hall of Fame. Retrieved 2008-06-18.
2. "Baltimore Colts: Historical Moments". Baltimore Colts. Retrieved 2008-06-18.
3. "Coach Ewbank Laid To Rest". CBS News. 1998-11-18. Retrieved 2008-06-19.
4. "Don Shula: NFL Coaching Legend". Nationwide. Retrieved 2008-06-19.
5. "Indianapolis Colts: Historical Moments". Indianapolis Colts. Retrieved 2008-06-19.
6. "Dungy's son, 18, found dead in Tampa suburb". ESPN. Retrieved 2008-06-18.
7. "Chuck Pagano battling leukemia". ESPN. Retrieved 2012-10-01.
8. "Keith Molesworth". databaseSports.com. Retrieved 2008-06-18.
9. "NFL Coach of the Year Award". HickokSports.com. Retrieved 2008-06-19.
10. "Weeb Ewbank". databaseSports.com. Retrieved 2008-06-18.
11. "Don Shula". databaseSports.com. Retrieved 2008-06-18.
12. "Don McCafferty". databaseSports.com. Retrieved 2008-06-18.
13. "John Sandusky". databaseSports.com. Retrieved 2008-06-18.
14. "Howard Schnellenberger". databaseSports.com. Retrieved 2008-06-18.
15. "Joe Thomas". databaseSports.com. Retrieved 2008-06-18.
16. "Ted Marchibroda". databaseSports.com. Retrieved 2008-06-18.
17. "Mike McCormack". databaseSports.com. Retrieved 2008-06-18.
18. "Frank Kush Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks". Pro Football Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved January 9, 2011.
19. "Hal Hunter Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks". Pro Football Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved January 9, 2011.
20. "Rod Dowhower". databaseSports.com. Retrieved 2008-06-18.
21. "Ron Meyer". databaseSports.com. Retrieved 2008-06-18.
22. "Rick Venturi". databaseSports.com. Retrieved 2008-06-18.
23. "Lindy Infante". databaseSports.com. Retrieved 2008-06-18.
24. "Jim Mora". databaseSports.com. Retrieved 2008-06-18.
25. "Tony Dungy". databaseSports.com. Retrieved 2008-06-18.
26. "Jim Caldwell Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks". Pro Football Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved January 9, 2011.
27. "Chuck Pagano Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks". Pro Football Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved January 4, 2016.