5 candidates to be the next Indianapolis Colts head coach
4. Dan Campbell, Saints Assistant Head Coach/Tight Ends Coach
Campbell has surfaced as a candidate for the offensive coordinator opening with the Minnesota Vikings, but Mike Garafolo of NFL Network has reported the Colts have requested to interview him. Multiple reports suggest the interview will happen on Thursday.
#Colts have put in a request for an interview with #Saints assistant head coach/TEs coach Dan Campbell, sources tell me and @RapSheet. Former interim HC in Miami gets a shot at a full-time gig.
— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) February 7, 2018
After 10 seasons in the NFL as a player (1999-2008), including a Super Bowl ring (Super Bowl XLIV with the Saints), Campbell moved into coaching with the Miami Dolphins in 2010. He served as tight ends coach there starting in 2011 until four games into the 2015 season. He then stepped in as interim head coach, with a 5-7 record, when Joe Philbin was fired. He has been under Sean Payton as the Saints’ assistant head coach and tight ends coach for the past two seasons.
Concerns over working for owner Jim Irsay may have helped turn McDaniels away from the Colts. But someone like Campbell may just want a crack at a permanent head coaching gig, without much concern about an unpredictable boss that may fire him quickly. If nothing else, Campbell may be able to woo Irsay with high-level football jargon, intensity and a promise to put players through the Oklahoma Drill in practice.