The Indianapolis Colts are retaining head coach Shane Steichen and general manager Chris Ballard for the 2025 season, but the same cannot be said for defensive coordinator Gus Bradley. On Monday night, the team announced that they had parted ways with their defensive leader.
“I’m appreciative of Gus and the commitment he made to the Colts,” Steichen said in a statement. “He is a man of great character, and I have the utmost respect for him. I felt like we needed to move in a different direction. I wish Gus and his family all the best moving forward.”
The 8-9 Colts missed the playoffs for the fourth season in a row. The Colts’ defense struggled all year, and finished the regular season ranked fourth-worst in yards allowed per game (361.2), and ninth-worst in scoring defense (25.1 points allowed per game).
When team captain DeForest Buckner was asked about the reason for the Colts’ defensive struggles in 2024, he pointed to egos.
“Ego. There’s time where ego gets in the way,” Buckner said, via The Athletic. “And I feel like, especially in our business, playing in the NFL at a high level and as a team, everybody needs to check their ego …”
Perhaps no defensive effort was more embarrassing then when the Colts allowed the New York Giants, who averaged 16.1 points per game this season, to drop 45 points in a Week 17 victory over Indy. New York racked up 389 yards of total offense, while backup quarterback Drew Lock threw four touchdowns and rushed for another.
Bradley spent a total of three seasons with the Colts, and his unit ranked in the top half of the league just once. Previously, Bradley served as the defensive coordinator for the Las Vegas Raiders and Los Angeles Chargers after a four-year stint as the head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars from 2013-16.
