DL coach Baker will not return to Colts
Jan. 26—INDIANAPOLIS — Brian Baker will not be back for a third season as the Indianapolis Colts defensive line coach.
As first reported by The Athletic's Zak Keefer, Baker's contract will not be renewed after a 2021 season in which the Colts lost their final two games in an epic collapse that cost the team a playoff spot.
Baker's defensive line recorded just 33 sacks in 2021 after posting 40 in 2020, and Indianapolis did not see the expected development from young pass rushers such as Kemoko Turay and Ben Banogu.
The new defensive line coach will be the third in five seasons under head coach Frank Reich, and the new hire will be charged with moving second-year defensive ends Kwity Paye and Dayo Odeyingbo toward their ceilings.
Paye — a first-round pick out of Michigan — earned All-Rookie honors from Pro Football Focus and the Pro Football Writers Association after recording four sacks, 10 quarterback hits and three tackles for loss in 15 games.
Odeyinbo — a second-rounder from Vanderbilt — missed the first seven games while rehabbing from a torn Achilles' tendon and finished with one-half sack, a forced fumble and a quarterback hit.
Those two players are expected to be the centerpiece of the Colts' pass rush moving forward but could find little traction as rookies after veterans Denico Autry and Justin Houston were not re-signed in free agency.
Defensive tackle DeForest Buckner led Indianapolis for the second straight season with seven sacks, despite seeing consistent triple-teams, and Al-Quadin Muhammad was the top defensive end with six sacks.
Turay — a second-round pick out of Rutgers in 2018 — had a career-high 5.5 sacks with eight quarterback hits and five tackles for loss while playing just 27% of the defensive snaps.
Banogu — a second-rounder out of TCU in 2019 — had just one quarterback hit and played just 68 snaps, less than 1% of the team's defensive total.
Both Turay and Banogu are scheduled to become free agents in March, and general manager Chris Ballard said the team will consider adding a veteran pass rusher to the mix.
Baker's departure has not been officially announced by the team, and there is no public timetable for hiring a replacement.
Defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus remains a candidate for the head coaching job with both the Chicago Bears and Jacksonville Jaguars, and the resolution of those searches also will affect the makeup of the Colts' defensive coaching staff for next season.
