INDIANAPOLIS – The renovation of the Indianapolis Colts defense is an ongoing process.
The first step: Naming Lou Anarumo as coordinator.
The subsequent steps: Forming his staff.
Anarumo was named as Gus Bradley’s successor on Jan. 21 and on Sunday, the Colts added James Bettcher as linebackers coach. He held a similar position under Anarumo with the Cincinnati Bengals the past three seasons.
Bettcher, 46, knows his way around the Indiana Farm Bureau Football Center and Indiana. He served as the Colts outside linebackers coach in 2012 and coached special teams and defensive ends at Ball State in 2011.
Bettcher’s Hoosiers roots run deep. He’s a product of Lakeville High School and the University of Saint Francis in Fort Wayne. That’s also where his coaching career began in 2004-05 as the school’s special teams coordinator and defensive line coach.
After spending one season with the Colts, Bettcher followed Bruce Arians to Arizona as his outside linebackers coach from 2013-14 before being promoted to the Cardinals’ coordinator, a position he held from 2015-17. He was the New York Giants’ defensive coordinator from 2018-19 and a senior assistant in San Francisco in 2020.
This story will be updated as positions are filled.
You can follow Mike Chappell on Twitter at @mchappell51.