Report: Colts interview candidates for secondary coach, linebacker coach openings

The Indianapolis Colts are continuing their coaching search this week as they look for a number of assistant coaches to bring on staff to replace the fired coaches that the team parted ways with last week.  The Colts already have hired Ted Monachino as their defensive coordinator, have reportedly offered their offensive line coaching position to Chris Foerster, and are working to also bring in a new safeties coach, secondary coach, linebackers coach, tight ends coach, running backs coach, and strength and conditioning coach.

FOX Sports' Alex Marvez, who has been on top of the Colts' coaching search since it began, mentioned a few names that the Colts have interviewed for their secondary and linebacker positions.  According to Marvez, the Colts interviewed Donnie Henderson on Monday and will interview Jon Hoke today for their secondary coach position, while they also have interviewed Ken Flajole for their linebackers coach position.  Marvez later noted that the Colts will also interview Mark Duffner and Jim Herrmann for their linebackers coach opening.

Henderson reportedly won't be back in Buffalo with the Bills this year despite, as Buffalo Rumblings writes, him being "widely regarded as one of the Bills' best positional coaches for the past three years."  He served the past three years with the Bills' staff as their defensive backs coach (2013-2015).  He has previously served as the defensive backs for the Baltimore Ravens (1999-2003), the Jacksonville Jaguars (2008), and the Arizona Cardinals (2009-2010), in addition to a number of college jobs.  He also has been a defensive coordinator at the NFL level, first with the New York Jets (2004-2005) and then with the Detroit Lions (2006).  He has a very extensive resume and is respected as a defensive backs coach, so it makes sense that the Colts would want to interview him.

Hoke was a player at Ball State and briefly with the Bears and Chiefs, and then he got into coaching.  He held a number of different college jobs coaching defensive backs, and in 2002 he was brought on board in the same position with the Houston Texans.  He spent seven seasons as the defensive backs coach in Houston (2002-2008) and then six seasons as the defensive backs coach for the Chicago Bears (2009-2014).  He was the co-defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach for South Carolina in 2015.

Flajole has been out of coaching for a couple of seasons but has quite a bit of experience in the NFL.  After a couple of college jobs he entered the NFL coaching ranks with the Green Bay Packers in 1998 as a defensive assistant/quality control coach.  He then spent four seasons with the Seattle Seahawks (1999-2002), coaching defensive backs, linebackers, and then defensive backs again.  He was the linebackers coach for the Carolina Panthers for six seasons (2003-2008), was the defensive coordinator for the St. Louis Rams for three seasons (2009-2011), the secondary coach for the New Orleans Saints, and then most recently the inside linebackers coach for the Cleveland Browns in 2013 - coaching under head coach Rob Chudzinski.

Duffner spent the past two seasons with the Miami Dolphins as their linebackers coach, but he won't be retained after the Dolphins changed coaching staffs.  Before that, Duffner was the linebackers coach for the Jacksonville Jaguars (2006-2013), Green Bay Packers (2003-2005), and Cincinnati Bengals (1997-2000), also serving as the defensive coordinator of the Bengals for two seasons (2001-2002).  He was the head coach at Holy Cross from 1986-1991 and the head coach at Maryland from 1992-1996, compiling an 80-40-1 career record at the schools.

Herrmann spent the past seven seasons with the New York Giants as their linebackers coach (2009-2015), but with the departure of head coach Tom Coughlin the staff is being broken up.  Before that, he was the linebackers coach for the New York Jets (2006-2008).  He played college football at Michigan and got his start in coaching as an assistant at Michigan from 1985-1996, when he then took over as defensive coordinator, a role he would hold for the next nine seasons (1997-2005).