New Indianapolis Colts head coach Shane Steichen is continuing to bolster up his coaching staff on the offensive side of the ball with the latest addition of Tony Sparano Jr. as his offensive line coach.
With Steichen calling plays on Sundays, this could arguably be the most important hire that the new head coach has made in his first weeks on the job. Sparano Jr. will be tasked to help fix the Colts’ offensive line, which was once one of the most respected units just a couple of seasons ago.
Here are three things to know about him:
Son of Tony Sparano
It doesn’t take a college-educated person to make the connection that the new Colts offensive line coach is the son of former NFL head coach, Tony Sparano. His father spent 17 years coaching at the pro level until his unfortunate death in 2018. The father and son did get to spend time coaching together with the Miami Dolphins and New York Jets.
College playing career
Sparano Jr. did play football at the college level as a defensive end for the University of Alabama. He played in 24 games, earned three varsity letters, and was named to the 2008 ESPN The Magazine All-District Team. He did receive a Bachelor’s Degree in history with a minor in political science.
Coaching career
Just a couple of years after college, Sparano Jr. started his coaching career in 2010 in the United Football League on the Hartford Colonials as a defensive line assistant. He got his break into the NFL by joining his father’s staff on the Miami Dolphins as a quality control coach.
After his father was dismissed as the head coach, he would end up following him to the New York Jets as a seasonal intern until he moved to an offensive intern. Despite seeing his father get fired from the Jets coaching staff in 2013, Sparano Jr. received a promotion with the franchise.
He moved into an offensive assistant role. The head coach at the time was Rex Ryan, who spoke highly of him. “Quite honestly, Tony does a phenomenal job,” Ryan said. “He’s a young coach who works his butt off. It’s unfortunate the season we had last year, but I just wanted to make sure he wanted to stay. Once he did, there was no reason not to keep him.”
Ryan also added, “He does the job of a ton of guys.” Sparano Jr. also received praise from Mark Sanchez, “It’s huge,” quarterback Mark Sanchez said of Sparano’s role. “It goes unnoticed, unthanked, but it’s absolutely vital to a team’s success. Just for us to function you need Junior. If Junior gets sick, we’re not in good shape.”
Sparano Jr. would end up following Ryan to the Buffalo Bills after the staff was let go following the 2016 season. That would only last for one season which led to him joining the Jacksonville Jaguars for four seasons as their assistant offensive line coach.
In 2021, he would end up joining Matt Rhule’s staff for the Carolina Panthers in the same role before moving on in 2022 to the same job with Brian Daboll and the New York Giants. Even though was the head guy over the G-Men’s offensive line, he still played a part in helping turn around a unit that was perceived as one of the worst in the league in previous seasons.
New York also saw the growth of their young tackles, Andrew Thomas and Evan Neal. Which should be promising for Bernhard Raimann. Now only time will tell if Sparano Jr. is the right guy to fix this Colts’ offensive line.
