The Indianapolis Colts announced three additions to the coaching staff under new head coach Shane Steichen this week, including the hiring of Isabel Diaz.
The addition of Diaz to the coaching staff made a bit of history for the organization. The team hired Diaz as the franchise’s first Harriet P. Irsay Fellow. Her coaching role will primarily work with special teams.
She is the first woman to hold a full-season coaching position in franchise history.
Diaz spent the last five years working with Oklahoma State in various roles. According to the release, Diaz “assisted with the scout team, created practice scripts, helped with game planning and charted plays during Oklahoma State’s games. She also spent time as a videographer for Oklahoma State’s football and women’s soccer programs from 2019-2021.”
Diaz also was a participant in 2022 in the Women’s Forum at the NFL Scouting Combine and the Bill Walsh Diversity Coaching Fellowship, She worked with the Washington Commanders, spending time with the defensive backs.
Per the release from the team:
The Colts created the Harriet P. Irsay Fellowship for Women in Football Program in 2023 to afford an opportunity for qualified, talented women to contribute to the team’s football operations and/or coaching staff. The fellowship was created with the goal of creating a pipeline for women – who are historically underrepresented in football operations and coaching roles – to be considered for more senior positions with the Colts and across the NFL in the future.
The fellowship is named in honor of Harriet P. Irsay, the late mother of Colts Owner & CEO Jim Irsay, and expands upon the Colts’ diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.
On May 10, the Colts also announced the additions of Charlie Gelman in the role of game manager and Payton McCollum in the role of defensive assistant.
Here’s what the release said about the former being hired:
Gelman most recently served in a variety of roles for the Baltimore Ravens, including football analyst (2022-23), coaching research intern (2021-22) and scouting analytics intern (2019). He was a student assistant coach at Duke (2018-21) and served as an advanced statistics analyst for the school’s wrestling team (2017-21). Gelman was a data science intern (football) with Big League Advance in 2019. He earned honorable mention recognition at the 2019 NFL Big Data Bowl and was the top undergraduate participant in an individual entry. In November 2020, Gelman graduated cum laude with a degree in statistical science and a minor in computer science from Duke.
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