The Indianapolis Colts have hired Lou Anarumo to be the team’s next defensive coordinator. To help provide us with some insight into this addition to the coaching staff, Chris Roling, the managing editor of Bengals Wire, was kind enough to answer a few questions.
Anarumo was fired by the Bengals following the conclusion of the 2024 regular season. Up until that point, he had been the Bengals defensive coordinator since 2019, which included orchestrating a top-five scoring defense in 2022 during the Bengals’ Super Bowl run, along with a number of impressive performances throughout the years against the game’s best quarterbacks.
Even at one point during his tenure with the Bengals, Anarumo was dubbed the ‘Mad Scientist’ for his ability to draw up creative game-plans on a weekly basis.
Now, for more on Anarumo, here is what Roling had to say:
Colts Wire: I guess let’s start with the obvious–the Bengals fired Anarumo. What went wrong that led to that?
Roling: Significant talent losses and an inability to replace them. The Bengals let Jessie Bates walk and he’s now an All-Pro in Atlanta. DJ Reader was a dominant force on the nose and left. They repeatedly misfired with big selections. Dax Hill, Bates’ supposed replacement, has since moved to corner. A hodgepodge of names couldn’t fill Reader’s spot and high-end cornerback picks like Cam Taylor-Britt have flopped.
These issues led to Anarumo leaning on past-their-prime guys like Sam Hubbard over first-rounder Myles Murphy. Whether the prospects simply weren’t ready, were bad picks or weren’t even liked by Anarumo compared to the front office is hard to say. But the unit didn’t recover until he “simplified” the defense late this season.
Colts Wire: When this defense was playing its best over the years, what did they do well under Anarumo?
Roling: Disguise, before and during games, is a big deal. It’s going to sound like an exaggeration, but he ran an almost amoeba defense that could modify to the opponent. Hence, stiffening up in a traditional sense to stop AFC North rushing-centric teams, then going out and flustering Patrick Mahomes’ pass-happy looks. His corners pressed and his exotic looks up front freed up rushers and kept his linebackers clean to angle and shut down.
Colts Wire: Conversely, are there any areas during Anarumo’s tenure that opponents regularly were able to take advantage of?
Roling: It feels like just a Cincinnati thing predating even the Marvin Lewis years, but tight ends tended to give his units fits at times. But some of that might’ve been by design in a bend-but-don’t-break sense. Perhaps the concern now is, how much of his success was steered by Bates’ elite range in the deep backfield, which few guys in the league have?
Colts Wire: Some buzz words we are hearing about Anarumo is his ability to ‘disguise’ defensive looks and the importance of ‘versatility’ amongst the defenders. Are those key elements to making Anarumo’s defense go?
Roling: Versatility is huge. The ends have to be able to muscle up against the run. The linebackers need to cover. And the corners have to be physical at the line, blitz and play the run. That lends to adaptable gameplans where different players can spy a Lamar Jackson or something else. Big names aren’t a requirement though – guys like Eli Apple were able to have extremely strong seasons and rehab careers in his system if bought in and willing.
The risk for the Colts is the fact it all fell apart when Anarumo’s vision perhaps didn’t 100 percent align with the scouting department on personnel decisions and big prospects didn’t properly develop. Maybe just a Cincinnati thing, but something to watch.
