Westfield, Ind. – The Indianapolis Colts today announced the team's 2023 Bill Walsh Diversity Coaching Fellows – Dele Harding and Diego Ortiz. Harding will assist with the defense, while Ortiz will work with the offense.
Harding is in his first season with the University of Houston as a defensive assistant. He served as a defensive assistant for the Houston Texans in 2022. Prior to his coaching career, Harding played four seasons (2016-19) as a linebacker at the University of Illinois, where he was a team captain as a junior and senior (2018-19). As a senior in 2019, he was voted the team's defensive MVP and received First Team All-Big Ten honors after ranking second in the nation and first in the Big 10 with 153 tackles (68 solo). Harding graduated from Illinois in 2020 with a bachelor's degree in kinesiology.
Ortiz is entering his seventh season at Texas Tech and his fourth as a quality control assistant working primarily with the running backs. In 2022, he oversaw productivity measures of all running backs and quarterbacks during fall camp and in-season, as well as assisted with the weekly game plan installation of new plays. Additionally, Ortiz created weekly video breakdowns, managed recruiting evaluation film and updated recruit profile tapes each week. He graduated with a master's in science and sport management from Texas Tech in May 2018, becoming the first person of Mexican nationality to graduate from the program. Ortiz earned his bachelor's degree in international trade relations from Universidad Intercontinental in Mexico City, where he won the yearly "Letter of Merit" for obtaining the highest GPA of the class four years in a row.
The Bill Walsh Diversity Coaching Fellowship provides NFL coaching experience to talented minority college coaches, high school coaches and former players. Designed as a vocational tool to increase the number of full-time NFL minority coaches, all 32 NFL clubs have participated since its inception in 1987.
