The Colts on Monday announced Brent Jackson and Jamel Mutunga as the inaugural Tony Dungy Diversity Coaching Fellows for the 2022 season. Jackson will serve as the defensive Dungy Fellow while Mutunga will be the offensive Dungy Fellow.
Jackson spent the last seven seasons coaching at the college level. He began his career as a student assistant at Louisiana, his alma mater, and served in that role from 2015-2017 before earning a job as a defensive analyst at Louisiana in 2018. From there, Jackson spent two years at Illinois as a graduate assistant (2019) and defensive analyst (2020) working with defensive backs.
Most recently, Jackson was a graduate assistant working with defensive backs at Oregon after serving in the same position at Auburn in 2021.
Jackson graduated from Louisiana with a bachelors in kinesiology in sport management and earned his masters of kinesiology in sport management from LSU in 2020.
Mutunga brings a decade of collegiate coaching experience to the Colts' coaching staff. He most recently was Rutgers' offensive quality control coach (2020-2022), a role in which he worked with the Scarlet Knights' running backs. He served as Princeton's running backs/kickoff return coach from 2017-2019, Lehigh's running backs coach from 2014-2016 and Muhlenberg College's tight ends/halfbacks coach from 2012-2013.
Mutunga was a Bill Walsh Diversity Coaching Fellow with New York Jets in 2014 and Atlanta Falcons in 2019. He played running back in college for Gettysburg from 2007-2010 and graduated with a degree in economics and business management in 2011.
The Colts created the Tony Dungy Diversity Fellowship earlier this year to provide an opportunity for diverse and talented football coaches to gain valuable experience as they progress in their careers. A selection committee comprised of Dungy, the Irsay family, general manager Chris Ballard, head coach Frank Reich and other members of the Colts' coaching staff and football operations department evaluated and interviewed candidates for the positions.
"I am thrilled that the Colts are seeking to help build diversity and inclusion in NFL coaching by launching this Diversity Fellowship coaching program," Dungy said. "It's a tremendous honor for me to be identified with the program. I applaud the Irsay family and the organization for taking this proactive step, and I hope it encourages other teams to look for ways to promote equal opportunities in the coaching ranks."
Creating the fellowship was an important initiative for the Colts in the club's efforts to foster equity among the league's coaching ranks. The Colts will continue to fill positions through the NFL's Bill Walsh Diversity Coaching Fellowship as well.
"We're humbled and honored that Tony Dungy's trailblazing accomplishments are also a part of our rich Colts history, but none of us can afford to rest on our laurels when it comes to advancing fairness and opportunity in the NFL's coaching ranks," Colts Owner and CEO Jim Irsay said. "That's why the Colts are so proud to create this fellowship in Tony's honor that will help level the playing field for those who want to coach, teach and lead."
