INDIANAPOLIS – After weeks of interviewing, hiring and some shuffling, the Colts are all but complete with their 2016 coaching staff.
On Tuesday, the Colts announced the hirings of Maurice Drayton as assistant special teams coach, Lee Hull as wide receivers coach and Jemal Singleton as running backs coach.
Singletonwill get his first taste of NFL life as the team's running backs coach. Since 2006, Singleton has coached running backs at the collegiate level (Air Force, Oklahoma State and Arkansas). Singleton graduated from the Air Force Academy in 1999 and played halfback for the Falcons.
For the last two years, Hull has been the head coach at Morgan State. Hull,who previously coached wide receivers at Oregon State (2005-07) and Maryland (2008-13) has familiarity with new offensive coordinator Rob Chudzinski. When Chud was the Panthers offensive coordinator (2011-12), Hull interviewed for an assistant position with Carolina.
Earlier this week, Hull caught up with the Baltimore Sun to talk about the move of reaching the NFL, and coaching a talented position group.
"It was an opportunity I could not pass up," **Hull** said of going from a collegiate head coach to an NFL assistant. "Going to the NFL has always been a dream of mine, and these opportunities only come once in a lifetime.
"It's very exciting. T.Y. (Hilton) is an All-Pro. Andre Johnson is there, and he's been to numerous Pro Bowls. They got (Phillip) Dorsett in the first round last year from Miami, and they've got Donte Moncrief, who is also a very good football player and a young guy. Three of their top four receivers are young, and they've got one veteran guy in Andre Johnson. So it's exciting because they've got a real good receiving corps."
While Drayton has recently been the defensive coordinator at The Citadel, he has assisted with special teams in prior collegiate stops. He will work under special teams coordinator Tom McMahon, who is returning for a fourth season leading those Colts units.Drayton was a coaching intern with the Colts during the summers of 2013 and 2014.
Other hires and new coaching titles for the Colts in 2016:
- Joe Philbin has added the title of "assistant head coach" to his role as the team's new offensive line coach.
- Quadrian Banks will serve as a performance and conditioning coach. Banks comes over from the Philadelphia Eagles, where he coached in their strength program the last three years.
- Andrew Hayes-Stoker fills the team's vacant role as assistant to the head coach. In 2014-15, Hayes-Stoker was the wide receivers with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
