INDIANAPOLIS —A trio of former Indianapolis Colts coaches will be on the Lambeau Field sidelines in 2018.
The Green Bay Packers on Wednesday formally announced that they have hired former Colts assistant head coach/offensive line coach Joe Philbin, tight ends coach Jim Hostler and assistant special teams coach Maurice Drayton.
Philbin will be the Packers' offensive coordinator; Hostler will serve as their offensive pass game coordinator; while Drayton will remain as a special teams assistant coach.
Philbin spent the previous two seasons coaching the Colts' offensive line, overseeing one of the youngest position groups on the team. In 2016, the team utilized seven different starting offensive line combinations and led the NFL with 34 starts by rookies.
In 2017, while Anthony Castonzo (at left tackle) and Jeremy Vujnovich (at left guard) were able to play every snap for Indy up front, the three other spots would be filled by a combined 11 other players, mostly due to injuries.
Philbin, who spent three years as the Miami Dolphins' head coach (2012-15), was also the Packers' offensive coordinator from 2007-11, directing a unit that ranked No. 3 in the NFL over that span in points per game (28.3), touchdowns (267), passing touchdowns (170) and total net yards per game (372.8).
Hostler, meanwhile, spent the previous three seasons with the Colts, first as wide receivers coach (2015) and the past two seasons as tight ends coach. In 2017, Jack Doyle was selected to his first Pro Bowl appearances after he logged a career-best 80 receptions, second among all tight ends in the NFL and the second most by a tight end in a single season in franchise history.
In 2015, Hostler led T.Y. Hilton to his second-straight Pro Bowl selection, as he became the third player in team history to post three straight 1,000-yard seasons.
Drayton, meanwhile, entered the NFL coaching ranks with the Colts as their assistant special teams coach in 2016. His first year, punter Pat McAfee lead the league in punting average (49.3) and was third in net punting average (42.7), and the following season, after McAfee retired, undrafted rookie punter Rigoberto Sanchez finished fourth in the league in net punting average (42.6) and was named to the Pro Football Writers Association's NFL All-Rookie Team.
The Colts now have had nine coaches from their 2017 staff formally join another team's staff for 2018. Philbin, Hostler and Drayton were preceded by former offensive assistant/assistant quarterbacks coach Tim Berbenich and running backs coach Jemal Singleton, who are now with the Oakland Raiders; former wide receives coach Sanjay Lal is expected to assume the same position with the Dallas Cowboys, former quarterbacks coach Brian Schottenheimer last week was named the Seattle Seahawks' offensive coordinator, while former special teams coordinator Tom McMahon and defensive backs coach Greg Williams were hired to those same positions by the Denver Broncos two weeks ago.
Former Colts area scout Dave Razzano also has been hired on with the Raiders as their Director of Football Research.
The Colts, meanwhile, are yet to hire a new head coach after their decision to part ways with Chuck Pagano after six seasons. General manager Chris Ballard said after the season that the team's new head coach will have input into the members of his staff in Indy.
