Scottenheimer hired as Colts QB coach

Brian Schottenheimer spent less than one year as Georgia's offensive coordinator before returning to the NFL.
Brian Schottenheimer spent less than one year as Georgia's offensive coordinator before returning to the NFL.

Former Georgia offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer was named Monday the new quarterbacks coach of the Indianapolis Colts.

In his one year in Athens, Schottenheimer guided an offense that averaged 26.5 points in the 12 regular-season games, which ranked 84th nationally and ninth in the Southeastern Conference. That followed a 2014 offense that set a program record with 41.3 points per game.

Following the firing of Mark Richt as Georgia's head coach and the hiring of Kirby Smart as his successor, Georgia announced Dec. 12 that Smart had hired Pittsburgh's Jim Chaney as his offensive coordinator. Two days after the Chaney hire, Georgia announced that Schottenheimer would not be assisting the Bulldogs in the TaxSlayer Bowl against Penn State.

Georgia was scheduled to owe Schottenheimer $1.9 million to buy out the final two years of his contract but now will pay significantly less than that. Schottenheimer will be working under Colts offensive coordinator Rob Chudzinski, with whom he served as San Diego Chargers offensive assistants in 2005.

Schottenheimer was quarterbacks coach of the Chargers but left to become offensive coordinator of the New York Jets, a job he held for six seasons. He then became offensive coordinator of the St. Louis Rams for three seasons before accepting Richt's offer to coach in college for the first time since 2000, when he was the tight ends coach at Southern California.

With the Colts, Schottenheimer will be working with Andrew Luck, the top overall pick in the 2012 NFL draft who guided Indianapolis to three straight 11-5 records before missing half of this past season with a lacerated kidney.

Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.

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