1986 Indianapolis Colts season

1986 Indianapolis Colts season
Owner	Robert Irsay
General manager	Jim Irsay
Head coach	Rod Dowhower (fired on December 1, 0-13 record) Ron Meyer (interim, 3-0 record)
Home field	Hoosier Dome
Results
Record	3–13
Division place	5th AFC East
Playoff finish	Did not qualify
Pro Bowlers	3 C Ray Donaldson T Chris Hinton P Rohn Stark
←  1985 Colts seasons 1987  →

The 1986 Indianapolis Colts season was the 34th season for the team in the National Football League (NFL) and third in Indianapolis. The team finished the year with a record of 3 wins and 13 losses, placing last in AFC East division.

The Colts did not win a game until week 14, when they defeated the Atlanta Falcons. ^[1] Prior to that, at least one sportswriter had theorized that the Colts wanted to finish with an 0–16 record, believing that they needed a franchise quarterback; as it turned out, Miami quarterback Vinny Testaverde was the consensus overall top pick in the forthcoming draft ^[2] (although there were fears that he, like John Elway in 1983, would refuse to play for the team if they drafted him). ^[3] The Colts’ record, which included wins in their final two games, ended up not being the worst in the league; the Tampa Bay Buccaneers finished with a 2–14 record and got the first pick (which they would eventually use on Testaverde).

Rod Dowhower entered the season in his second year as head coach, after having replaced Frank Kush in 1985. After the 0–13 start for the team, he was fired and replaced by Ron Meyer, who had himself been fired by the New England Patriots in 1984 and had not coached since. Meyer would lead the Colts to all three of their victories in 1986.

Offseason

Draft

Main article: 1986 NFL Draft

1986 Indianapolis Colts draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
1	4	Jon Hand	Defensive end	Alabama
2	47	Jack Trudeau	Quarterback	Illinois
4	86	Bill Brooks	Wide receiver	Boston University
5	117	Scott Kellar	Nose tackle	Northern Illinois
5	124	Gary Walker	Center	Boston University
7	171	Steve O'Malley	Defensive tackle	Northern Illinois
7	172	Chris White	Placekicker	Illinois
7	190	Tommy Sims	Defensive back	Tennessee
8	198	Trell Hooper	Defensive back	Memphis State
9	228	Bob Brotzki	Tackle	Syracuse
10	266	Peter Anderson	Guard	Georgia
12	309	Steve Wade	Defensive tackle	Vanderbilt
12	326	Isaac Williams	Defensive tackle	Florida State
Made roster    †    Pro Football Hall of Fame     *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

Personnel

Staff

1986 Indianapolis Colts staff

Front office President and Treasurer – Robert Irsay Vice President and General Manager – Jim Irsay Assistant general manager – Bob Terpening Director of player personnel – Jack Bushofsky Director of pro personnel – Clyde Powers Head coaches Head coach – Rod Dowhower/Ron Meyer Assistant head coach – Tom Lovat Offensive coaches Offensive coordinator/Running Backs – Billie Matthews Quarterbacks – John Becker Receivers – Chip Myers Offensive Line – Tom Lovat Assistant Offensive Line – Keith Rowen

Defensive coaches Defensive coordinator – George Hill Defensive Line – John Marshall Linebackers – Rick Venturi Secondary – George Catavolos Special teams coaches Special Teams – Keith Rowen Strength and conditioning Strength and Conditioning – Tom Zupancic

Roster

1986 Indianapolis Colts roster

Quarterbacks (QB)  7 Gary Hogeboom  5 Blair Kiel 10 Jack Trudeau Running backs (RB) 20 Albert Bentley 44 Owen Gill 32 Randy McMillan 34 George Wonsley Wide receivers (WR) 80 Bill Brooks 85 Matt Bouza 88 James Harbour 86 Walter Murray Tight ends (TE) 81 Pat Beach LS 84 Mark Boyer 83 Tim Sherwin

Offensive linemen (OL) 72 Karl Baldischwiler T 74 Bob Brotzki T 71 Kevin Call T 74 Roger Caron G 53 Ray Donaldson C 75 Chris Hinton T 63 Mark Kirchner G 66 Ron Solt G Defensive linemen (DL) 79 Harvey Armstrong DE 68 Willie Broughton NT 90 John Haines DE 78 Jon Hand DE 94 Scott Kellar NT 99 Donnell Thompson DE

Linebackers (LB) 57 Dave Ahrens ILB 50 Duane Bickett OLB 98 Johnie Cooks OLB 92 Jeff Leiding OLB 59 Orlando Lowry OLB 93 Cliff Odom ILB 58 Glen Redd ILB Defensive backs (DB) 40 Pat Ballage SS 31 Leonard Coleman CB 38 Eugene Daniel CB 23 Kenny Daniel CB/FS 25 Nesby Glasgow SS 29 Dwight Hicks FS 21 John Holt CB 35 Tate Randle FS Special teams  4 Dean Biasucci K  3 Rohn Stark P

Reserve 62 Peter Anderson G (IR) 47 Dextor Clinkscale S (IR) 56 Lamonte Hunley LB (IR) 55 Barry Krauss LB (IR) 36 Dameon Reilly WR (IR) 88 Robbie Martin WR (IR) 45 Tommy Sims S (IR) 64 Ben Utt G (IR) 60 Gary Walker C (IR) Rookies in italics

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance
1	September 7	at New England Patriots	L 3–33	0–1	Sullivan Stadium	55,208
2	September 14	at Miami Dolphins	L 10–30	0–2	Miami Orange Bowl	51,848
3	September 21	Los Angeles Rams	L 7–24	0–3	Hoosier Dome	59,012
4	September 28	New York Jets	L 7–26	0–4	Hoosier Dome	56,075
5	October 5	at San Francisco 49ers	L 14–35	0–5	Candlestick Park	57,252
6	October 12	New Orleans Saints	L 14–17	0–6	Hoosier Dome	53,512
7	October 19	at Buffalo Bills	L 13–24	0–7	Rich Stadium	50,050
8	October 26	Miami Dolphins	L 13–17	0–8	Hoosier Dome	58,350
9	November 2	Cleveland Browns	L 9–24	0–9	Hoosier Dome	57,962
10	November 9	New England Patriots	L 21–30	0–10	Hoosier Dome	56,890
11	November 16	at New York Jets	L 16–31	0–11	Giants Stadium	65,149
12	November 23	at Houston Oilers	L 17–31	0–12	Astrodome	31,792
13	November 30	San Diego Chargers	L 3–17	0–13	Hoosier Dome	47,950
14	December 7	at Atlanta Falcons	W 28–23	1–13	Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium	30,397
15	December 14	Buffalo Bills	W 24–14	2–13	Hoosier Dome	52,783
16	December 21	at Los Angeles Raiders	W 30–24	3–13	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum	41,349
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Standings

AFC East
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
New England Patriots (3)	11	5	0	.688	7–1	8–4	412	307	W1
New York Jets (4)	10	6	0	.625	6–2	8–4	364	386	L5
Miami Dolphins	8	8	0	.500	5–3	6–6	430	405	L1
Buffalo Bills	4	12	0	.250	1–7	3–11	287	348	L3
Indianapolis Colts	3	13	0	.188	1–7	2–10	229	400	W3

References

1. Sheeley, Glenn; ‘Rope-a-dope: Falcon blunders give Indianapolis first victory’; Atlanta Constitution ; December 8, 1986, p. D1
2. Vierria, Dan; ‘Colts May Need a Win, but They Need Vinnie Even More’; Sacramento Bee , November 16, 1986, p. C4
3. Kaufman, Ira; ‘Will Testaverde, like Elway, Spurn Colts’; Seattle Times , November 23, 1986, p. C5

See also

• History of the Indianapolis Colts
• List of Indianapolis Colts seasons
• Colts–Patriots rivalry