There’s a case to be made for Tony Sparano Jr. as the Indianapolis Colts’ 2023 MVP.
The first-year offensive-line coach re-instilled belief in his charges and got the unit as a whole to play much closer to its peaks in 2020 and 2021 than the valley that was a disastrous 2022 campaign.
The Colts’ 10th-place rankings in scoring offense and rushing yards despite playing a plethora of backups throughout the season suggest the impact the offensive line produced.
And any brief conversation with the players themselves reveals the depth of Sparano’s influence on those results.
“Tony — you’re not going to find a guy in here who is not going to run through a wall for that guy because he believes in us as players,” center Ryan Kelly said.