Searching for players to match the schemes on both sides of the ball is vital, but the Indianapolis Colts have placed an equal emphasis on building the right locker room culture.
Chemistry off the field goes a long way with a team’s success. When everyone is fighting for a singular goal of winning, nothing else seems to matter. The Colts have been working tirelessly to build that type of culture.
Fresh off his All-Pro rookie season, linebacker Darius Leonard feels Indy has achieved that accomplishment of constructing a selfless culture.
“We don’t have to worry about too many outsiders coming in. We always talk about the locker room and our locker room is special because we don’t have egos in there,” Leonard told reporters Monday. “Everybody is brothers, we can talk to them. Especially defensively, when you step on the field at practice you know you are probably going to die nine times out of 10 so when everybody (is) coming back knowing what to expect, it’s kind of fun.”
General manager Chris Ballard has placed a high value on creating a locker room environment that players want to return to. He has often discussed the desire of getting to a point in which they are re-signing their own players in free agency rather than splurging on outside players and hoping they fit in the locker room.
Building that type of continuity isn’t easy. It can take years to do so, but the Colts appear to be on their way. They’ve done so without any distracting egos getting in the way of their goal.
A target will be painted on their back for the 2019 season after making waves last year. Leonard feels they have the right locker room mindset to handle the increased expectations for the upcoming campaign.
