INDIANAPOLIS -- Indianapolis Colts defensive tackle DeForest Buckner was not content to merely accept other people's word when it came to forming an opinion of new defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo.
So, shortly after the former Cincinnati Bengals coordinator joined the Colts in January, Buckner started digging. And when the Colts returned to Indianapolis for the start of offseason workouts in recent weeks, much of Buckner's findings were confirmed.
"When I was doing my research on him, I saw that a lot of the players back in Cincy used to call him the 'Mad Scientist'," Buckner said. "And I found out why when I got the first install. It's been some good stuff."
It's still a full four months before the Colts kick off the 2025 season, but Anarumo's impact is already being felt throughout Colts headquarters.
He is changing the way the Colts think about defense in big and small ways. One example: The way he plans to deploy free agent signee Charvarius Ward to, at times, shadow opponents' top wideouts regardless of where they line up in the offensive formation. That's something not seen in Indianapolis since the late Vontae Davis did it, periodically, in the mid-2010s.
"He's going to let me press, he's going to let me do my thing," said Ward, a second-team All-Pro selection in 2023. "Be aggressive and just be me -- be that guy that they paid me to be."
Meanwhile, linebacker Zaire Franklin -- like Buckner -- was not intimately familiar with Anarumo before he was hired. But as he has spent time conversing with Anarumo and his assistants in recent weeks, the experience has been eye-opening.
"The more [time] I've had to obviously sit and talk with Lou ... I just see the different ways they're able to attack offenses, put themselves in positions to succeed and take away what the offense does best," Franklin said. "Just extremely excited to learn from a new coordinator."
There might even be some enlightenment for the Colts' returning coaches, too. It was coach Shane Steichen's past struggles as an offensive playcaller against Anarumo that, in part, informed his decision to hire the veteran coordinator as a replacement for Gus Bradley.
"He brought up about four coordinators and said, 'Look, these guys give me issues every time we play them,'" general manager Chris Ballard said. "And Lou was one of them."
The hope is the Colts defense can be similarly confounding for upcoming opponents.
The seeds for that are being planted now, as Anarumo goes about plotting his schematic attack with his new players. He specifically prioritized the secondary this offseason as an area where upgrades were needed, and those additions will play a key role in Anarumo's strategy.
Ward, former Minnesota Vikings safety Camryn Bynum and perhaps even third-round pick Justin Walley will be heavily involved, along with do-everything slot cornerback Kenny Moore II.
One example of Anarumo making a shift from what has historically been seen from the Colts defense: He will make greater use of lineups that use extra defensive backs, like dime packages (six defensive backs).
"If the offense puts out a certain personnel group, you want to be able to match it," Anarumo said. "Especially on third down. You want to try to get cover guys covering receivers and, nowadays, these tight ends ...
"The days, to me, of putting linebackers on tight ends is not ideal for the defense [anymore]. So, you always want to get a bigger, longer athlete that maybe can run a little bit of DB mindset. More DBs out there in pure passing situations, I think, is something that we've always tried to do and will continue to do."
Fortunately for Anarumo, he'll have a nice collection of talent with which to work. As Cincinnati's defensive personnel losses mounted in recent years, Anarumo's results suffered. With players such as defensive back Jessie Bates III departing the past two years, it complicated Anarumo's ability to use his complex tactics with younger players in the lineup. Among those complexities is his tendency to vary his defensive attack based on a given week's opponent.
But with the experienced personnel he'll have in Indianapolis, Anarumo has greater flexibility.
"They've seen the fastballs, they've seen the curveballs, and it's not like they're going to be starstruck when they get out there," Anarumo said of his veterans.
Said Bynum: "I think it'll be a really open playbook for Lou and what he does in his defense."
In the months to come, the Colts will find out whether allowing the "Mad Scientist" to go deeper into his playbook brings the results they've been looking for.