Stampede Blue
As a glass half full guy, that means there’s clear room for improvement for the Colts third-year head coach.
According to CBS Sports’ Cody Benjamin, Indianapolis Colts head coach Shane Steichen is currently in the bottom third of NFL head coaches before the 2025 season, coming in at just 22nd overall:
22. Shane Steichen (Colts)
2024 Rank: 19
Season: 3rd with Colts, 3rd as coach
Career record: 17-17 | Playoffs: N/A
Is he to be blamed or credited for cycling through quarterbacks like plenty of his Colts predecessors? Steichen can call an offense, as he once proved beautifully with the Eagles, but leaning upon Anthony Richardson and Daniel Jones spells trouble.
For what it’s worth, Steichen slid three spots from CBS Sports’ ranking last offseason.
Entering his third NFL season as Colts head coach, the 40-year-old head coach has compiled exactly a .500 career coaching record through his first two seasons in Indianapolis at 17-17. He has failed to make the playoffs both seasons.
Steichen looked like a rookie phenom his debut head coaching year in 2023, seemingly calling all the right plays and almost narrowly leading the Colts to a surprise playoff berth—despite opening day starter Anthony Richardson missing 13 games collectively.
His seemingly impressive ability to coach all kinds of quarterbacks, no matter their playing style, really showed, as under his tutelage, former Colts backup Gardner Minshew earned his first career Pro Bowl nod starting in extended relief of Richardson that season.
However, Steichen seemingly regressed a bit during his 2nd year for the Colts a season later.
Not only did Steichen surprisingly fail to initially deploy the offensive play-calling that best utilized his young dual-threat quarterback’s skill-set in 2024, but he seemed to struggle at times handling the accountability of the players in his locker room—and perhaps even worse, dealing publicly with those same issues regarding members of the the media.
That being said, Steichen still remains a gifted young offensive mind and playcaller in my eyes, but there are both internal clubhouse matters and public facing items that he needs to improve upon entering his third season as Colts head coach. A lot of times it’s those things like maintaining leadership, accountability, and how to properly handle the media that separate great coordinators from being potentially great head coaches.
It’s also fair to say that while Steichen assuredly played a role in the Colts selecting Richardson with the 4th overall pick back in the 2023 NFL Draft, he can’t be blamed for the 3rd-year quarterback’s so far lack of consistent availability as the starter—unless you count Steichen’s reportedly mandated two-game benching last year.
It’s hard to make the playoffs in the NFL when you don’t have a consistent starting quarterback—even for a talented offensive head coach like Steichen. It’s shown so far.
