Good news for the Indianapolis Colts as Head Coach Shane Steichen delivers a six-word message confirming…
The city of Indianapolis We were reminded much too often in 2024 that this was Shane Steichen’s first head coaching position.
With an 8-9 record in Year 2, Steichen has led the Colts for two years and is a.500 coach (17-17).
Let’s look at Steichen’s second season as head coach:
Gains
-Some Wide Receiver Growth: To be honest, it was difficult to pinpoint Steichen’s 2024 strengths. He didn’t deliver the same powerful offensive shock he did in 2023. Anthony Richardson, the enormous quarterback project, had multi-layered regression. Under Steichen, there were also a lot of unanswered issues regarding the defensive side of the ball, locker room accountability, etc. We are therefore rushing a little to get “wins.” We haven’t discussed it in a long time, but I do believe that the wide receiver situation is headed in the right way. The star of that was Alec Pierce, who led the NFL in both yards per catch and the percentage of catches for a first down.
-Lastly, Defensive Change: Once more, it’s difficult to see genuine 2024 advantages from Steichen. On the defensive end of the ball, however, we finally witnessed some accountability when Steichen fired Gus Bradley, a coach with whom he had a lengthy relationship. The NFL is involved in this. In no way does Bradley being the “only one to blame” sum up the Colts 2024 season. But it was undoubtedly time for a fresh defensive stance and tone.
-Quarterback Development: This project became the offensive-minded head coach’s top priority after Shane Steichen was hired and Anthony Richardson was selected by the Colts a few months later. Richardson’s progress undoubtedly regressed after a strong first year in this area. Steichen felt compelled to bench the second-year quarterback due to Monday-Saturday preparation problems after Richardson’s accuracy declined and he turned the ball over at a startling rate. That’s not good at all.
-Managing It All: Only two head coaches—Andy Reid-Chiefs and Sean McVay-Rams—are responsible for calling offensive plays for the remaining eight NFL teams this season. One coach who takes on a lot of work is Steichen. And at various times in 2024, that affected him. The Colts were having their greatest midfield drive in a long time when Steichen called up a fourth-quarter trick play with the always unreliable AD Mitchell throwing a pass back to Anthony Richardson in Week 15 against the Broncos, with the season on the line. However, that aspect of his job, along with many of the head coaching responsibilities, was deficient in 2023, when play caller Steichen showed some discernible consistency.
-Messaging: A lot is cured by winning. That would most likely conceal a large portion of press conference audio. However, your remarks have greater impact when you lose and bench your franchise quarterback unexpectedly in the middle of a season when the Colts are playing from a deficit. Steichen’s messaging was subpar on a number of subjects. It lacked openness and was frequently overly robotic and FBI-like. His quarterback was also perplexed as to why he was being benched. Probably receiving too much attention, this was never considered a strength of his as a head coach. However, it still requires work.
