According to CBS Sports’ Cody Benjamin, Indianapolis Colts 2nd-year man Shane Steichen is currently ranked as just his 19th best NFL head coach approaching the 2024 campaign:
19. Shane Steichen (Colts)
Season: 2nd with Colts, 2nd as head coach
Career record: 9-8 | Playoffs: N/A
The former Philadelphia Eagles offensive coordinator was dealt a potentially fatal hand in 2023, with dynamic rookie Anthony Richardson lasting just four games due to injury. Steichen tailored the offense to backup Gardner Minshew and nearly made the playoffs anyway. Now comes the hard part: Restarting the Richardson project and sustaining the peaks of his debut-season play-calling.
Steichen found himself in the backend of the ‘Class B: Accomplished with Questions’ tier among NFL head coaches in this most recent coaching ranking.
Look, I get that the 39-year-old Steichen, who’s younger than Colts veteran backup quarterback Joe Flacco, doesn’t have a ton of body of work or any playoff results to rely upon on his coaching resume—after just one encouraging season as Indy’s head coach.
However, I believe he’s one of the best offensive young minds in football right now and a truly gifted play-caller.
Despite having a backup quarterback for 13 starts, Gardner Minshew, who made his first career Pro Bowl under Steichen’s tutelage and offensive system—and star workhorse Jonathan Taylor limited to just 7 starts, the Colts first-year head coach had a winning record, finishing the 2023 season at 9-8.
Despite being short-handed offensively, the Colts successfully scored 20 or more points in 13 games last season under Steichen’s rookie coaching.
In fact, the Colts were arguably a late failed fourth down pass attempt from coming back against the Houston Texans in the regular season finale, otherwise catapulting them into the playoffs for the first time since 2020—and ultimately then becoming AFC South Champions.
However, they came up just a little short late against the rival Texans. (For what’s worth, Houston head coach DeMeco Ryans came in at #13 as the toast of the AFC South).
What impresses me the most about Steichen though is that he’s called offensive plays for a number of quarterbacks: Philip Rivers, Jalen Hurts, Anthony Richardson, and most recently, Minshew, and he’s been able to tailor his offense to his starting quarterback’s strengths, while mitigating their weaknesses—which is the sign of successful coaching.
Last season was clearly no different regarding Minshew, starting in relief, whose passing style significantly contrasts with the dual-threat and rocket armed Richardson. Instead of trying to fit a square peg through a round hole, Steichen adjusted his system to Minshew accordingly.
I think there’s a lot of average NFL head coaches out there, but I believe Steichen is someone who can give the Colts a competitive advantage on Sundays with his play-calling and ability to scheme players to having big gains, scores, and winning plays offensively.
Give him another year, and I truly believe he’ll ascend these rankings into at least the Top 12 among all league head coaches. If Indy is able to have a surprise deep AFC playoff run, then I think he’s even closer to a Top 10 NFL head coach around next year at this time.