Philadelphia Eagles offensive coordinator Shane Steichen has a task ahead of himself with his team set to take on the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LVII Sunday afternoon.
Regardless of what happens in that game, the UNLV grad will have an even tougher task of turning around the Indianapolis Colts.
According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Indianapolis has notified other head coach candidates that they are no longer in the running for the full-time job to replace Frank Reich. The very same report indicates that Indianapolis has “targeted” Steichen to be their next head coach.
That’s pretty much an official declaration that he is headed to the Colts. A move can’t be made official until after Sunday’s Super Bowl.
The 37-year-old Shane Steichen has long been seen as a top head coach candidate this cycle. For good reason. He’s helped turn Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts into an elite player after major questions about the Oklahoma product’s ability to play in the NFL.
Having joined the Eagles as their offensive coordinator from the Los Angeles Chargers back in 2021, Steichen led the league’s third-best scoring attack this past season (28.1 points per game). In his first season with the Eagles, they averaged a solid 26.1 points per game.
Prior to arriving in Philadelphia, Steichen spent a majority of his time with the Chargers’ organization. That span started as a defensive assistant back in 2011.
After a one-year stint as the Cleveland Browns’ offensive quality control coach, the Southern California native returned to his roots with the Chargers in 2014.
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He was ultimately promoted to interim offensive coordinator in 2019 before taking over in that role on a full-time basis the following season. Gaining respect for his ability to work with young quarterbacks, Shane Steichen turned Justin Herbert into the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year that season.
As for the Colts, it had been noted that interim head coach Jeff Saturday was a favorite to land the full-time gig. Given his lack of coaching experience before taking over for Reich during the 2022 season, that didn’t seem to make much sense. Instead, Indianapolis turns to an up-and-coming young coach in hopes of overcoming a disastrous 4-12-1 season.