Colts Hire Eagles Offensive Coordinator Shane Steichen As Head Coach

The Indianapolis Colts announced this morning that they hired Shane Steichen, formerly the offensive coordinator for the Philadelphia Eagles, as head coach starting with the 2023-24 NFL season.

Steichen, who led the Eagles’ offense to an appearance at Super Bowl LVII, was in Indianapolis yesterday finalizing the deal. He replaces Frank Reich, who led the Eagles offense to a victory in Super Bowl LII before being hired by the Colts to be head coach the following season.

Reich, whose late tenure with the colts was marred by quarterback instability, was fired on November 7 after the Colts started the season with a 3-5-1 record. Interim Head Coach Jeff Saturday took over for Reich and finished the year 4-12-1.

Reich was replaced in Philadelphia by Mike Groh, who led the Eagles in 2018 and 2019, before being fired by the Eagles in 2020. Groh was not replaced after former Eagles Head Coach Doug Pederson took over running the offense in the 2020-21 season. When Pederson was fired by the Eagles after that season, new Head Coach Nick Sirianni hired Steichen to take over.

Steichen will officially be introduced as the Colts’ new head coach at a press conference today with Colts Owner Jim Irsay and General Manager Chris Ballard. The Colts were not permitted to announce the hire before the end of the season as Steichen had to conclude his obligations with the Eagles.

Steichen was the Eagles’ offensive play caller this season as Sirianni preferred to focus more on overall game planning and game strategy instead of play calling. During his tenure, he guided the offense to a stellar performance through the seasons. He made adjustments when necessary, including improving use of the run game in the 2021-22 season, and coached the Eagles offense in the 2022-23 season to be one of the highest-performing offenses in the league, ranking 3rd league-wide in yards per game in the regular season, generating the most points among any team in the second quarter in the regular season, and putting up 35 points on the Kansas City Chiefs in the team’s third Super Bowl loss in franchise history.

Steichen’s departure is a huge loss for the Eagles, who now have to find a replacement for him. It is also possible that they will have to find a replacement for Defensive Coordinator Jonathan Gannon, who is interviewing with the Arizona Cardinals for the head coaching position there.