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Stephen Holder, ESPN
INDIANAPOLIS — Everyone associated with the Indianapolis Colts has their own story of their first meeting with new head coach Shane Steichen.
Those initial interactions came at different moments, in different places and amid different situations.
And yet, so many of the first encounters sound similar.
“I could just feel his intensity,” defensive tackle DeForest Buckner said.
“All you see is the fire in his eyes,” assistant linebackers coach Cato June said.
“I was like, man, ‘I’m ready to lace ’em up right now,'” cornerback Kenny Moore II recalled.
Steichen, 38, is among the NFL’s youngest head coaches and likely remains an unfamiliar name and face to many. He often walks around unrecognized in Indianapolis despite being named to the job in February. But Steichen’s persona and approach have already been well established within the walls of the Colts’ training facility on the west side of Indianapolis.
What has been revealed is a belief that everything must be earned, a focus on the smallest detail and a command of the room.
“I’ve talked to a lot of former head coaches around the league and asked them for any advice,” Steichen said. “And they’ve all said, ‘Be you.’ That’s the best piece of advice: Be who you are as a person. Show who you are. If you’re a passionate guy, be a passionate guy.
“So, I try to live by that every day.”
The Colts are banking heavily on Steichen’s ability to turn things around after he served the past two seasons as the offensive coordinator for the Philadelphia Eagles and the year before that for the Los Angeles Chargers. Only time will tell what he’ll be able to do with a team that finished last season 4-12-1, but he has already managed to scale one big obstacle for new coaches: He has gotten legit buy-in from his players.
He has already had to steer his team through an explosive controversy as All-Pro running back Jonathan Taylor has requested a trade because of his contract situation. Steichen has resisted the urge to comment on Taylor’s situation, referring all questions to general manager Chris Ballard, who said the situation “sucks” for the team.
That’s not exactly an optimal runway into his first season as an NFL head coach, but Steichen has been leaning on his ability to focus on the task at hand.
“Shane gets it,” Moore said. “And just to have a coach like that, I definitely want to put it all on the line for him.”
There is perhaps nothing players look forward to less after toiling through a long and hot practice than meetings.
Important as the messages being delivered might be, it is human nature for minds to wander and for focus to fluctuate. And this is why Steichen’s team meetings are unlike those of most teams.
Flash back to a recent team meeting during training camp. The same matchups you might see on a given day on the field — offensive line versus defensive line — were recreated in the meeting room.
On one side was Buckner and nose tackle Grover Stewart. Across from them were guard Quenton Nelson and center Ryan Kelly. The quartet has an impressive 10 Pro Bowl selections between them, which might mean something if this competition had anything to do with football.
“It’s a shooting game,” Buckner explained.
Yes, there’s a basketball hoop in the Colts’ team meeting room, a concept that dates back to Nick Sirianni’s days as offensive coordinator in Indianapolis. But Steichen, who worked under Sirianni the past two seasons in Philadelphia, has taken the concept a bit further.
Each player gets three attempts at a 3-point shot. The team with more makes in its six attempts wins.
“They missed all six shots between them,” Buckner said of his offensive teammates. “And then Grove just stepped up there, made the first shot and we won.”
The defensive players in the room launched into celebration, which only further demonstrates that Steichen’s plan worked.
“Meetings are, well, you need some juice sometimes,” Buckner said. “So, we started the day off competing [in practice] and then we ended the day competing in the meeting. It’s just like ingrained. He’s ingrained it in us.”
But make no mistake: Meetings are serious business (no phones allowed). And Steichen is demanding of his players and coaches. They’re expected to know their stuff, on demand.
This is another way Steichen displays who he is, by establishing a high bar for what’s expected of his players and staff.
“Something he’s done since Day 1 is saying there is a standard here,” Kelly said. “As a professional athlete, if you don’t uphold that, there will be fines [or] a reprimand for that. And I think it’s how you hold everybody accountable. It doesn’t matter if you’re Year 1 or Year 12.”
This is a marked shift from the recent past when some in the organization took issue with former coach Frank Reich’s approach to discipline. Reich, who was fired midway through the 2022 season, did not always take a hard line, but the approach worked for him — until it didn’t. It’s not a surprise the Colts went in a different direction to try to address whatever concerns existed in this area.
“I think every team needs it,” Kelly said. “We have a very young team as well. I think if you set that precedent from the get-go, it’s a reminder for the older guys.”
Reggie Wayne doesn’t have many regrets from his illustrious 14-year playing career. The former Colts great accumulated 1,070 receptions and 14,345 receiving yards. But he did fumble a few too many times for his liking.
And that’s why Steichen’s ever-present focus on ball security strikes a chord with Wayne, now in his second season as the Colts’ wide receivers coach. The emphasis is more heightened than Wayne can remember from his playing days, and that’s to the benefit of current Colts players, he said.
“We talk about ball security every single day,” Wayne said. “Every. Single. Day. And I say to myself like, ‘Damn, I hope we don’t fumble not one time.’ We talk about that all the time. And at the end of the day, the more and more you watch film, you see guys … focus on getting the ball high and tight and keeping the ball on the outside arm. So, you’re looking and you start [thinking], ‘All right, I guess it’s sinking in.'”
It has given Wayne something to think about in relation to his own career.
“It’s like, ‘Damn, I wish I would’ve had that attention to detail as far as ball security when I played,'” he said. “I probably wouldn’t have fumbled seven times.”
Wayne actually fumbled 10 times, but his point is still well taken.
Steichen’s approach can only help rookie quarterback Anthony Richardson, the No. 4 overall pick Indianapolis hopes can get the franchise off its yearslong ride on the quarterback carousel. Steichen’s work with another dual-threat quarterback — Jalen Hurts — in Philadelphia, gives the Colts confidence.
Steichen’s arrival in Indianapolis comes after a dozen previous NFL seasons during which his identity was established. The former UNLV quarterback has had stints with the Chargers, Browns, Chargers (again) and Eagles before finding his latest opportunity in Indianapolis. He has gained a lot of knowledge along the way, all of it informing the way he’s now leading the Colts.
Most recently, Sirianni’s influence left a big impression.
“He was so passionate about, like, receiver play and every little thing,” Steichen said. “He’d say, ‘You cannot line up 2 inches wider because that 2 inches might be the difference.’ So, a lot of that came from him and other coaches along the way, like [former Chargers coach] Norv Turner.”
Now, it’s Steichen’s approach that is rubbing off on others.
“When he’s locked in, it’s like, ‘I have to be on the details because I know that he’s going to be,'” June said. “I got to be a step ahead because I don’t want him to ask me a question and be like, ‘Uh, uh, let me see.’ Like, you need to know. And he wants you to know it now. Like, fast.”
Steichen’s message is getting through.
“When everything you do is competing, each and every day, at the highest level that you can possibly go,” Buckner said, “then Sundays are easy.”