Insider Gives Details on How Shane Steichen Can Succeed

The Indianapolis Colts landed one of the best head coaching candidates on the market this offseason when they locked in Shane Steichen. Steichen rose to fame the past year in Philadelphia, as he coached the Eagles to a top three overall offense and helped put quarterback Jalen Hurts in the MVP conversation.

Steichen is even still receiving praise from those who know him from Philadelphia. I spoke with analyst Fran Duffy of Eagles.com at the NFL Combine about the Colts' newest head coach. Duffy is one of the top analysts in the industry and is renowned for his ability to dissect film (alongside both coaches and players alike).

Duffy had this to say about the hiring of Shane Steichen when we spoke:

He's awesome. You guys are going to love Shane (Steichen). He is an extremely personable guy that is known for what he can do as a playcaller. He put the Eagles in a position to be one of the best offenses in football the past couple of years in a lot of different ways. That speaks to his strengths as a coach, and I think we will see that come to the forefront in Indy.

.@EaglesXOs and Coach Steichen analyze the newest additions to the offense in the Film Room, presented by @Wawa.#FlyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/D3QQLnrzvj
— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) June 16, 2022

The biggest question on everyone's mind right now is the quarterback position. Which style of quarterback best fits Shane Steichen's preferences and is there a guy in this upcoming draft that can be that guy?

Duffy didn't dive into any specific names, but he did highlight how Steichen can maximize just about any quarterback that the Colts select:

Rather than looking at this offense and thinking about what these guys need to have, it is more looking at what these guys do have and how Shane (Steichen) is going to lean into that. You look at where he has been, both in Philadelphia and before that, and what him and his staff has been able to do for a lot of different quarterbacks. It's really a credit to him and those staffs.

He's never going to go square peg, round hole; he's going to figure out what that quarterback does well and really lean into those strengths and mitigate those weaknesses. Overall though, you want to make sure you limit the turnovers, protect the football, and create explosive plays.

Those explosive plays can come in a lot of different ways. Coming up in the Norv Turner tree, a lot of that was vertical throws but working with Nick Sirianni and this staff led to more yards after catch in 2021 (then this year went back to the vertical throws). He is a great at just playing into your personnel and what your strengths and weaknesses are.

The final aspect that Fran Duffy dove into with me was the mobile quarterback aspect. Shane Steichen is currently an NFL head coach due to his work with Jalen Hurts, an MVP-candidate mobile passer.

I asked Duffy if it is a prerequisite for Steichen's system to be a mobile quarterback:

I don't think you necessarily need it, but I think it is obviously a huge plus. Whether it is the quarterback being the focal point of the run game or just having the ability to move the pocket, it is a big plus. It puts a lot of stress on a defense and it hurts defense when they know a passer is not always going to be in this six by six box in the pocket.

When you have the ability to move the pocket, that requisite athleticism is something that is needed in today's game.

Fran Duffy is one of the best minds in this business and he is all-in on Shane Steichen's potential as a head coach. If you needed anymore confirmation that the Colts got it right in this head coaching cycle, look no further than the things he said above.

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— Zach Hicks (@ZachHicks2) February 14, 2023

Follow Zach on Twitter @ZachHicks2.

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