When the Indianapolis Colts were humming early in the 2025 season, head coach Shane Steichen wasn't afraid to take a chance when his team had the ball on fourth down. If Indy was close to making a first, one could assume Steichen would take a gamble. Many times, he was right.
The decisions to go for a first on fourth were not made alone, though. Sure, there is a bit of a feel for the game, but analytics play a big part. The head coach will certainly have someone in his ear advising him what the statistics say to do. The person in Steichen's ear was Charlie Gelman.
Gelman won't be with Indianapolis in 2026, though. He has accepted the same role with the Baltimore Ravens and their new head coach, Jesse Minter. The former Indy assistant will take over the Game Manager Coordinator role and be a defensive assistant. And the job is no joke, and could lead to an even more important future.
Indianapolis Colts lose a Shane Steichen assistant to the Baltimore Ravens
The last person to hold Gelman's new roles with the Ravens was Daniel Stern, and Stern left this offseason to become an associate head coach with the Cleveland Browns. Gelman had worked with the Colts for three seasons, but is simply returning to the team that gave him his first chance in the NFL. He began as a scouting analytics intern with the Ravens in 2019.
The move of the assistant coach might not seem to matter much, but one can be sure that no NFL team worth its salt does anything likely. If an assistant or coach is getting a chance elsewhere, it is because the team he is going to believes he or she adds value.
Gelman certainly did with the Indianapolis Colts. Besides advising Shane Steichen when to throw the red flag to dispute a call, his input on whether to go for a fourth down or not was instrumental to the Indy's first-half success. The Colts went for fourth downs 27 times (only 18th in the league), but made first downs 66.7 percent of the time (fifth-best).
Clearly, a decision is as important to go for a fourth or not. When Gelman helped Indy decide to take a chance, most of the time he and the team were correct. Shane Steichen's team will need to continue to take the same kinds of chances in 2026 to have any hope of making the playoffs. The Indianapolis Colts just won't have Charlie Gelman around to help at key points in a game.