Indianapolis Colts head coach Shane Steichen likely deserves better than what he has gotten in his first two years with the team. He hasn't had the final say over the roster moves. General manager Chris Ballard has that. Therefore, Steichen has to work with what he is given.
The Colts overall are certainly not a bad team. They just happen to be extremely iffy (if not outright bad) at the most important position in sports. The duo of Anthony Richardson and Daniel Jones could doom the excellence that the rest of the team can supply.
Should Steichen be blamed for Richardson's poor play over two years? Plus, Richardson digressed in 2024 compared to his 2023 rookie season. Surely, a great offensive-minded head coach can get the best out of the first-round choice, but Steichen hasn't been able to.
NFL analyst believes Colts head coach Shane Steichen might not last the upcoming season
For that reason, NFL analyst Lou Scataglia of NFL Spin Zone has the Indy head coach among three head coaches who could be let go during the 2025 season. The other two are Brian Daboll of the New York Giants (more on that in just a second) and Mike McDaniel of the Miami Dolphins.
Of Steichen, Scataglia writes, "It's not really Shane Steichen's fault that the Indianapolis Colts have had horrific QB play for years. It feels like 2025 is going to be more of the same, but Steichen might be the one who gets scapegoated...We could see the bottom fall out of this franchise at some point in 2025. Somehow, they have hung around playoff contention over the last two seasons."
That last part is important. Did Indy hang around the playoff picture because of Steichen's leadership, but despite the terrible quarterback play? If so, that says quite a lot about the Colts' head coach. With a good quarterback, he might form Indianapolis into a perennial playoff contender. But that good quarterback play is unlikely to happen this coming season.
Richardson only played in four games in 2023, and he had just one interception in 84 pass attempts. While far from perfect, he didn't imply that he would go from mediocre to absolutely rubbish. Yet, in 2024, he completed only 47.7 percent of his 264 passes, and he had 12 interceptions. That's terrible.
This offseason, Richardson has missed time with yet another injury, and Daniel Jones was brought in to compete for the QB1 spot. The issue with Jones is that he played for the Giants in his previous six seasons, and he could be the reason that Daboll is also on Scataglia's list.
Jones is a first-round bust so far, just as Richardson is trending toward. The Indianapolis Colts arguably have the worst quarterback room in the NFL. Unfortunately, Shane Steichen might get blamed for that if Indy doesn't make the playoffs. If the team gets off to a poor start, Steichen could be fired midseason.