When it comes to coaching, the Indianapolis Colts and Philadelphia Eagles seem to be linked. The current head coach in Indianapolis, Shane Steichen, was the offensive coordinator for the Eagles before getting hired by the Colts. In Philadelphia, the exact situation happened in reverse: Nick Sirianni, the former offensive coordinator for the Colts, was hired to be the head coach for the Eagles.
Sirianni worked under Frank Reich in San Diego, and when Reich was named head coach in Indianapolis, he brought Sirianni with him to work as offensive coordinator. And he was fiercely dedicated to Reich; even after leaving for Philadelphia, he strongly defended Reich even as the Eagles defeated the Colts.
It was already controversial when the Colts chose to let Sirianni go, but seeing the Eagles' success this weekend has made it even more difficult for Indianapolis fans to see what could have been.
The Colts before and after Sirianni
Frank Reich and Nick Sirianni worked incredibly closely together in Indianapolis, and the Colts, in turn, thrived. Chris Ballard, the Colts' much-loathed general manager, had already begun his quarterback carousel, and during Sirianni's time in Indianapolis, there were three different quarterbacks rotating through.
Despite that, Sirianni helped lead the Colts to the playoffs twice and had a fantastic offensive scheme that performed well despite the ever-changing quarterback situation.
Since Sirianni left, the Colts have not been back to the playoffs. Problems have plagued the offense, which the quarterback carousel surely has not helped, but it also could be argued that there has been no one in Indianapolis who has been able to properly develop the team's QBs.
Sirianni and the Eagles
As mentioned, the Colts have not been to the playoffs since Sirianni left. The Eagles, however, have become one of the best teams in the league, having made the playoffs every single year that Sirianni has been there.
And that's not all - they've gone to the Super Bowl twice in four years. There are issues, of course - Sirianni has been criticized for making some controversial calls, and there have been late-season regressions for the Eagles in some years. But overall, he's created a strong team culture that has allowed the Eagles to weather various problems: losing their starting quarterback, losing both their offensive and defensive coordinators the same year, and more.
Meanwhile, in Indianapolis
The Colts have, at absolute best, been mediocre since Sirianni left. But the reality, particularly after the 2024 season, is that the Colts have been in turmoil, and much of it is arguably Steichen's fault. The Colts are widely acknowledged to have a serious culture problem, which Steichen seems blithely unaware of.
Members of the Indianapolis team have openly criticized the Colts to the public, while their young quarterback, Anthony Richardson, is struggling to learn how to thrive in this league because, as Colts alum Pat McAfee pointed out, there is no one there willing or able to teach him.
"So AR had no idea how he's supposed to be a professional because there's no damn professionals in that building. These have been the stories that have been happening over the last few years. You know, and I'm not saying this team under Shane Steichen has been this, but if you remember when Frank Reich was the coach ... people were late to meetings, team meetings, people showing up late to team meetings, people were - people were missing training. You know, obviously there's a story about gambling in the locker room that came out from the Colts. And it was like, why aren't we winning? It's like, oh, the culture is just not very like conducive to being a professional outfit. And then this whole thing happens and it's like, we're all here working hard. It's like, how do you not even, what do you even, what do you mean you're not working hard in this entire thing?"Pat McAfee
Steichen has repeatedly thrown his own players under the bus, seemingly has lost the locker room, and is seemingly clueless about what's going on with his own team. How could the Colts possibly be successful in this kind of situation?
It's clearly difficult to see the Eagles do so well with Sirianni while the Colts are floundering, and fans are naturally going to wonder what could have been. Sure, Sirianni was offered a head coach position and the Colts already had a head coach... but should Ballard have done more to try to keep him? It's the what-if that will haunt Colts fans until this trainwreck turns itself around.