He’s soft-spoken, straight to the point, and ready to put the past in the rearview mirror.
Indianapolis Colts head coach Shane Steichen is focused on building chemistry and forging strong relationships within the Colts organization, which is made up of several new faces heading into the 2023-24 season.
“A lot of these guys, first time seeing them in-person,” Steichen told reporters at Wednesday’s press conference, “there are a few guys over the last couple of weeks that have popped in and a lot of guys have just come back. Just getting to know a lot of these guys and installing the system.”
That system is Steichen’s four pillars, which he outlined in his introductory press conference in February: character, preparation, consistency, and relentlessness. Steichen said in that presser that every successful coach he’s ever worked with has been obsessed with their craft, and that’s how he wants to conduct business in the office and on the sidelines.
That includes leaving the 2022-23 season in the past.
“Let’s just get better every single day. Let’s do whatever we can, in our power as players and coaches, to be better than we were yesterday. It’s all about this year. Whatever happened in the past, happened in the past. We’re focused on the present now,” Steichen said Wednesday.
The Colts had a tough season last year, finishing 4-12-1. Injuries plagued most of the blue and white’s star players, and Indianapolis went through not one but two head coaches. Frank Reich was fired in November of 2022, which was then followed by the introduction of Jeff Saturday as interim head coach. Saturday managed to pick up just one win as a head coach before losing the rest of the season’s games.
As for the future of the organization and the quarterback position, Steichen says there’s still a ways to go before the NFL Draft gets here.
“We’re still going through that process, you know we’re 15 days away from the draft and still working through all of those things.”
The NFL Draft begins Thursday, April 27th. The Colts have the fourth overall pick.