Indy star article OC

[JAFF]

Here we go

https://www.indystar.com/story/sport...r/69905812007/

Shane Steichen has signed his contract, finished his introductory press conference and is on to the critical steps in his first job as a head coach with the Colts.

That includes hiring an offensive coordinator.

It'll be one of the most important moves Steichen makes before the franchise likely selects a quarterback in the top 10 of this year's draft. Though Steichen will call the plays, this hire will lead the offensive meetings and develop game plans to accentuate the quarterback and maximize the offensive personnel. When it works, you can end up with Nick Sirianni, who rode that success with the Colts from 2018-2020 to the Eagles head coaching job.


It's not the easiest situation to make this hire after the Super Bowl, especially for a first-time head coach who isn't offering a chance to call plays. But here are five names to keep in mind as the Colts begin this process:

Kevin Patullo was an offensive assistant for the Indianapolis Colts from 2018-2020 before he followed Nick Sirianni to the Philadelphia Eagles.
Kevin Patullo, Eagles passing game coordinator

The Colts hired a head coach from an Eagles team that just went 14-3 and reached the Super Bowl, so it'd make sense to keep pulling from that system.

Kevin Patullo was Philadelphia's passing game coordinator the past two seasons after serving as the Colts wide receivers coach from 2018-2019 and passing game specialist in 2020, so he could arrive in Indianapolis with some familiarity with the personnel and front office. The Colts have missed Sirianni's ability to game plan specific to the wide receivers since he left, and that's an added specialty based on Patullo's background -- one the Eagles kept fueling with resources, from Devonta Smith to A.J. Brown, in order to elevate Jalen Hurts' game.


The fit here is very natural, especially if the Colts draft a quarterback who can run the concepts that allowed Hurts to ascend from a second-round pick to MVP runner-up. The competition could be strong, though, as Patullo could be a candidate for Jonathan Gannon's new staff in Arizona or decide to keep developing under Sirianni.


Pep Hamilton, former Texans offensive coordinator

Steichen's connections to currently available options don't create a long list, but one of them worth considering is a former Colts offensive coordinator. Pep Hamilton worked with Steichen on the Chargers just in 2020, but their success is hard to overlook. With Steichen as offensive coordinator and Hamilton as quarterbacks coach, Justin Herbert won Offensive Rookie of the Year with 31 touchdowns, 10 interceptions and a 98.3 quarterback rating, still the highest of his career.


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Hamilton brings five years of experience in this role, including the past two in Houston and three in Indianapolis with Andrew Luck. Luck led the NFL with 40 touchdown passes in 2014 as the Colts made a run to the AFC Championship Game. Luck hit rock bottom the next season and cost Hamilton his job, but the Colts are investing in the offensive line now. However, they have a long way to go toward fixing it.

Hamilton could potentially serve as an assistant head coach, a role he's held with the Browns and at Michigan.


If Steichen wants more experience, he could hire his former Chargers boss. Anthony Lynn went 33-31 as the Chargers coach with Steichen on his staff from 2017-2020, including Herbert's run to Offensive Rookie of the Year.

Lynn has not had a long run as an offensive coordinator, spending just one year in Buffalo in 2016 and one in Detroit in 2020. The Bills run earned him a promotion to the Chargers job and the Lions one got him fired. But the job would be different in Indianapolis, where he'd be helping an offense without calling the plays.


A former seven-year NFL running back, Lynn's specialty has long been in the backfield, with 15 years as a position coach in that room. This year, he helped the 49ers evolve after a midseason trade for Christian McCaffrey in order to return to the NFC Championship Game. Jonathan Taylor needs to take a sizable jump in the passing game, and Lynn could be a good fit to get him there. This could create a good balance with Steichen, whose credentials are largely in the passing game and could use the assistance of a former head coach.

Greg Roman has been an offensive coordinator for three different NFL teams, including the past four seasons with the Baltimore Ravens.
Greg Roman, former Ravens offensive coordinator

Good coaches spend offseason time watching other units around the league that they admire, and it's safe to assume Steichen spent some time watching the Ravens' offense with Lamar Jackson before building his own multi-faceted ground game with the Eagles. Last season, the Eagles and Ravens finished No. 1 and 2, respectively, in rushing offense by Football Outsiders' DVOA metric.

Roman, 50, was fired this past offseason as the Ravens looked to evolve their passing game after it has stagnated the past couple of seasons. That area has not been Roman's specialty, as he rose from an offensive line and tight ends assistant to offensive coordinator roles where he's developed some of the most complex blocking schemes in the game. At its peak, those offensive systems have allowed Colin Kaepernick to lead the 49ers to the Super Bowl and Jackson to win NFL MVP. It's also allowed tight ends to thrive, as showcased by Mark Andrews averaging 940 yards and eight touchdowns a season since 2019.


The Colts have a young tight end room and must rewire their entire blocking approach after it sunk their season last year. With a healthy Jonathan Taylor, Roman could help return the ground game to the heights it saw before last season, creating a best friend for a rookie quarterback. He's a strong-minded coach with 10 years of experience running offenses, so finding chemistry with Steichen would be a must, but the two could complement each other's strengths and weaknesses well.


This one's a bit more random but is worth considering.

Jim Bob Cooter started his pro career as an offensive assistant for the Colts from 2009-2011, the final three years with Peyton Manning. Manning has been a fan of his, and they reunited for a year on the Broncos staff in 2013, before Cooter left to become Matthew Stafford's quarterbacks coach in Detroit.

To this date, no coach has gotten the efficiency out of Stafford that Cooter did as offensive coordinator during the 2016-2017 seasons, when his position coach was Brian Callahan, who was a finalist for the Colts' job this year. He got back to developing quarterbacks last year with the Jaguars as the passing game coordinator for Trevor Lawrence, who made immense strides from his rookie season to finish with 25 touchdowns, eight interceptions, a 95.2 quarterback rating and a 27-point comeback to win a playoff game.


Cooter's biggest strength is in the protection game, limiting hits on the quarterback through personnel, audibles and play designs. That's an essential part of the game for a rookie quarterback transitioning from talented college offenses the way Bryce Young or C.J. Stroud would be.

Steichen and Cooter overlapped for a year in Philadelphia, when Cooter was an offensive consultant. He could be itching to be back in a coordinator role, even if it isn't to call plays.

[Puck]

Bring back Pep!!!!

[Dam8610]

I don't like that Steichen is calling his own plays. Leave the playcalls to your OC and focus on coaching the whole team, which is the job you signed up for. This is one of the reasons I prefer defensive oriented head coaches, I've never heard of a former DC turned HC calling his own plays, only former OCs seem to do this.

[MeSayDayo]

After Reich failing here, I want to agree with you on this. I do.

But Steichen was promoted because he is a young dynamic play caller who has had success doing just that in several places. It is very difficult to ask a guy to shelf his biggest strength and potentially his most impactful contribution to the team in the short term.
I would like to believe that a head coach can be impactful in coaching THE WHOLE TEAM and still take on play calling duties. The last two Super Bowl winning coaches (McVay and Reid) would be a perfect example of why this can work, and does work.
In order to make this work, I think these coaches have to put in a little bit more focus on the whole team during practice and halftime, before games, all the times in between the 2 and 3 minute drives where he is controlling the gameflow on O.
This is where I think Reich failed. I think Reich stayed in his little playcalling bubble for extended periods of time and as a result, he eventually lost the whole team and consistently started slow in every season he coached. This all stood out to me as a motivational thing and not an X and O's thing. Frank was a believer, not a motivator.
Steichen is by far and away the best play caller in the building. He can help us win games if he does that job. Period. Don't let Reich's shortcomings as a head coach sour you to the notion that someone else could handle the double-duties much better.

[JAFF]

Originally Posted by Puck

Bring back Pep!!!!

Funny and painful.

[Colts And Orioles]

Originally Posted by Puck

Bring back Pep !!!

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[ChaosTheory]

It's not inherently negative to have your HC calling plays. Andy Reid has had HOF success doing that. And recently you've got guys like Kyle Shannahan, Sean McVay, Matt LaFleur, Zac Taylor, etc. having success.

I suppose it'd be great to have perfect balance with a Tony Dungy, Mike Tomlin, John Harbaugh type in charge while your top-flight OC and DC handle play calls.

The issue is that because of the guys I mentioned above, the top-flight play-callers are vying for HC jobs. So if you want one, they'll want the HC gig. Otherwise they'd stay put. And if you get one, you're not going to take his biggest strength away. Why'd he get the interview in the first place?