Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - Indianapolis Colts Coach Shane Steichen was Everything Team Hoped for in 2023

Starting point is 00:00:00 The Indianapolis Colts future is bright with head coach Shane Steichen. Let's get to it. You are Locked On Colts, your daily Indianapolis Colts podcast. Part of the Locked On Podcast your first listen of the day. This is your daily podcast covering your Indianapolis Colts, part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Today's episode is brought to you by PrizePix, which is the easiest and most exciting way to play daily fantasy sports. Go to prizepix.com slash locked on NFL and use code all lowercase

Starting point is 00:00:50 locked on NFL for a first deposit match up to $100. Hello, everyone. My name is Zach Hicks of horseshoehuddle.com. I'm joined by my colleague here, Shad McGinnis, here to talk all about head coach Shane Steichen. Now, Shad has a very unique perspective from a very important game from this past season that I really want to touch on with him, and that's going to be kind of our thesis for this entire show. We're going to talk about Shane Steichen in that game against the Los Angeles Rams earlier in the season, why that game was kind of the main measuring stick for what I thought the Colts had in their young coach. And obviously it set the tone for the rest of the year. And then we're going to talk about just why the future is so bright with head coach Shane Steichen. So,

Starting point is 00:01:35 Shad, before I kick it to you, and you can give me kind of your unique perspective on this game with your brother being a coach or a former coach, sorry, with the Los Angeles Rams. He went down to USC. Great promotion for him. All right, Sean, before we get into kind of the main thesis of this show, I do want to dive into why I think this Los Angeles Rams game in week four was so important for our evaluation of Shane Steichen and the Indianapolis Colts in general. Because if you look at the first couple weeks of the season,

Starting point is 00:02:04 they were kind of feeling things out those first three games. You know, the first game against the Jaguars, we're feeling things out the young quarterback. Second game was a blowout all the way against the Texans. And then the third game was a slugfest with your backup quarterback. So the fourth game of the year against the Los Angeles Rams, a team that many people projected to be in the playoffs, and they ended up making the playoffs too,

Starting point is 00:02:24 because of obviously their quarterback play, their coaching, and the talent on that team. And the Colts started this game as bad as you could get. They're down 23 to nothing in the third quarter. Shane Steichen has his quarterback that he wanted, has a lot of offensive pieces that he wanted, but his offense is doing nothing against Raheem Morris, the guy who finished second in the Colts head coaching search. So you're looking at this and this is looking like a disaster for the Colts. They're down three plus scores basically in, in the third quarter, they're getting nothing going on offense,

Starting point is 00:02:57 but something I saw from Shane Steichen in this game is what really made me think, okay, the Colts have their guy, their run game was getting shut down in the first half, their Colts have their guy. Their run game was getting shut down in the first half. Their passing attack with their RPO game was doing nothing. So what did Shane Steichen do at halftime? He adjusted completely. He changed their running game just completely on its head, went from being an inside zone QB run-based offensive scheme to

Starting point is 00:03:22 this power and trap and a lot of different run designs in the second half. When you look at the passing game, they went from an RPO centric short passing game to taking the training wheels off of Anthony Richardson against a good defense and saying, go win us the game with four verts and vertical passing and deep play action shots and creating outside the pocket. And as a result, the Colts took a really good Rams team to the wire, took them to overtime. They did fall a little bit short there in overtime. But when I saw Shane Steichen's ability to make those adjustments right there, that's when I knew they had something in him as a play caller and as a head coach. But Shad, your brother's on the coaching staff for

Starting point is 00:03:59 the Rams. How unique was it for your brother? I mean, again, I know we're doing kind of hearsay here. You're speaking for your brother? I mean, again, I know we're doing kind of hearsay here. You know, you're speaking for your brother. But from you talking with him, what was that sudden switch like as a defensive line coach, a guy on the defensive staff, seeing what was happening in the middle of that game? Yeah, because like you said, to kind of get a full picture of how drastic the change was, you kind of have to go back, you know, to the previous games where they were running a lot of inside zone

Starting point is 00:04:29 and having moderate success with it. But, you know, the way the Rams, my brother, the Rams, the multiple fronts, the alignments kind of eliminates and take away some of those looks, those favorable looks that the Colts were typically used to. So coming into the game, he was thinking he wouldn't have much of a problem stopping a run, and that's what the Rams based their defense on solely, stop the run and make the team one-dimensional, and you're playing right into their hands.

Starting point is 00:04:57 They knew they would get Richardson runs. Of course, it would be blasphemous not to use it. So they went into the game basically centered around stopping the run, especially with what Zach Moss has done previously to teams weeks before that. When he had a lot of success ever since week two, with the ramps wanted to do was take away those inside zone runs. And when the running back was pressing at the line of scrimmage looking for the hole it just never developed because they were feeling so fast nothing was

Starting point is 00:05:30 opening up in the run game so once shane steichen went in the halftime i don't even know if it's directly after halftime it could have been a mid-third quarter you know yeah that's mid-third quarter he just changed it up completely he got some of those guys Quentin Nelson you know Will Fries got those guys on the move and that opened up some angles running is the run game is all about angles and for him to create those angles a big credit to him and Anthony Sperano you know they basically installed that on the spot. You know, they might have talked about it briefly, but they have never shown it on film. And it caught the Rams so off guard that they didn't have an answer for it. They was trying to drop answers on the sideline in a spur of the moment.

Starting point is 00:06:15 But the defensive lineman just wasn't comprehending fast enough. It's a very young defensive line as well, you know, outside of Aaron Donald that's playing for Rams. They're starting a rookie uh the edge guys are pretty young with michael hoyt and byron young you know those guys hadn't seen they wasn't accustomed to that style of run game for the coach so you know when you practice something all week and you prepare for something to get something totally thrown at you out of nowhere it is difficult to stop on the spot and as you can see it opened up the past game in such a way I mean Richardson started hitting throws off the RPO looks that wasn't there in the first half because some of those linebackers are now

Starting point is 00:06:55 they're pressing a little bit trying to eliminate the ring and trying to take away some of those things start to open up behind them in a passing game and you saw the effect that it had on the rest of the game yeah yeah and again guys I don't want to hype on a week four game from the 2023 season to paint the whole picture of what the indianapolis colts were this past year but i think this was the inciting factor or the just the the big incident early in the season where i was like okay this is a legit coach because he might not wow you with play design, which we're going to talk about in our next segment here, where Shane Steichen may not wow you with play design or with these Shanahan type of just wide open players on every single play, but knowing what to call and when to call it, knowing when to throw the change

Starting point is 00:07:38 ups, when to throw the curve ball. Like imagine a pitcher in baseball who maybe doesn't have the greatest stuff, but has great control on his stuff that he does have. Maybe he throws three pitches, but those three pitches, he always knows exactly when to pitch them. He knows how to sequence them. He knows how to get batters thinking of fastballs coming when the curve ball is coming. That's what Shane Steichen was able to do in this game where, you know, the Rams are flying high. They're flying high that whole first half. They're thinking we're holding Zach Zach Moss I want to say it was like seven carries for like 18 yards in that first half Moss finished the day with nearly 60 yards rushing uh really solid day overall from

Starting point is 00:08:14 him because of that second half had a couple of chunk runs in the second half again Quinton Nelson leading the way on some pinpulse action some uh just overall uh like power runs there was a nice little trap from, from Bernhardt rhyme in there in the second half. But like, that's what you're seeing from Shane Steichen where it's like, Hey, we need to get this run game going. We're not doing our normal stuff well.

Starting point is 00:08:34 So let me just throw this quick change up in here. Let me throw this change. Let me throw this curve ball because my fastball is not working today. And that's when you really see with Shane Steichen, what he brought to the Colts. And it set the tone for the rest of the year. We're going to talk about it in segment two. But I really think personally for me, when I saw what he did in that Rams game to help

Starting point is 00:08:52 get the Colts back in that one, OK, we have our guy. Was it similar for you, Shad? Yes, yes. And I know eventually through the season, he eventually even added the wham run play, you know, where he started pulling the tight end to get that guy inside to kick out that defensive tackle, which was a nice variation. That's something that we just haven't seen. And like I said, the pin pull stuff, which opened up the perimeter run game, something the Colts haven't had since Jack Doyle was on the team. But the creative, the part that's most impressive is the ways he get to it.

Starting point is 00:09:27 You know, like it's all pretty much designed. It's not asking guys to do too much isolation and holding on. He's creating angles for these guys. And that's why they're really exploiting the run game. And the variations and the different amount of runs that he can get to in a game it just makes it very difficult to defend this coach team and the thing I love about Shane Steichen which is probably more segment two related is that when it works he doesn't go away from it oh yeah yeah he doesn't go away from it but we'll touch on that I'm sure in the next segment yeah yep exactly yeah coming up, we're going to talk about Shane Steichen's overall feel for the

Starting point is 00:10:06 game and how, again, it might be a simplistic style of offense the Colts run, but when you know when to call things, it makes simplicity key and it makes simplicity work. So we're going to talk about that here in segment two. But first, guys, passion, drive, and patience. What brings home the winning trophy is also what keeps your ride or die alive ebay motors has everything you need to maintain your vehicle and level it up to peak performance from superchargers roof racks exhaust kits led headlights and more whether you're into speed power or style ebay motors has got you covered with over 122 million parts for your number one

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Starting point is 00:11:04 Eligible items only. Exclusions apply. eBay guaranteed fit only available to U.S. customers. And guys, the NFL regular season is wrapping up, but there's still time to get in on the action with FanDuel, America's number one sportsbook. Right now, new customers get $150 back in bonus bets, guaranteed when you place a $5 bet.

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Starting point is 00:11:58 want to get back to his overall feel for the game because I think this is the most important aspect that you get out of a Shane Steichen type of coach because again look the Colts are not going to wow you with you like all these hundreds of different formations and uh this very diverse set of what you're getting on on like a play-to-play basis right you kind of know what you're getting they're going to be in 11 personnel most of the time they're going to be in shotgun most of the time. They're going to run inside zone if they run. They're going to run RPO if they pass. They're going to occasionally hit the play action pass in shotgun.

Starting point is 00:12:33 But again, when you have a coach who has that natural feel for the game and has confidence in his play calls and his players, for the most part, it's going to work out for your team. And what you see with Shane Steichen is, you know, he grades out so favorably and in so many just important statistics like fourth down aggressiveness, like second down pass rate after a failed run on first down or an incomplete pass on first down. He's a coach who understands analytics while also understanding the feel for the game. And you don't really need this super complex playbook. If you have that feel for the game, if you know what to call and when to call it,

Starting point is 00:13:09 you don't need a playbook that's going to be 700 pages long. It can be a couple of pages, as long as you have those things down and you know when to call them. Yeah. You could just look back at the Eagles season before that with Shane Steichen. You know, it was pretty much, it was a simple formula. When you load the box, they were taking, they were just throwing goal balls, throwing the ball down the field. It wasn't really complicated. If you play with a light box, they punish you in a run game. And I think it's very similar with what he's doing in Indianapolis. I think the feel for the game, while he may not be revolutionary as far as play design goes,

Starting point is 00:13:48 his player distribution, the way he uses what he does have, is very, very good. And I think you've been seeing that throughout the year. You know, he doesn't ask Alex Pierce to do anything other than what he's good at. You know, he uses Michael Pittman in more of a slasher role, which a lot of people didn't even think was in his toolkit when he was drafted you know he started to show that after he became a colt but it's something what he's really best at and you know it's something that's important in steichen's offense the offensive line the the way they've bounced back after what they've done last year i think that's credit to

Starting point is 00:14:20 chris ballard for having faith in that same five that he said played well down the stretch. They end up having a solid season. But that's credit to Shane as well, because Shane is putting those guys in position. And like I said, you hit on it. And when he does something that works, he doesn't shy away from it. He doesn't get too cute. He's going back to it time and time again until you prove you can stop it. And once you stop it, he's on to the next thing. And he doesn't try much. It isn't

Starting point is 00:14:52 much variation unless he sees something that he can exploit mid-game, as we touched on with the Rams. But he does this throughout the season. You saw it with the Eagles when they became a power run team just out of mid-season. They totally transformed the way they were playing football two years ago and leaned on this more quarterback-centric run game. And he's bought that same offense to the coast just with a few wrinkles. And I keep referencing the Eagles because you can see what they're doing now that Shane Steichen isn't there and currently searching for offensive coordinator as we speak. So that speaks volumes about what he's done and what he's done in Indianapolis as well. Yeah, one thing I wanted to touch on actually with that Eagles comment that you make there is like, I don't think Brian Johnson is a horrible offensive coach.

Starting point is 00:15:42 I don't think he's this offensive coach who has no clue what he's doing and and it's just ugly or whatever but i think when you have a coach who doesn't have the same feel as shane steichen and you ask him to run the same playbook that steichen runs that's when you see the flaws in the playbook where the flaws are that it's a fairly generic playbook you know like you kind of lose a lot of the elements that make the playbook so great because the playbook itself is nothing flashy. You're not going to hold this playbook up and say, this is gold right here.

Starting point is 00:16:13 This is absolute gold. I'm going to win every game just by reading off this playbook. That's not how Steichen's offense works. Steichen's offense works by marrying these couple concepts with adjustments on the fly and with quick solutions on the fly and that feel for the game that he brings so when you ask him what someone like brian johnson to go out there and be shane steichen when he doesn't have the feel or the comfortability in that playbook this is what happens we saw what happened with eagles this

Starting point is 00:16:41 year uh but getting back for that feel i love that you mentioned that Shane Steichen, when something works, he leans into it. And we saw it in the Pittsburgh game. I think it's the greatest example of it where it's like, you know what? We are running all over these guys. I'm not calling another pass unless I have to. And he called one pass the whole fourth quarter of that game, called a lot of runs and was able to run the Colts to victory. And we even saw it the other way like I like you know the Rams game for instance where even when the run game was working a little bit more in the second half when they needed to come back it was four verts four verts four verts four like it was there was drives in that second half of that game where the only thing they were calling was four verts against the Rams and yes there were variations to the four verts

Starting point is 00:17:24 it wasn't like Madden where all the guys are just running straight. You're cutting off depending on the leverage of the defender, but these were just four verts, but he's going to keep running it. And if you show you can stop it, we see it on the RPO calls where there will be five plays in a row

Starting point is 00:17:39 where it's just RPO, RPO, RPO. Because if your conflict defender is making a mistake over and over, he's going to keep calling it but that's that overall feel again it's like that feel of hey they can't stop it right now let's go fast and keep running it and and make them have to make an adjustment here um I I love that overall feel that he brings and that's what makes me so confident him going forward is you're always going to have that like no matter what the playbook looks like no matter

Starting point is 00:18:03 who the quarterback is, you know, you might have some issues with his overconfidence in players at times, but I would take it. I take an offensive coordinator who's overly confident in the guys he has on the field and knows how to get them in prime position to make plays. And look at the end of the day, they're not going to make the play.

Starting point is 00:18:20 They're not going to make the play, but to get them in the position to make those plays, I think it's such a valuable asset to have in a head coach slash play caller yeah and it's similar to I don't know if you remember the Rams in 2017 when they first got there you know it was a pretty stagnant off everything was in 11 personnel everything was in the same formation but there's about five or six different plays that he ran off it, and it just took the league by storm. You know, it was the same concepts. He was getting wide receivers to buy in, to block like tight ends,

Starting point is 00:18:52 which is the only way staying in 11 personnel works, is if you're able to get those guys to buy in and actually put a hat on guys. That opens up the run game, of course. The passing game, you're already going to have a natural advantage when guys are lining up against it in base defense, which you pretty much can't do these days. So, Shane Steigen is very similar.

Starting point is 00:19:11 You know, like it's coming up. It's not a lot formationally. I've seen him add a lot more motion, start to get into the motion, to kind of get to accrue information. You know, for those people that don't know, you use motion to kind of figure out what the defense is in, how they want to play it. And then it's a mental game after that.

Starting point is 00:19:29 You know, you kind of figure what they're in based off their alignment. And he always has answers. While his offense is very simple, whatever defense throws at him, he has an answer for it. So it's no need to be super creative and have these great play designs. Why that's awesome to have the most important thing a coach can have an offensive coordinator or a play caller is answers for whatever the defense presents. And he had that with,

Starting point is 00:19:55 with I think we all can say is not the best personnel. You know, he can, he can have a bit, you know, better personnel. We saw what his personnel could do last year. I'm using the Eagles as an example, again, because they have great personnel. And you saw where he was able to take that offense. If you get Shane Steigen, some more of his guys, which I think will be a step in that direction this offseason, you can see what he really can do.

Starting point is 00:20:19 And the fact that he has those answers, it almost creates a glass ceiling for where he could take the offense if he has some of his guys. Yep. Yep, absolutely. And that is going to be a perfect segue into our final segment today, guys. We're going to talk about the future with Shane Steichen and, you know, where he can really take this offense with the right personnel like shot is mentioning. But first, guys, prize picks is the most fun I've had winning up to 25 times my money this football season. You just select two or more players, pick more or less on their projected stats and place your entry. With the basketball season here, you guys can do combo projections across football and basketball from the Specials League, a league created specifically for combo projections.

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Starting point is 00:22:12 PrizePicks, daily fantasy sports made easy. All right, Chad, so we're talking Shane Steichen. Just go on the hype train now on Shane Steichen with our coach here that we have in Indy. We love him, did a great job in 2023. But when we're looking at the future of this team and the future of what he can do, again, I just look back at what those 10-ish quarters of Anthony Richardson look like early in the season, because I know we've been sitting here on this whole episode being like, okay, look, the playbook is kind of simplistic with shane steichen uh but he knows what to do and knows when to call things and that's what made it effective but when anthony

Starting point is 00:22:49 richardson was in there it was a pretty diverse set of formations and diverse set of plays i was seeing stuff that i'm i'm texting college coaches i know and being like have you seen this before like they're going from diamond personnel to the wishbone and pistol and then motioning into you know this this read option but bluff play and I'm like when have you seen something like this like where did the Colts get this so when you're looking at the ceiling like again they got to nine wins this year and a top 10 scoring offense with a guy that was not supposed to be running their offense running the show for most of the year in a fairly slimmed down, simplified playbook to account for that.

Starting point is 00:23:29 When you look at the potential going forward with Anthony Richardson, if he can play a full 17 games, the excitement level has to be through the roof, has to be through that ceiling that you just mentioned in the last segment. Yeah, especially when you talk about, you combine that with the fact that him and Jonathan Taylor was only on the field for one one snap i believe they played together you know when you when you look at that and the possibilities of it now when you talk about being simple pretty simplistic and we talked about it with our dimension the right game is pretty diverse you know and and formationally what he like to do is he don't like to come

Starting point is 00:24:06 out stagnant so you guys cannot simply key on on past tendencies and things that the coach had put on film already he kind of diversified it you know some of the variations where maybe an RPO but it's a different variation of it is something that he highlighted and he used heavily in short yardage situations you know running QB power was pretty much a guaranteed two to three yard game you know anytime he got on the goal line he sent Richardson behind a couple of those guys and it was just pretty much easy money but like you said the diamond formation the wishbone which which I hadn't seen since probably watching a high school game, you know, the creativity of it and to use it in those moments. We're seeing more of that crossover into the league, something you would think is high school, it's an arcology.

Starting point is 00:24:55 It's now entering into the NFL more and more at a slower and slower pace. But Shane Steichen, it seems like he embraces those type of things you know like he's not stuck on what's worked traditionally in the past he blends some of those older older concepts in with the newer concepts but that's what i like about him he passes the analytics and the eye test you know it's not one or the other he you can tell he he takes analytics into consideration but he's still a football guy like When you talk to him, he's a football nerd. It's all ball with him. And he's been like that since he's been with the Chargers. A really smart guy. And conceptually, I love what he's doing, especially in a run game more so than the

Starting point is 00:25:35 pass game. I think the pass game is pretty simple, but everything is built off of that run game. So as long as he continues to be innovative in that sense, I think he'll have success in the future. Yeah, yeah. No, it's fascinating with the run game, too, because from a pure charting standpoint, as someone who likes to chart things, if you're charting their entire run game throughout the season. You and Shane Steichen would get along really great, by the way. Oh, yeah, we would. We would. I know we would. I know we would.

Starting point is 00:26:01 One of these days. One of these days. But when it comes to charting what they do and stuff, you'll see a lot of inside zone. Like even with Richardson in there, with them running more pistol and running more flex bone, wishbone, stuff like that. Even with that, you'll see a lot of inside zone on the charting. But what you will notice with it is every single inside zone is not the same because you'll have a split zone run, for instance, is very different from an inside zone. You'll have an attached RPO, an attached read option.

Starting point is 00:26:29 You'll have, you could have the inside zone run 10 times in a row in all 10 of those inside zone runs from a charting perspective will go down as inside zone, but they'll look very, very different or they'll have a slight variation here or there where it's like, okay, we're going to do on this one tech while we're doing everyone else inside zone just so it's slightly different and again that's where you have that diversity within a simplistic scheme and accounting for what your opponent is doing so even with anthony richardson if we're looking if we're projecting for the future like them adding another receiver them adding a tight end and hopefully i mean hopefully jelani woods is back i mean gosh yeah that would be big yeah yeah accounting for Richardson being healthy and getting Jonathan Taylor back if we're

Starting point is 00:27:09 doing all this like I don't think Shane Steichen's going to change and that's a great thing for the Colts because they have a guy again you're not going to look at his his play design or what he's doing and say this is the this is Mike McDaniel this Kyle Shanahan. This is even Sean McVay. You're not going to look at that and you're not going to have all the film nerds like gushing over their under the center play action percentage and Yankee usage and stuff like that. But what you're going to look at with Shane Steichen is,

Starting point is 00:27:38 hey, they're in third and two. How is he going to draw up a wide open receiver? Oh, he has the answer. There's a wide open receiver there. Or how is he going to isolate Anthony Richardson in space or Jonathan Taylor in space? Can he do those things? And I think what we saw in year one is a resounding, yes, he can do all those things for this team. And it's just getting him the personnel and offense to take this offense to the next level.

Starting point is 00:27:59 Yeah, because like I spoke about earlier, it's player usage. And I know some people may see that as a negative based on how the season ended with the last play. But he drew up a legitimate, perfect play. Yes, it was for Tyler Goodson, the fourth straight running back. And I know that rubbed some people the wrong way. But Jonathan Taylor put in that same position. I'm not sure he's getting that first down, even if he makes the catch. You know, he was pretty banged up.

Starting point is 00:28:24 His heel was killing him. He just didn't look like the same guy on the last drive. I think it was the right play to put Tyler Goodson in at that moment. It was just a bad ball from issue. Let's be honest here. If it's even a halfway decent throw, the guy walks to the first down. But player usage. And when he acts for Will Mallory at the tight end position, it's not the same when he acts for Will Mallory, you know, at the tight end position,

Starting point is 00:28:46 it's not the same thing he acts for Moelle Cox. It's not the same thing you're going to get from a Drew Ogletree or Jelani Woods, you know, if he was playing. He was pretty much handicapped in that aspect as far as not having Jelani Woods for an entire season. A guy who we all considered was probably tight end one coming into this season. And a guy who I know for sure from talking to various coaches, the coaches had big plans for him in the offseason.

Starting point is 00:29:10 This was supposed to be a breakout year for Jeline Woods, and when he wasn't able to showcase that in OTAs and in minicamps, it was frustrating for him, and it was frustrating for the team, I'm sure. And then when he got on the brink of coming back for the New England game, he suffered a setback and that essentially shut his season down. But Shane Steichen's player usage, the way he utilizes those guys, the way he utilizes Granson, he's not going to ask Granson to pull on a run play, you know, because while he may do it, he will more likely use somebody like Moella Cox

Starting point is 00:29:49 as a better blocker in that situation. You know, he doesn't ask guys to go outside of their wheelhouse too much because that's the type of smart guy he is. And with everything he's put on tape this past season, he's going to create variations off of all this stuff. You know, he knows guys are going to be looking. And through this offseason, he's going to create variations off of all this stuff. He knows guys are going to be looking. And through this offseason, he's going to spend building counters to everything he's pretty much shown on tape this season

Starting point is 00:30:11 because that's the type of guy he is, and that's the way he obsesses with this stuff right here. Yeah. Yeah, no, I'm excited for the future of Shane Stike, and I think all of you Colts fans should be as well. But if you guys don't already, make sure you're following at LockedOnColts, at Jake Jake Arthur. And at Zach Hicks too. And at Sean McGinnis.

Starting point is 00:30:27 All on Twitter slash X. Whatever you want to call it now. And also subscribe to us on YouTube. Wherever you list your podcasts. We love you guys. Wings Reviews. And we'll catch you guys back here. Early next week.

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Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - Indianapolis Colts Coach Shane Steichen was Everything Team Hoped for in 2023

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