The Indianapolis Colts have targeted Philadelphia Eagles offensive coordinator Shane Steichen to be their next head coach and plan to hire him if the sides can reach agreement on a contract, sources told ESPN.
The Colts and Steichen cannot agree to a deal until after Super Bowl LVII on Sunday. The Colts want to meet this week to see whether they can complete a deal with Steichen, who now is their top target after Indianapolis informed other remaining candidates Sunday morning that they are out of the running.
The Colts began telling some head-coaching candidates Friday that they planned to go in another direction and then notified more candidates Sunday, leaving Steichen as the man they plan to hire.
It is a fitting turnaround, as the Eagles hired former Indianapolis offensive coordinator Nick Sirianni to be their head coach in January 2021.
Steichen would become the second Eagles offensive coordinator hired by the Colts as their head coach. Frank Reich, who was fired by the Colts earlier this season, also was Philadelphia’s offensive coordinator before being hired as Indianapolis’ head coach in 2018.
The Colts went 4-12-1 this season under Reich, who was fired after a Week 9 loss to the Patriots, and interim replacement Jeff Saturday, who also was a candidate for Indianapolis’ full-time position. Reich was hired last month as the new coach of the Panthers.
If Steichen and the Colts reach a deal, the Eagles would be expected to have his replacement already on their coaching staff, according to sources.
Quarterbacks coach Brian Johnson, one of the NFL’s most sought-after assistant coaches, who has received multiple requests to interview for offensive coordinator positions, is expected to replace Steichen as Philadelphia’s offensive coordinator, sources told ESPN.
The Eagles also could potentially lose defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon, who is interviewing for the Cardinals‘ vacant head-coaching position, league sources told ESPN. It was uncertain as of Sunday morning how high Arizona’s level of interest is in Gannon, or whether the sides could potentially agree to a deal.
Two known finalists for the Cardinals job are Bengals defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo and Giants offensive coordinator Mike Kafka. But those two could soon have competition from Gannon, who also was a finalist last year for the Texans‘ head-coaching job.
Steichen, 37, helped oversee a unit that finished this season with the NFL’s No. 3 offense in both yards per game (389.1) and scoring average (28.1).
The Eagles’ offense had six players selected to the Pro Bowl, led by quarterback Jalen Hurts, the NFL MVP runner-up who threw 22 touchdown passes and also scored 13 rushing touchdowns despite missing two games. Wide receivers A.J. Brown (1,496 yards) and DeVonta Smith (1,196) became the first duo in Eagles franchise history to both eclipse 1,000 receiving yards in the same season.