It has been a pretty brutal season for the Indianapolis Colts. The team is 2-6 on the season and just got blown out by the Jacksonville Jaguars after trading away some of its best players. General manager Chris Ballard has already been fired and more players could potentially be traded away so it feels like Steichen’s time with the Colts is going to come to an end fairly soon.
Whether it comes during the season or once the regular season has concluded, it is just hard to see Steichen keeping his job unless the Colts have a huge turnaround and prove that they want to keep playing for their head coach. That will be difficult though especially if the Colts continue to trade away their best players. Jonathan Taylor and Josh Downs could be the next players on the move.
If the Colts do get rid of Steichen during the season then there will surely be an internal replacement on the current staff, unless they opt for another Jeff Saturday experiment, but it is not a bad idea to think ahead about who might be a potential replacement in the offseason.
3 potential candidates to replace Shane Steichen
Mike Tomlin
If the Colts want to bring in an experienced coach looking for a new challenge then they wouldn’t be able to do any better than Mike Tomlin. He never had a losing season with the Pittsburgh Steelers and maybe he could come in and turn the Colts around similar to how John Harbaugh has gotten better football out of the New York Giants.
Sean McDermott
Like Tomlin, McDermott comes from a long-term stint with one organization. He led the Buffalo Bills for years and was let go because he was unable to get them over the hump but it is inarguable that he was able to create a winning culture there so perhaps he could replicate the same thing with the Colts.
Klay Kubiak
It seems like a lot of NFL coaching hires in recent years have been centered on guys with familiar last names. The Arizona Cardinals hired Mike LaFleur, brother of Green Bay Packers head coach Matt LaFleur, as their head coach and the Las Vegas Raiders hired Klint Kubiak, son of Gary Kubiak, to be their head coach.
If Kubiak’s are getting hired then the next choice should be obvious: San Francisco 49ers offensive coordinator Klay Kubiak. He has studied under head coach Kyle Shanahan and it seems like a lot of newly hired NFL coaches have some connection to the Shanahan coaching tree so Kubiak could be a fit.
The Colts are hitting the reset button so they need to find someone who can help build the franchise back up. It will not be easy but perhaps one of these coaches can get things turned around in Indy.
3 Candidates to Replace Colts Head Coach Shane Steichen With Firing Imminent