Indianapolis Colts’ head coach Shane Steichen is inside the top 10 in the latest rankings from FOX Sports — although that’s not a good thing.
Ralph Vacchiano put together his very early top 10 rankings of which coaches have the hottest seats heading into the 2026 NFL season. Coming in at No. 6 was Steichen.
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Vacchiano wrote, “Irsay-Gordon made it clear that amid a five-year postseason drought, the urgency to win in Indy has “never been higher.” That sure feels like a shot across the bow of Steichen heading into his fourth season, and a warning that more mediocrity (or worse) could result in a complete regime change next year.”
In his three seasons as the Colts‘ head coach, Indianapolis has been — average. Steichen has a record of 25-26 during that span with no postseason appearances.
Pre-dating Steichen’s time as head coach, the Colts have missed the playoffs five consecutive seasons under GM Chris Ballard, have just two postseason appearances, and one playoff win over the last nine years, with no division titles since 2014.
Although the results haven’t been there for a full season, we did, however, see the full capabilities of the Steichen offense through 10 games, with this unit being one of the most productive in football.
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In addition to that, while the Colts didn’t win any games with Phillip Rivers, Steichen’s ability to mold the offense to Rivers’ game on the fly and make changes from week to week was impressive.
But at the end of the day, in the NFL, everyone is judged on wins and losses, and the Colts haven’t been good enough — particularly struggling down the stretch of seasons to win those must-have-it games. Steichen has to get that corrected.
While many were hoping for change this offseason, the Colts are running it back, operating under the belief that the success that was had through the first half of the 2025 season can be repeated and sustained.
This article originally appeared on Colts Wire: Colts’ Shane Steichen ranked among coaches already on hot seat in 2026