New Colts coach Shane Steichen: 'You have to hold people accountable'

INDIANAPOLIS - Shane Steichen arrived to his first day as Colts coach prepared on a topic he knew would play well.

Accountability.

It's a lesson he said he learned during the Eagles' run to the Super Bowl from coach Nick Sirianni, who was the Colts offensive coordinator from 2018-2020.

"Nick did an unbelievable job of holding guys accountable. I know the players that were here with him, I know they saw that and he carried that over to Philadelphia," Steichen said. "He never let anything slide and I think as a head football coach, you have to hold people accountable. And if something ain’t right, something needs to be said player to player, coach to coach, coach to player. Like, we have to make sure we’re all on the same page rolling."

Accountability has been the buzzword around the Colts facility ever since they made the coaching change from Frank Reich to Jeff Saturday. Reich went 40-33-1 with the Colts, but his message had started to run dry with some players by the end of his tenure. Saturday went 1-7 with a pair of historic losses as the interim coach, but players appreciated the accountability he brought to the faces of some top players on the team.

Reich used to have a higher intensity level on his staff but lost something when Sirianni took the Eagles job after the 2020 season. Sirianni's up-front style has played well in Philadelphia, where he's gone 25-13 between the regular season and postseason.

The Eagles fell 38-35 to the Chiefs in the Super Bowl, a game that showcased some of Steichen's skills as the offensive play caller.

He made it clear on his first day on as the Colts coach that he'll do more than call the plays and coach up a young quarterback, though. He wants to set a tone that carries through.

"Our culture is going to be built on four pillars and one’s going to be character. Character is very important to me. We want to treat people with respect, and we want to feed the positive and weed out the negative," Steichen said.

"No. 2 is the preparation. I truly believe this. The separation in this league is in the preparation. How we prepare as a football team and an organization Monday through Saturday will ultimately dictate the outcome of the football game.

"No. 3 is consistency. We have to be consistent, and it starts with us as coaches. Being consistent with our message to the players and telling them exactly how we want it to look and how we want it to be done.

"No. 4 is relentless. We have to be relentless in our pursuit to be the best. The best players, the best coaches I’ve been around are obsessed with their craft and that’s what we want to build here and that’s what we want to get done.”

Contact Colts insider Nate Atkins at natkins@indystar.com. Follow him on Twitter @NateAtkins_.