Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

UNLV helped shape the Eagles’ Shane Steichen’s coaching dreams

Former Rebels QB played big part in Eagles’ offensive climb as coordinator

Shane Steichen Eagles

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Philadelphia Eagles’ Shane Steichen watches warm-ups before an NFL football game, Sunday, Nov. 27, 2022, in Philadelphia.

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UNLV quarterback Shane Steichen (15) throws a pass against Colorado State during the first half of a college football game at Hughes Stadium in Fort Collins, Colo., Saturday, Oct. 7, 2006.

PHOENIX — On a couple of occasions this season, Philadelphia Eagles running back Miles Sanders has glanced over to the sideline to find offensive coordinator Shane Steichen after particularly liking one of the coach’s play calls in the huddle.

Steichen’s typical reaction is why the 25-year-old Sanders calls the 37-year-old play caller “my dog” and describes him as more “feisty” than most realize.

“He’s going to grin because he knows that (the play) is going to work,” Sanders said Monday at Super Bowl Opening Night, describing Steichen when they lock eyes pre-snap. “And he’s going to be hyped when it does.”

That type of understated confidence is something Steichen honed as an off-and-on four-year starting quarterback at UNLV from 2003 to 2006. The Scarlet and Gray helped set Steichen on a path that has now led to him being considered one of the fastest-rising offensive minds in the National Football League.

The biggest moment of his career comes at 3:30 p.m. Sunday in nearby Glendale, Ariz., when he leads the Eagles into Super Bowl 57 against the Kansas City Chiefs.

Steichen is also one of three finalists up for the NFL’s Assistant of the Year award and a candidate for the Indianapolis Colts’ vacant head-coaching job.

The one-time lanky and accurate pocket passer knew he was interested in coaching back in his days at Oak Ridge High School outside of Sacramento, Calif. He counts high school coach Chris Jones as his “first big mentor.”

But UNLV is where it finally started to finally feel realistic, as Steichen’s memories of hanging out and poring over game plans in coach John Robinson’s office are just as memorable as anything he did on the field.

“My sophomore year of college, that’s when I was all-in on the coaching part of it,” Steichen said. “I always really enjoyed the X’s and O’s, but then it was watching the film, trying to dissect defenses and all of that stuff.”

Injuries pushed Steichen into starting the final two games of his freshman season, and he showed enough to then emerge as the Rebels’ leading passer again as a sophomore. Robinson, who recruited Steichen and was a big reason why he came to UNLV in the first place, then retired but the quarterback stuck around to play under new coach Mike Sanford.

As much as Steichen grew his knowledge of the game under Robinson, he described Sanford as equally impactful on him from a leadership perspective.

“I’ve got nothing but respect for coach Sanford and thought he did a great job,” Steichen said. “I know we didn’t win a ton of games, but UNLV was a great place to go to school.”

UNLV went 12-34 while Steichen was there, just missing a bowl game in his freshman season, but winning would come soon enough elsewhere for him with connections he made in college.

His first major job after serving as a UNLV graduate assistant was at Louisville, where he worked as an offensive assistant under Sanford. He left that job after a year to join the Los Angeles Chargers’ staff.

Norv Turner, father of close friend and fellow UNLV quarterback Scott Turner, gave Steichen that opportunity in his first of two stints with the Chargers. The latest, from 2014 to 2020, was when he first crossed paths with current Eagles coach Nick Sirianni.

The two developed a rapport working on the offense together, one strong enough to lead Sirianni to ceding play-calling duties to Steichen in the pair’s current second year in Philadelphia.

Sirianni told NBC Philadelphia earlier this season that he and Steichen have such a strong connection that they’ll play a game where they write down a play for a specific situation and usually land on “the exact same play.”

“He knows exactly what I want,” Sirianni told NBC Philadelphia.

The Eagles’ offense has taken off with Steichen’s expanded role, sitting third in the NFL in expected points added per play — behind only the Chiefs and Buffalo Bills — a year after finishing 13th. It’s no wonder other franchises have come calling for Steichen with the way he’s helped quarterback Jalen Hurts improve this season.

Some questioned if the third-year quarterback was starting caliber going into the year, but he emerged as the NFL MVP favorite before suffering a shoulder injury with four games left in the regular season.

Sirianni has given his blessing to Steichen seeking head-coaching gigs, saying he would hate to lose his top confidant but would love to see him get a chance at a top spot.

“He’s going to be a great head coach,” Sirianni said.

The Eagles players may know a different Steichen, but publicly, he’s quite unassuming. On Super Bowl Opening Night, a swarm of media flocked to nearby defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon as soon as the Eagles started their hour of media availability.

Steichen was mostly left alone at the outset, with one of the only reporters who did approach him getting mixed up and thinking he was Gannon. The confused reporter asked what it was like to play for a legendary high school football coach growing up in Ohio before Steichen gave a puzzled look.

The legendary coach he played for was Robinson, and the place was UNLV.

“Learning from him with the success he had and getting to play under him was tremendous,” Steichen said. “I learned from all those experiences, and having a couple different coaches there that I had a ton of respect for, seeing the game through their eyes, was a great experience.”