As Shane Steichen heads into this third NFL season as the Indianapolis Colts' head coach, his messaging to the media has to improve. “Shane and I have had discussions about that, in terms of pure messaging,

Colts owner Jim Irsay decided to bring Steichen back, along with general manager Chris Ballard, rather than cutting the cord on a head coach Irsay described as a young Don Shula in the preseason. Steichen knows he needs to grow as a coach, and in the opening statement of his final press conference of the 2024 season, the 39-year-old made a vow.

The talking points were real and from the heart. Chris Ballard spent nearly 50 minutes Friday admitting mistakes and offering a vision of how he’ll go about learning from and correcting them. It was mea culpa on steroids.