Report: Jaguars' Jim Bob Cooter to Be Named Colts OC Under Shane Steichen

New Indianapolis Colts head coach Shane Steichen is expected to name Jim Bob Cooter as his offensive coordinator, per ESPN's Jeremy Fowler.

That will be Steichen's first major appointment on his coaching staff. To this point, he's added Tom Manning as the tight ends coach and DeAndre Smith in an undisclosed role, though likely to coach the running backs.

Cooter, 38, started his NFL coaching career with the Colts in 2009, serving as an offensive assistant for three years.

He then worked his way up the professional coaching ranks, serving as a quality control coordinator for the Kansas City Chiefs (2012), an offensive assistant for the Denver Broncos (2013), a quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator for the Detroit Lions (2014-18), the running backs coach for the New York Jets (2019-20), a consultant for the Philadelphia Eagles (2021) and a passing game coordinator for the Jacksonville Jaguars (2022).

He'll join Steichen, whose background is on the offensive side as well. The two worked together for a year with the Eagles in 2021.

Steichen has already confirmed he'll be the team's offensive play-caller.

"It's going to look differently each week, but my philosophy is we're gonna throw to score points in this league and run to win," he said at his introductory press conference.

As Fowler noted, Cooter has worked with a number of prominent quarterbacks in his past, including Peyton Manning, Matthew Stafford and Trevor Lawrence. Who he ends up working with in Indianapolis remains to be seen, as the Colts' quarterback position has been in flux since Andrew Luck's retirement.

The Colts could try to bring a veteran starter into the fold, though it's also a position they could choose to address early on in the draft. Either way, it likely won't be Matt Ryan, who struggled in 2022.

"Obviously the offense is going to be dictated on who's playing quarterback," Steichen noted. "That's how you build the system—what he does well, what are his strengths. But not only just the quarterback, it's the players, too—what does [Michael] Pittman [Jr.] run well receiver-wise? Tight ends, the backs, Jonathan Taylor, the offensive line, what do they do well? We want to do a hell of a job putting our guys in position to make plays."