LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) – Shane Steichen has made Rebel history by becoming the first former UNLV football player to be named a head coach in the NFL.
 
Steichen (STY-kin), 37, was announced as the new head coach of the Indianapolis Colts on Tuesday.
 
A former starting quarterback for the Rebels under head coaches John Robinson and then Mike Sanford, Steichen is fresh from coaching in the Super Bowl as the offensive coordinator of the Philadelphia Eagles.
 
As a student-athlete, Steichen signed with UNLV out of Oak Ridge High School, which is in the Sacramento, California, area. He lettered four times from 2003-06, finishing ranked 11th in program history with 2,755 passing yards to go with 22 career touchdown passes. Steichen added 399 net rushing yards along with five more scores on the ground.
 
In a 2005 win over Idaho, Steichen became the first UNLV player in history to pass for at least 200 yards (250) and rush for at least 100 (104) in the same game. As a senior, he tied the program record for touchdown passes in a game when he threw five in an overtime loss to New Mexico.
 
Steichen earned his bachelor's degree in journalism and media studies from the university and started his coaching career by serving as a student assistant at UNLV in 2007, then working as an offensive graduate assistant coach from 2008-2009. He eventually followed Sanford to join the staff at Louisville for the 2010 season and then jumped to the NFL where he would make a stop with the Cleveland Browns between rising through the ranks with the now-Los Angeles Chargers. He eventually became the full-time offensive coordinator for the Chargers in 2020 before heading to the Eagles in 2021.
 
Steichen will actually become the second graduate of the university to serve as head coach in the NFL as Anthony Lynn, who played at Texas Tech, later earned his bachelor's degree from UNLV while also serving as the head coach of the Chargers from 2017-20. Lynn is currently the assistant head coach and running backs coach for the San Francisco 49ers.
 
In addition, three former UNLV assistant coaches, all who were members of the same staff in 1991, went on to become head coaches in the NFL: Chuck Pagano (Colts from 2012-17), Scott Linehan (Rams from 2006-08) and Tom Cable (Raiders from 2008-10).