INDIANAPOLIS — Reggie Wayne thought he’d be off the sidelines by now.
When former head coach Frank Reich convinced Wayne to join the staff as the team’s wide receivers coach in 2022, the legendary Colts wide receiver told anybody who’d listen that it would likely be a temporary posting.
Wayne went through the fires of a disastrous 2022 season in his first year as a coach, thought about walking away and decided to stay on Shane Steichen’s staff.
Four seasons later, Wayne is headed into his fifth season as a full-time assistant in Indianaplis.
“I am surprised,” Wayne said. “I didn’t expect to do it this long, but it’s kind of the guys that you’re coaching. It kind of, almost turns into your own kids.”
He has been forced to watch a few of his “kids” leave in the last couple of months.
Indianapolis traded Adonai Mitchell to New York in the Sauce Gardner deal last fall, then shipped Michael Pittman Jr. to Pittsburgh in a cost-cutting move a couple of months ago.
Wayne has acknowledged those moves were difficult for him.
But his fingerprints are all over the remaining wide receivers in the position room.
Wayne has been instrumental in the development of Alec Pierce from a one-trick deep threat into the kind of complete receiver who commanded $114 million over four years in free agency. The Colts drafted Josh Downs, in large part, because of Wayne’s belief in the North Carolina product.
Not every legendary player can coach, but Wayne’s handiwork with Pierce, Downs and Pittman has been impressive.
When he has to watch a player like Pittman or Mitchell go to another team, it’s not easy.
“I just punch in, in the morning, I have to be here at 8 o’clock,” Wayne said. “Come to work with whoever we have available and give it everything I’ve got to make those guys better.”
He has his work cut out for him in 2026. Indianapolis faces uncertainty at wide receiver behind Pierce and Downs, hoping a clear-cut No. 3 option emerges from a group that includes special teams ace Ashton Dulin, free agent Nick Westbrook-Ikhine, seventh-round pick Deion Burks and veteran Laquon Treadwell.
Wayne will play a key role in that decision-making process.
He has changed over the years.
“I balance my nightlife a little better,” Wayne said. “I go to sleep a little earlier now. I do understand that I’ve got more grays than I ever had, that’s starting to grow a little more. Everything else is still the same.”
Balancing his nightlife means smoking one cigar, not two, while he watches games at night.
“I get me a cigar, watch the games,” Wayne said. “Once basketball season is over, it’s like, ‘What do you do?’”
Wayne still has four boys at home to parent. His oldest just graduated from college and is now exploring the pursuit of a master’s degree at USC, prompting Wayne to joke that he “might need to coach a little longer.”
He hasn’t been able to walk away from the sidelines just yet.
But that doesn’t mean Wayne will be a coaching lifer.
“Just like my body told me when I was a player, it was time to shut it down, I’m sure that will happen in the coaching world a lot faster,” Wayne said.
Until then, he’s a gift that keeps on giving to the Colts.
Joel A. Erickson and Nathan Brown cover the Colts all season. Get more coverage on IndyStarTV and with the Colts Insider newsletter.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Why Colts legend Reggie Wayne is still coaching receivers
Reporting by Joel A. Erickson, Indianapolis Star / Indianapolis Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
