Before the 2026 preseason games began, Reggie Wayne was saying he gets “one paycheck, and that’s to be the receivers coach.” But something changed when his squad took the field against the Detroit Lions for the preseason finale. Now, the Indianapolis Colts’ wide receivers coach sounds like he’s done trying to fit in a box.

If you forgot the sight of Wayne staring down at the play call sheet and talking into a Sony headset during that 25-16 loss last weekend, the man himself hasn’t. Wayne posted a series of pictures from that preseason finale on his Instagram handle and penned a caption signaling he wants the top job someday.

“Awe Shucks… Challenge Accepted!!!” Reggie captioned his post. “They’ve messed around and let me call plays in a real NFL Game.. I’M NOT TALKING ABOUT MADDEN. Now I got the bug. Never would’ve thought this at any point in time in my life. But it’s on… Now we got something to shoot for. #FinallyLiving #Coach”

To be fair, his coaching journey so far has always been leading up to something bigger. Once he decided his body couldn’t take any more of the gridiron grind as a wide receiver, Wayne shifted his sights to coaching. He began as a volunteer receivers coach in 2018, and after just one year on the job, realized he was built for it.

“I think coaching is in my blood; I think it’s something that I would want to do,” Wayne said at the time. “It’s just got to be the right time.”

That “right time” arrived in 2022, when he landed the official coaching job. At the time, former head coach Frank Reich had already seen what Wayne could bring to the table, and vouched for his old volunteer.

“I think he will bring a lot to, not only the individual receivers there playing the position, but also that championship mentality that we want to have going forward,” Reich had said back then.

Reich himself couldn’t bring out the best in his team, though, and got fired midseason after a 3-5-1 start. Suddenly, the job which Wayne believed was in his blood faced immense uncertainty. But even as Shane Steichen took up the top job the next offseason, Wayne retained his position. Clearly, it wasn’t just Reich who’d seen Wayne’s potential. And Wayne himself knew there was a lot more to achieve than a 4-win season.

“I had some unfinished business,” Wayne said. “I really felt like I underachieved as a coach, and just felt like I can do better.”

As Shane Steichen was building his new coaching staff in 2023, a two-hour conversation with Wayne showed him everything the first-time head coach would need. A 9-8 season later, both head coach and receivers coach knew they finally had something they could build around.

Since then, Reggie Wayne has helped his receivers carve out two consecutive 8-9 seasons (2024 & ‘25). Last season could have been even better if quarterback Daniel Jones hadn’t been sidelined, but you can’t hold that against Wayne.

By 2025, Indianapolis had developed into one of the NFL’s better offensive teams. They averaged 345.9 yards per game, which ranked ninth in the league. The Colts also scored 52 offensive touchdowns, averaging 27.4 points per game. Those numbers are proof of how much the offense thrived during Wayne’s time coaching the receivers.

Now, this offseason has already given Wayne a lot to think about. A 0-2-1 preseason record is nothing to write home about, especially as one of those two losses came with Wayne looking at the scoreboard, the play call sheet in his hand. In his defense, however, the preseason won’t matter when the starters, led by Danny Dimes, host the Baltimore Ravens for the regular season opener. From there, an upward graph can only lead to bigger things.

Since the days of the legendary Jim Irsay, the Colts have always loved their homegrown talent. That mindset is now being carried on by his daughters as the new owners. If Reggie Wayne wants a head coaching job in his future, the 47-year-old will likely have to start by climbing up to being an offensive coordinator. From there, he’d just be one successful season away from the top job – if not in Indianapolis, then at some other place.

But for now, the Super Bowl XLI champion who once caught touchdown passes from Payton Manning has to instill his skill sets fully into the Colts’ receiving corps. The 2026 season is barely two weeks away, and if Wayne wants to be a head coach someday, he first has to get more games where his voice guides the offense. Everything else, as it has with Wayne’s NFL career, will take him where he wants to go.