Following a third straight loss in Week 9, the Indianapolis Colts fired well-respected head coach Frank Reich following four and a half years on the job.
Reich was hired as the Colts new head coach in 2018, a week after he won Super Bowl 52 as offensive coordinator of the Philadelphia Eagles. The Colts initially planned to hire Josh McDaniels as their new head coach, but he backed out at the last minute and stayed on as the New England Patriots’ offensive coordinator.
Reich’s tenure in Indianapolis was a modest success. He leaves with a 40-33-1 record, two playoff berths (2018 and 2020) and a trio of winning seasons. But the team’s struggles, particularly on offense, ultimately led to owner Jim Irsay making a change.
After firing Reich, the Colts announced that they were hiring former franchise star center Jeff Saturday as their new head coach. The news was largely surprising since Saturday has never coached at the college or NFL levels.
Speaking to Mike Chappell of FOX59, Reich broke his silence on getting fired by the Colts. The 60-year Reich explained that though he’s “hurt” by the development, he understands why Irsay made the call.
“There’s disappointment and hurt. It hurts. It hurts to have it happen in the middle of the season.
But I understand the business side of things. I have a tremendous amount of respect for Mr. Irsay and I’ve come to trust his instincts and his knowledge of the game. I just know he’s doing what he thinks is best for the team.
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I can live with that. I gave my heart and soul to the job, to the guys, to everything I did there. I didn’t take anything for granted.’’
Many feel as though Reich’s firing was unfair, considering that he had five different Week 1 starters in each of his five years there: Andrew Luck in 2018, Jacoby Brissett in 2019, Philip Rivers in 2020, Carson Wentz in 2021 and then Matt Ryan in 2022.
Luck and Rivers both led the Colts to wild card berths, but they each spent just one season with Reich before retiring in 2019 and 2021, respectively. The revolving door at quarterback was simply impossible for the Colts to overcome, even with a top-notch offensive mind like Reich.
Indianapolis will try to get back on the winning track when they visit the Las Vegas Raiders this Sunday.
Luck and Rivers both led the Colts to wild card berths, but they each spent just one season with Reich before retiring. That left Reich in quite the bind, but
