It’s been a dramatic 48 hours for the Indianapolis Colts, who have made sweeping changes to the coaching staff since their 26-3 loss to the New England Patriots on Sunday.
On Monday, the team fired head coach Frank Reich and replaced him with former Pro Bowl center Jeff Saturday. The latter has never coached at the collegiate or NFL level, so the hiring caught much of the football world by surprise.
Reich’s firing came one week after the Colts relieved Marcus Brady of his offensive coordinator duties.
Well, the surprises didn’t end there. On Tuesday, Tom Pelissero and Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reported that Saturday “is expected to name” assistant quarterbacks coach Parks Frazier as the team’s offensive play-caller.
The 30-year-old Frazier has been a Colts assistant since 2018, when Reich began his head coaching tenure with the organization. Needless to say, the NFL Twitter world had a lot to say about Saturday’s surprise hiring.
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Saturday played with the Colts from 1999 to 2011, earning six Pro Bowl nods and a Super Bowl 41 championship ring in the 2006 campaign.
The Colts were widely expected to compete for a playoff spot after trading away Carson Wentz and replacing him with Matt Ryan, who was acquired from the Atlanta Falcons for a third-round draft pick.
But the offensive line, once this team’s biggest strength, has been a mess. Reigning rushing champion Jonathan Taylor has missed three games to injury. Ryan struggled with turnovers and was benched in favor of sophomore Sam Ehlinger last week.
The offense hasn’t gotten any better since the quarterback change, and owner Jim Irsay ultimately decided that it was time for a coaching change. Reich left the Colts with a 40-33-1 record, highlighted by wild card berths in the 2018 and 2020 seasons.
Barring an unexpected and strong second-half finish, the slumping Colts will miss the playoffs in consecutive seasons for the first time since 2016 and 2017. The Colts visit another unraveling club, the Las Vegas Raiders, this Sunday.
