The Colts were pitiful Sunday against the Patriots. This ended up costing Frank Reich his place.
The Indianapolis franchise officially announced that the coach was relieved of his duties on Monday. At the same time, she clarified that Jeff Saturday was taking the lead. A nice surprise, since the former All-Pro center has no coaching experience and has recently been on TV sets.
While the last two weeks had been marked by the benching of Matt Ryan and the dismissal of offensive coordinator Marcus Brady, Sunday’s calamitous offensive outing ended up pushing owner Jim Irsay to make the most drastic decision with his coach.
Arrived at the head of the Colts in 2018 crowned with a championship title as offensive coordinator of the Eagles, Reich leaves with a record of 40 wins, 33 losses and a draw. In its four full seasons, Indianapolis has made the playoffs twice.
Not helped by an ever more unlikely parade of quarterbacks, Reich had arrived to lead a team led by Andrew Luck. But he retired a year later. Jacoby Brissett, Philip Rivers, Carson Wentz, Matt Ryan and Sam Ehlinger then followed one another to try to be the solution. But during this time, the offensive line, calamitous with Luck, became one of the best in the league, before sinking in 2022.
Reich was under contract until 2026, thanks to an extension signed in 2021, so he shouldn’t have to worry too much about retirement.
Indianapolis now looks like a field of ruin for whoever will succeed him.
