Analysis
11/7/22
3 min read
Indianapolis Colts Fire Head Coach Frank Reich, Name Jeff Saturday Interim Coach
The Indianapolis Colts fired head coach Frank Reich after five and a half seasons on Monday, the team announced. This comes after the Colts lost their Week 9 game against the New England Patriots 26-3, dropping them to 3-5-1 on the season.
The Colts have named their former offensive lineman, Jeff Saturday, as the team's interim coach. Saturday was a consultant with the team prior to Monday's announcement and has no prior NFL coaching experience. He currently works as an NFL analyst for ESPN.
The 33rd Team analyst Rich Gannon believes Colts' owner Jim Irsay is driving the team's moves.
"[Irsay] is very impatient and believes this team is built to win now," Gannon said. "Things are falling out of favor quickly in Indianapolis. This was one of the best teams in the AFC, and now they've fired their head coach."
Reich ends his Colts career with a record of 40-33. He had three winning seasons, two 10-win seasons and led the team to the playoffs twice in his tenure. This is rare for the Colts as they've only had five different head coaches since the 1998 season.
Although Reich found some success with the Colts, this season quickly fell off the rails. Indianapolis brought in quarterback Matt Ryan in the offseason to solve the team's long-term quarterback problem. Since the surprise retirement of Andrew Luck, the Colts cycled through quarterbacks like Jacoby Brissett, Phillip Rivers and Carson Wentz while under Reich's leadership.
"Ultimately, it was the lack of quarterback development that did Reich in," The 33rd Team analyst Mike Tannenbaum said. "Their offensive line hasn’t played as well this past season either. Since Andrew luck, they’ve had a few different approaches to the quarterback position none of which have been effective."
Ryan only played in seven games before getting benched for quarterback Sam Ehlinger, who is 0-2 as a starter thus far. The Colts also fired their offensive coordinator Marcus Brady last week.
Reich, who is known as an offensive-minded head coach, was piloting a Colts' offense that ranked last in points per game with 14.5. They also ranked 27th in total yards per game this season.
Reich took responsibility for the Colts' failure on offense after Sunday's game against New England.
"Each person has to go back starting with me," Reich said after the game. "That's what I said in the locker room. I mean, the offensive performance — that's why I was brought here. That's my responsibility. We got the players. We got players that are plenty good enough. I have to do a better job. It starts with me on offense. I have to do a better job getting the guys ready to play, putting guys in good positions to win and having answers when we face problems."
Reich is the second head coach to get fired this season after the Panthers fired Matt Rhule on Oct. 10.
