Indianapolis Colts have their new coach after McDaniels fiasco
After being left at the altar when Josh McDaniels decided to stay in New England, the Indianapolis Colts needed a backup plan.
Now they have one of the best backups of his era.
Indianpolis has hired Eagles offensive coordinator Frank Reich to replace Chuck Pagano (and, really, McDaniels) as its head coach.
The Colts were about to send a plane to Foxborough last week in advance of a Wednesday news conference announcing the hiring of McDaniels, but McDaniels called Colts general manager Chris Ballard on Tuesday night to let him know he was rejecting the Colts’ offer.
After interviews with Reich, Leslie Frazier and Dan Campbell, Indy decided to take a chance on the former Bills quarterback.
Reich spent 14 seasons in the league, the first nine backing up Jim Kelly in Buffalo.
The 56-year old is best known for stepping in when Kelly was injured in 1992, and leading the Bills to the Super Bowl.
Reich was at the helm when Buffalo was trailing Houston 35-3 in the playoffs, then pulled off the greatest comeback in NFL history, shocking the Oilers en route to a 41-38 win.
Colts owner Jim Irsay wasn’t taking any chances announcing Reich until pen hit paper.
Then he even had a laugh about it, tweeting a picture with Reich holding Sunday’s newspaper.
Since you guys got jokes! pic.twitter.com/qfA7muSwbx
— Indianapolis Colts (@Colts) February 11, 2018
Reich is coming off a championship in Philadelphia, where his franchise quarterback blew out his knee, and Carson Wentz’s backup, Nick Foles not only won the Super Bowl, but was named the game’s MVP.
Reich certainly hopes he won’t need that type of help with the Colts, but Andrew Luck missed all of last season recovering from shoulder surgery.
While Ballard has said he doesn’t think Luck will need another operation, Luck has still not resumed throwing a football his recovery.
Jacoby Brisett did a serviceable job last season, but when it comes to backup quarterbacks, the Colts could sure use someone as reliable as Reich was.
It’s now the world champion Eagles who need to find a couple of coaches, as Reich’s departure leaves open the offensive coordinator position as well as the QB coach after John DeFilippo left to become offensive coordinator in Minnesota.
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