After another underwhelming start for the Indianapolis Colts, Jim Irsay talks about whether or not Frank Reich is on the hot seat.
Through eight games, the Indianapolis Colts are off to yet another slow start, sitting at 3-4-1. Unfortunately, this has become commonplace under head coach Frank Reich, however, he usually figures things out. This year, though, things have been a little more tumultuous. The offense has been terrible and the team even made the decision to bench Matt Ryan and start Sam Ehlinger. With everything going so rocky, fans and media members assumed Frank Reich’s seat was heating up and that he could be coaching his last games with the Colts.
After being hired in 2018, Reich has done a tremendous job at keeping Indianapolis in the mix, even when the team faced unfavorable circumstances. However, Reich has not been able to lead the Colts to the kind of success that the franchise is expecting. Now, with another season possibly slipping away, is Reich actually on the hot seat?
According to the man calling the shots in Indianapolis, Reich’s seat is still cool. On Sunday morning, ESPN’s Chris Mortensen reported that Irsay has given “no thought to firing Frank Reich as head coach or Chris Ballard as GM.” Irsay said that he’s in a great spot with both and that the team feels good.
Colts owner Jim Irsay clarified, rather emphatically, that he is giving no thought to firing Frank Reich as head coach or Chris Ballard as GM.
— Chris Mortensen (@mortreport) October 30, 2022
"I'm in a great spot with Chris and Frank. We're all re-energized with the move to Sam Ehlinger. Nothing is easy but feel really good."
Colts aren’t thinking about firing Frank Reich or Chris Ballard
These statements align with a Sunday morning report from Ian Rapoport where he said multiple sources consider Reich’s job status as “safe.” Considering that it’s mid-season, these statements from Irsay make sense. The Colts don’t usually make in-season changes, so it’s unlikely that Irsay would just come out and say that Reich needs to get it together or he’ll be on his way out of town. However, it’s fair to assume that Jim Irsay is being truthful but that anything could change over the next 10 weeks of the NFL season.
Reich and Indianapolis could turn things around and make a real postseason run, or the team could continue to underwhelm and it could become clear that Reich needs to be let go. However, as things currently stand, Frank Reich is the coach of the Colts and there are no plans to change that for the foreseeable future.
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