Maybe he never truly got a real chance. Frank Reich had two different stints with the Indianapolis Colts, and the second saw him spend four-plus seasons as the head coach. He made the playoffs twice. General manager Chris Ballard has had his job for nearly 10 years, has had four different head coaches (sort of), and only Reich made the postseason.
Still, Reich was let go during the 2022 season after a 3-5-1 start and was replaced by Jeff Saturday, a great player who had never coached, and Saturday went 1-7. Maybe Indy should have realized Reich was a decent coach after all.
The odd part is that no one else has truly taken a long-term chance on the coach, either. He spent the first 11 games of the 2023 season as the head coach of the Carolina Panthers, but was then fired. Reich was the first coach ever to be fired during the season in back-to-back years. He hasn't coached in the NFL since.
Former Indianapolis Colts head coach Frank Reich might be on the verge of joining the New York Jets
That might be changing. The New York Jets, according to SNY's Connor Hughes, appear to be very interested in potentially hiring Reich to be their offensive coordinator. The Jets fired now-former OC Tanner Engstrand on Tuesday.
"Things are progressing between the Jets and Frank Reich, per sources," Hughes said. "We’ll see if New York can get it done. They’re trying. Would be a big get for Aaron Glenn’s offensive staff. Reich won a Super Bowl as OC of the Eagles (2016-2017), although Doug Pederson called plays. Served as head coach of Colts (2018-2022) and Panthers (2023). Was with Stanford the last two years. The Jets do not plan on firing Tanner Engstrand, but his role with team will change. Sources expect Reich to take over as play caller."
Frank Reich being an OC instead of a head coach is probably his best move. He won a Super Bowl with the Philadelphia Eagles in the 2017 season while directing the offense. He has a system and can adjust the scheme to get a quarterback to work at a high level and have an offense work at peak efficiency.
What he might not be able to do is lead an entire team for a long period of time. One might even wonder if the Indianapolis Colts have the same issue now. Current head coach Shane Steichen has proven he can have a successful offense, as long as he has a quarterback who fits his system stay healthy. Indy fans don't know how good a head coach Steichen is.
The Colts haven't made the playoffs with Steichen at the helm. The coach is also 7-22 against teams with winning records. Steichen needs to be better in 2026, or he could be following Frank Reich's career path. by being dumped out of the NFL to only find his way back as an OC somewhere.